got BS, and worked in industry
got bored, and read a lot about [cool basic-science stuff]
started grad school re [cool basic-science stuff]
got PhD and did a couple postdocs in [cool basic-science stuff]
got horrified by academic rat race, and got interested in [cool NGO stuff]
[almost went to law school, to do patent law]
got a job doing [cool NGO stuff]
got frustrated by slow progress, and tired of being poor
[almost did another postdoc]
got a job doing [well-paid litigation stuff]
got tired of the pressure, and started playing more re privacy-related stuff
What I get is that basically I like to play. I've rarely managed to be well paid for it, however.
It’s not as easy as it sounds to turn a hobby into a business and have it still be fun. The only real time that happens is if the hobby is building businesses (it happens).
Still, there must be a component of your work that you like. If not, there must be some work out there that has such an element? I can not believe there are humans that really only want to sit on a couch with a controller playing a game. I think the situation is pretty troubling in that case. In that case you are only consuming, that has never worked. Same goes for eating.
My way is very simple - I have a job that gives me moments I enjoy (adrenaline rush and connection with broad and interesting groups of people), but I would never do it on the weekend - I find it far too mentally draining. On the weekend I do things that are completely different. Whether they be sports, video games, social events or whatever, by being diverse in my work-hobby mix, I make sure that I don't burn out on just one thing.
This does not make me one of the cool kids at programming conferences, does not land me a spot on the olympic team, does not get me 10,000 viewers on Twitch and does not make me a member of the social elite, but it does make me happy, so I guess it's working out.
Have you ever been convinced to re-read a horrible book you were forced to read in school, and discover that it's /brilliant/?
Have you ever been forced to re-read one of your favorite books on a strict deadline, and discover that it's a slog?
I've been paid for doing my hobby a couple times, and it quickly becomes work; I don't even enjoy those hobbies anymore.
My 2 cents:
Anything, when forced, is less enjoyable than when you're doing it just for enjoyment.
Don't kill a hobby by turning it into work.
Find tasks, types of work, etc. that you enjoy, and find a job that lets you do those things. It's still work, but most of the time you don't really notice it, and you don't kill a fun hobby.
My job says I have to implement a CSV parser for a customer’s unique idea of “CSV”, and by the end of the week whether I find it interesting or not.
(Well, not my job, thank $DEITY. But for many.)
The HVAC application is so niche that it could only be a hobby project. Basically, I don't want to dogs to fry in the RV in the summer. Some temp sensors, a few relays, and the GPIO pins on the Pi, and when it gets too hot it can kick on the generator and turn the A/C on for happy dogs. While I'm there, I might as well program in the algorithm I do in my head to tell the wife whether or not she needs the generator to make supper. "Lessee, if we've got two hours of daylight for solar that is currently putting out 221W, and the battery is at 74%, using a 1200W griddle...". Let the Pi do that math, and turn the generator on or not.
On the other hand "chop wood" to me means don't get too caught up in the results. Don't beat up yourself because you are next the next Elon.
I’ve been alive nearly 40 years and everyday become more confident that the answer is no.
It's arguably an unworkable plan for most hobbies, I admit. And it depends on how much you need to be paid. For example, when I started NGO work, I basically got warned that it'd never pay much, and that most people who did it long-term had trust funds. Or didn't mind being poor.