Jacob Lineberry recently visited a friend who is starting his own computer-related business and is about to buy a new house. To Mr. Lineberry, his friend's lifestyle seemed lavish.

"He's got one of those flat-screen TVs that are so big, looking at it pulls your eyes apart," Mr. Lineberry, 28 years old, says.

Seeing how his friend lives was an especially eye-opening experience for Mr. Lineberry, an aspiring actor, who lives in a 12-by-12 studio apartment in an unglamorous neighborhood of New York City. He works nights as a bartender to pay the rent and reserves his days for auditions.

"Acting is what I want to do; it's where my talents are," Mr. Lineberry says. "He took his route, and I'm taking mine."

At some point in their twenties, many people face a choice: Pursue a career path that will give you a dependable day job and steady income, or follow your heart's ambition by aspiring to a less-practical profession that may not pay the bills.

And it can be a gut-wrenching decision. Even when you do choose, there may still be a niggling inner voice that tells you to take the other path.

That's what Emily Santos, 26, sometimes experiences. She works in public relations in New York but dreams of an acting career.

"I have that nagging feeling of 'Emily, you're only getting older; pursue it now when you don't have so many responsibilities,'" she says.

What has held her back from really going for it is fear of falling behind: financially and professionally. "I think I need a day job for my peace of mind," she says. "I'd flip out if I couldn't pay the rent."

Carving Out Your Own Niche

For those who are truly lucky, they can make the most of their creative ambitions in a steady, well-paying day job that they enjoy. But that's not an option for a lot of people.

One strategy is to turn your day job into something that is rewarding, both creatively and financially. That's what David Grae did. A writer for the television show "Joan of Arcadia" in Los Angeles, Mr. Grae, now 37, spent much of his early twenties trying to figure out how to make it as a comic writer and actor in New York. At first, he was neither acting nor writing, but struggling to make rent, while working as a bike messenger and other jobs he describes as "random." But he wasn't happy. "I felt that I needed a day job -- I didn't want to wait tables," he says.

Eventually, he co-founded Gotham Writers' Workshop, an organization that offers creative writing courses for adults, and found that owning his own business was a good way to make ends meet -- without giving up on his dream. These days, he isn't involved in the day-to-day running of the business, but income from it was crucial to carrying him through his first few years in Los Angeles, before he secured a writing job.

"I think of it as being my own patron," Mr. Grae says. It helped that his business was related to his passion for writing and was in itself rewarding. "We made it our way to make a living, but we didn't just do it to make a buck," he says of himself and his co-founder. "It's something I'm proud of in itself."

And it gave him a backup in case his writing career didn't work out. "I could still go to a cocktail party and when someone asked me what I do, have something to say," he says.

Balancing Act

Comedian Aziz Ansari hopes to one day look back with the same satisfaction that Mr. Grae now feels.

Mr. Ansari graduated last May from New York University with a degree in business and works by day for an Internet marketing company he and a friend co-founded. At night, the 22-year-old hits the comedy clubs in New York, performing at alternative venues throughout the city.

The Internet company earns enough for Mr. Ansari to live on, but also gives him the flexibility to pursue his craft.

"For a few weeks, I was working to put together a pitch for a pilot for HBO, and I didn't have time" to deal with projects for his day job, says Mr. Ansari. But because his business partner is a friend, he understood.

"It's a good balance," Mr. Ansari says.

Kate Wendleton, president of www.fiveoclockclub.com, a career counseling firm, says Mr. Ansari's strategy is smart because if he ever gives up on comedy, he will have solid work experience on his resume.

"It doesn't have to be do or die," says Ms. Wendleton, of pursuing creative ambitions.

Indeed, many twentysomethings find ways to make money that agree with their passion, instead of spending years waiting tables. Take Ian Carstairs, a 28-year-old in Pleasanton, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Carstairs is married with a one-year-old daughter.

He works five days a week as a private guitar teacher, while occasionally playing gigs in the evenings and trying to record his own music. Although, he isn't making as much money as he would in a more conventional job, he and his wife, an aesthetician, have enough to get by.

It helps that his wife supports his musical aspirations. "When I talk about giving it up, she reminds me of people we know who have done that and are unhappy," he says.

Not an Easy Road

Still, it's a hard decision, particularly because it can be daunting to get into a professional career after a stint of trying to pursue creative ambitions.

When you are looking for an office job "you don't want to put bartending at the top of your resume," says Ms. Wendleton.

She suggests that people who want to move into a conventional job go back to school at least part-time and take some classes to get up to speed on an industry. To get a foot in the door, an internship may be another option that shows you are ready to commit to a new career path.

"You went to bartending school to be a bartender -- go to school to get an office job," Ms. Wendleton says.

In retrospect, Mr. Lineberry regrets dropping out of college in his junior year to pursue opportunities in theatre and television. "I realize, now that I've gotten a little older, that I should have finished," he says. "If acting doesn't work out, I'll be a little behind schedule."

But right now, he feels content with his lifestyle. Last week, he and a crowd of friends converged at the bar where Mr. Lineberry works to watch him appear on the TV show "Law & Order."

He admits his pursuit hasn't been without its hurdles. His first few years in New York, Mr. Lineberry was so consumed by making ends meet that he scarcely had time to audition. He worked alternately as a personal trainer, waiter, bouncer and messenger -- at one point, working three of those jobs simultaneously. "I was focused on survival," he says.

Only in the past year, with his current bartending gig, does he feel that he has earned enough money to devote his time more fully to acting. "I've learned you've got to have some money in the bank," he says.