What's Your Toothache?

I recently read The Search: Finding Meaningful Work in a Post-Career World by Bruce Feiler. Among hundreds of interviews with people who had taken unconventional paths to career fulfillment, the author found that one of the most direct ways of determining someone's passion as an adult was: What was your toothache as a child?

The term is inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's story Aunty Toothache, where a boy suffers an excruciating toothache at the cost of his talent for writing great poetry. A "toothache" represents that thing you couldn't shake as a kid - the persistent itch you couldn't help but scratch.

My toothaches were hilariously obvious given what I do now as a career: logic puzzles, magicians, and movie effects. I've always been captivated with visual trickery. I couldn't get enough of David Copperfield's television specials or shows like Movie Magic, which revealed the secrets of practical filmmaking and monster makeup.

👉 When it comes to building a career on social media, follow your toothaches. It took me years of spending my weekends obsessing over mind-bending editing techniques before I ever got paid for it. That passion never faded, and it's what has allowed me to turn it into a full-time career.

I've consulted many family, friends, and colleagues about social media over the years and a majority of the time there's no toothache. They're simply trying to emulate someone else's success or laser focus on revenue streams instead of leaning into what drives them to be painfully unique.