Don't Follow Your Passion!

Says the guy who just left corporate America for a career advising job...yeah right...

OK, so maybe I seem more like a poster child for the "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" crowd than a passion skeptic.

On the surface, I get why literally almost everyone I talk to lately has congratulated me for being bold enough to follow my passion and chase my dreams. That's absolutely what my transition looks like from the outside.

But if I'm being honest, I cringe every time someone says it (no offense, y'all! I really do understand it).

Here's what I try to tell them instead:

Short version: Practice/Experience --> Skill --> Expertise --> Success --> Passion. Don't be deceived into flipping that around and thinking it makes sense to start the process with a pure passion play!

Long version: The rest of this article...

I spent years voluntarily working with students (115+ at this point) on their career development; including resumes, interviewing, networking, researching companies, and navigating the corporate environment.

I got more experience and started seeing through a wider lens when I got involved with a nonprofit that supports professional development and leadership for diverse students (thanks, Bridge to Leadership and Carlos Mavins!).

I read books and listened to podcasts related to career management.

I followed and networked hard with career counselors and other higher ed professionals all over the country for at least 6 months before actually finding and accepting a role.

Throughout that process, I asked many of them to be brutally honest about my fit with the field. In response, I heard specific feedback from people I deeply respect describing how my transferable skills and personality could be a great fit...and I began to believe them.

In short, I spent years developing skills, and gained experience, knowledge, connections, and confidence in this new area.

All prior to making the shift.

Ultimately, all this effort helped me recognize that even though I was good at what I was doing in HR, the skills and traits that were MOST core and natural to me were better suited for the kind of work I had been practicing on the side for years - career advising.

Experience and skill - not passion - made this the right move.

In fact, I didn't even know I HAD a passion in this space until I started helping other students and realized over time that I was naturally pretty good at it.

People kept coming back for more and telling me how much they appreciated what I was doing; despite me feeling like I had nothing to offer!

Only after that kept happening for years did I decide to investigate more fully.

The skill came before the passion.

Now, here I am. Definitely deeply passionate about what I'm doing; but knowing that I have skills and knowledge and abilities my passion is founded on.

Obviously, even though I just talked a lot about how, you know, ridiculously skilled I am, I'm the furthest thing from perfect at my new path! My poor manager can tell you how slow I move right now, and how many little questions I pepper him with most days. A little over a month in, I am definitely not yet a net-positive investment.

So I'm not saying you need fully-developed, expert-level experience and skills before you can reasonably consider making transitions. That would be extremely hypocritical of me.

But gaining some significant level of experience, skill, knowledge, and confidence before you just jump in and "follow your passion" can save a lot of time and frustration. Sidenote: That's one of the many reasons internships are such a big deal, especially in undergrad.

The cool thing in all these big transitions for me is that, while I know I could potentially have found my way into a career that would be a better natural fit for me earlier than I did, I haven't for a minute felt like the last few years were wasted time.

Every step of the process led to who I am today; gave me phenomenal and relevant experience, education, and knowledge; introduced me to wonderful coworkers, classmates, teachers, and leaders; and gave my family and I fun memories in different places around the country (plus a trip to China for me!). I wouldn't change the journey for the world. And I really do mean that.

In sum - when you're looking at a career transition, put the time and effort in (while the stakes are low, before you make drastic moves) to build skill, knowledge, connections, and confidence. If you do all that successfully and you're still excited about the path ahead (plus you can support yourself and your family well-enough financially to make it work, which I haven't talked explicitly about but is obviously critical), take the plunge.

Then, don't allow yourself regrets about the path you chose with the information you had at the time! If at some point you learn more about your core skills and chosen field that lead you to take another new path, just record and remember what you learned and experienced, be grateful for what you had, and move on. Eventually, it all comes together to build you into who and where you need to be in the long run.

At least, that's how it's turned out so far for me.

Thanks for reading this treatise of an article... If you don't believe me or want to learn more about the dangers of the "passion trap," read So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport, watch one of the many videos online, or read one of the many articles about it. The book was a huge help in processing and gearing up for my experience these past few months.