You always know the guy with the dream job. He's the one smiling too much, acting as if he's living in his own private paradise. He's the laid-back river guide you had last summer in Colorado, or the supremely competent floatplane pilot who dropped you on that island for your honeymoon. He's the guy you thought about last time you were stuck late in the office.

And you're not the only one: 86 percent of Americans aren't happy with their jobs. In other words, it's time to start relearning a few basic lessons -- like, it's not about the money, it's about the quality of life. And satisfying work involves doing things you're passionate about. And finding your dream job may very well mean turning your weekend hobby into your weekly paycheck.

If you love camping, maybe you should be designing and testing tents in the backcountry. If you love football, maybe you should be playing, coaching, or building football stadiums. If you love driving expensive cars at obscene speeds, maybe you should be doing that for a living.

That's what Larry Webster does. In 1993 he was working a job designing air conditioning systems for commercial buildings. The job made fine use of his mechanical engineering degree, but...well, that simply wasn't enough. "I was 24 and living with some friends from college, and that part of my life was fun," Webster says. "But whenever Sunday afternoon came around I was like, 'Oh shit, I have to go do it again tomorrow.'" Fast-forward to today. Now 34, Webster has parlayed his lifelong love of cars into one of the coolest gigs in the land, doing high-performance testing for Car & Driver magazine. "Now I work, and it doesn't matter what day it is," he says. "Friday, Tuesday, Sunday -- the feeling is the same. I love it."

How did Webster do it? Same as every dream job guy: a little sacrifice, some hard work, a lot of willpower -- and passion.

And that's the thing about dream jobs: They are not easy and not easily had, but they are attainable on honest terms. Guys with dream jobs are guys who had a sense of what they wanted to do and set out to do it, damn the risk. Guys with dream jobs aren't necessarily lucky or rich or otherwise blessed. Guys with dream jobs, in fact, aren't all that different from you.

Which raises the question: What's your dream job?

REELING IN THE GOOD LIFE
Why It's a Dream Job There are days when Tim Hoover, 37, (above) is poling around the Florida Keys in his 16-foot flats boat with a single client onboard, scanning the electric-blue waters for tarpon, bonefish, or permit, and he can't even believe that this is what he calls work. "I have the greatest office in the world," he says. "It's an awesome spectacle when you snare a 150-pound tarpon and he peels 300 yards off your flyrod in less than a minute!"
Downside Skin cancer, rainouts, and a heavy toll on the body. "I'm poling 1,500 pounds around all day," Hoover says. "Physically speaking, I think people who swing trash onto a garbage truck probably have it easier."
What It Takes Success depends on good word of mouth, and the best guides work mostly with return clients. To build a list of regulars, start by guiding for someone else's charter company.
What It Pays In year-round warm climes, like Florida's, top guides can earn $80,000 to $120,000 a year.
Resources For expert tips, gear reviews, and links to guides and schools, check out sportfishingmag.com and flyfisherman.com.

TAP INTO YOUR PASSION
Why It's a Dream Job In college Sam Calagione spent most of his time inventing drinking games and devising systems for hiding kegs from the authorities. Who knew it would turn out to be the perfect preparation for a successful career? When he graduated with a degree in English he knew right away that he had a better shot at creating the Great American Beer than the Great American Novel. With three modified kegs and propane burners, he put his education to work by starting a combo restaurant-brewery in the resort town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. That was nine years ago. Today his Dogfish Head Craft Brewery is one of the fastest-growing microbreweries in the land, producing more than 2,000 cases a day and constantly pushing the limits of the market for high-end beers. "Basically, we tried to take a staid, boring, mainstream, watered-down product -- beer -- and make it fresh and interesting," says Calagione, 35. To that end he spends his days shuttling back and forth between the original restaurant and his nearby new brewing facility, designing labels, running promotions, hand-crafting wooden tap handles, and, of course, constantly inventing -- and drinking -- new varieties of beer.
Downside The major beer companies enjoy enormous influence with distributors, making it hard for the microbrews to get out there.
What It Takes Most would-be brewers start by tinkering with a home-brew kit, then get a job in a brewery. To get on the fast track, enlist in one of the many brewing classes popping up across the country.
What It Pays Experienced brewers make anywhere from $30,000 to $80,000. But if you own a successful brewery, you can become a rich man.
Resources The Association of Brewers ( www.beertown.org) offers tips and industry news, and lists brewing schools. For a more personal look at the business, check out Calagione's book, Brewing Up a Business, out next spring from Wiley.

STADIUM BUILDER
Why It's a Dream Job "A great stadium should provide an unforgettable experience," says Scott Radecic, 42, an architectural engineer who oversees all major college stadium projects at HOK Sport+Venue+Event in Kansas City. A former Penn State linebacker who put in 12 years in the NFL (with the Chiefs, Bills, and Colts), Radecic is proof that even when you no longer have your dream job, you might find another. "The passion for sports never left me," he says.
Downside Budgets
What It Takes A degree in architecture or architectural engineering
What It Pays $80,000 to more than $250,000
Resource www.aia.org

OUTFITTER
Why It's a Dream Job In a mountain town a great outdoors store can be a landmark, and its owner can become a kind of unofficial town mayor. Bill Gamber, 40, who owns BAP, in Steamboat Springs, CO, takes it one step further by also designing and making much of what he sells -- jackets, tents, sleeping bags, and energy bars -- and getting out to test the goods. "We went up in the Zirkels just the other day and camped overnight," he says. "And hey, you know, that's part of the job."
Downside Personnel issues are inevitable when your staff is made up of ski bums.
What It Takes A great location and a sense of the business side of the outdoors
What It Pays Anywhere from $50,000 to 10 times that much
Resource oaoa.net

TEST DRIVER
Why It's a Dream Job Overseeing high-performance testing for Car & Driver magazine, as 34-year-old Larry Webster does, means peeling out, redlining tachometers, and rocketing from zero to 60 in as few seconds as possible -- day in, day out. And because luxury and sports cars should perform off the track as well as on, he drives home in a different one each night.
Downside Every car is not a Ferrari.
What It Takes In addition to car magazines, test drivers work for auto manufacturers and suppliers. Some are former racers; others, like Webster, who began as an intern, work their way up.
What It Pays Between $40,000 and $70,000
Resource bondurant.com

For the complete list of "Dream Jobs" pick up the November issue of Men's Journal.