"'My food,' said Jesus, 'is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish work.'"
-John 4:34
It seems there are a few conflicting ideas about how to live our lives these days. More specifically, about how we should choose a career. From my experience, many people in engineering selected their major so that they would attain a high-paying job regardless of whether they actually enjoyed their studies. The material comfort of money appears to lure many people into a race that they cannot ever win, for how much will ever truly be enough? It also brings up the great possibility that they will despise their work, for spending eight or more hours a day doing something only for money will drain one's energy fairly quickly. As a result, this approach to the problem of choosing a path to follow has been easily disavowed.
The common push back to this approach involves the idea of doing what you love, for if you love your job then you will attain a greater level of contentment regardless of the amount of money you receive for it. I do believe there is wisdom in this. However, one writer wrote that the push back should instead be to do what you are good at - the point being that if she had attempted to become a singer despite her lack of talent she would have no money or job at all. To put it bluntly, I think this is stupid. This stems from her argument requiring us to believe that the purveyors of doing what you love demand that you do it without regard for your well-being. We all have many loves. Follow whichever love will make you successful - not exorbitantly wealthy but able to get by with all you need.
To further clarify the rebuttal to seeking riches, though, I offer that we follow what Jesus states in John 4. The disciples worry about Him needing food, but He explains that all He really needs is to follow God's will and finish the work that God started. Jesus possesses a distinct motivation for God that He never loses in His life. This pushes Him through the difficult times. So, the true question comes up as the following: What will fill us? Jesus, though only talking about Himself and not making a sweeping statement about everyone, seems to suggest that we will be full if we follow God's will. Physically, I know that not eating enough food makes me lethargic and gives me a headache. I hate that feeling. Similarly, if we do something that isn't right for us, we will not be able to focus. We will be drained because we are "hungry" for something else. I think that this correlates well with the goal of doing what we love. But more than that, God made us all with particular strengths that unveil themselves in our passions. Finding these strengths and thereby our passions leads us to easily find where we can make a career. Utilizing our strengths will lead to motivation. We will excel, we will be driven, and, more importantly, we will be full.