Ask Maynard: What Should I Do If My Job Isn't My Passion?
Maynard Webb
Founder, Webb Investment Network; Author ‘Dear Founder’; Board member Visa and Salesforce.
Thanks so much for your interest in "How do I find what I am passionate about" on Ask Maynard. It's such an important topic and I appreciate all your comments and questions. This one is particularly relevant for so many:
OK, what happens when no one wants to pay you for what you're passionate about? How about if you're not any good at it, and regardless of application, you never get to be? How about if it isn't legal? Now what? Passion is all well and good, but not all passion can result in the ability to earn a living. --John Beatty, MA, Mil Hist OE Parts Manual Manufacturing Supervisor at JoyGlobal Surface Mining Equipment
I couldn’t agree more! The best of all worlds happens when you can earn a living at doing what you love to do. How amazing to be able to check both those boxes, but it’s not always the case.
I’m passionate about football. I’d love to be a lineman in the NFL. The problem is, this didn’t happen for me at 20, and now it’s pretty clear it’s not going to happen for me at 60, so pining for this dream is not a good use of my energy.
At first I wasn’t sure of what kind of job I’d find passion in, but I always went in with enormous enthusiasm for doing the best job I could do. My first management job involved replacing cashiers with ATMs. It was my job to manage the cashiers and design the screen flows for the ATMs. I became obsessed—stopping at every ATM I encountered and studying its user interface. Was ATM screen design high on my list of passions? No, not really, but I was thrilled to be in my first management job and it was fun to be able to create something.
I learned that every job had good and bad parts. Not everything is perfect every day, but if there is some “purpose” that comes with it, you can find meaning and fulfillment. In my early days of working my purpose and therefore my passion was about providing for my family. Therefore, the economics that a job provided were important and even if the job wasn’t perfect I was motivated to do a good job and find it fulfilling.
Passion is found in all sorts of forms. As one of the readers, James Varrone, commented to the original post, “If your job isn't your passion, you can get through the day and your passions become the reason why you work. The truth is, some people live to work, others work to live.”
Whatever you do, if you go in with a good attitude and see it as path for learning you will find much more opportunity and happiness than if you go in not inspired every day. And, if it’s not legal, don’t do it—even if you are passionate about it and it provides good economics. It’s hard to have a great career when you are in jail.
As always, please keep your questions coming. (Send me your questions in the comments and don't forget to upvote the ones you like best.)
Head of Service Delivery (India) | ICF Certified Coach
9 年I agree to the topic in question. Everyone of us, in real world, as a child dreamt of becoming something, just like his/ her role model. But with years, sometimes we get whatever we wanted while other times not. When I was a kid, my passion swung from an air force pilot to a cricketer, but eventually as I grew I ended up as an engineer and now am leading a team of engineers developing code for a big company. This was never my passion but is a way of earning. One has to find passion in what he is doing and then only he can enjoy the work.
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9 年My job is my passion, but not the only passion I have in life. Part of what love about my job is what I do, but another very important part is the place I work. If I am surrounded by great people that also love what they do, they contribute to my passion. I live for work, but I also work for life. The other passion I have is my family. Spending time with them and also spending time on my own, when I run is also important. Wish for all that they find passion in what that do, or find a way to do what they are passionate about.
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9 年I do what I love, yet I have another passion but it happened that I fell in love with the only one with whom I can do what I love. I want to initiate and forget about my feeelings because I am looking at the larger scheme which is doing what I love! How can you help me with that. By the way, my passion and my career are the same which is helping people and becoming a diplomat. I work at the UNHCR with refugees!
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9 年Julienne Mawad
Finance Writer - Helping employees and self-employed professionals navigate the world of retirement planning
9 年@ Maynard Webb: This is an excellent question and response that any employee should be required to ask and answer of themselves. The money quote for me in your response was: "Not everything is perfect every day, but if there is some “purpose” that comes with it, you can find meaning and fulfillment...Therefore,...even if the job wasn’t perfect I was motivated to do a good job and find it fulfilling." One of the keys to being successful in any position is to find meaning in what you do for a living. Just because you may not be passionate about your actual job title, you can always find something about the job that gives you meaning. This should, in turn, drive your passion to do a good job, no matter how thankless your position may be. The other point I would make about passion has been made more eloquently by none other than Mark Cuban, another LinkedIn influencer. Mr. Cuban would argue that you DON'T follow your passion but find a way to follow what, where and how you spend your time and develop a sense of mastery over what and how you spend that time. I included a link to Mr. Cuban's blog below for those who are interested in his philosophy, as I subscribe to his belief that being good at something will drive your passion for what it is you do: https://blogmaverick.com/2012/03/18/dont-follow-your-passion-follow-your-effort/ Thanks for sharing your thoughts on an important question many of us should ask of ourselves.