Do you guys ever wonder how Walt Disney did it? He only ever followed his passions, laid everything on the line and look what happened! He even mortgaged his house as an asset to help cover costs for developing animated movies. He had to of been the luckiest guy on earth. Every time I hear his story I get motivated to keep working towards my goals. Part of his success was due to his passion. For him I don’t think it was “work” because he loved what he did. I mean it’s work, but it’s a labor of love, which is different.
I’d like to add the whole idea of pursuing your dreams, with a touch of practicality though. I too, like many of you, work with passion on my “dream” game, however I have come to a point where I realized that I will likely never finish my project in a reasonable amount of time. So lately I have been working some over time at work, so I can put some extra money into my game. I outsourced some of the work to somebody who is more skilled than me. While I am still focusing on the overall game design (level design, character modeling, game mechanics, programming) I am paying somebody to do the animations for me because that is my weak point. I am still putting together the overall look and feel of the game though. I have to say, it feels so good to know that is getting done by a professional, and I can take the time to focus on the overall game design. I finally feel like there is light at the end of tunnel and it is liberating. As compared to always being frustrated because I can never get enough done in one sitting to feel like I’m making a dent. If you can afford too, outsource some of the more unpleasant work (whichever that is for you).
That is what Walt did in a manner speaking, he found the right talent and delegated the work. He even said, that to make your dreams a reality you need people to do it. So if you are one of those lone wolf types that work a lone, consider outsourcing some of the work.