Following Your Passion Is Terrible Advice (Kind Of)

It is well known that we are currently living in the “information age”.? We have access to information and knowledge more abundantly and conveniently than ever before.? Listening to podcasts and books has become a part of my everyday routine.? Putting into practice the philosophies and ideas has been instrumental in my career and personal growth.?

The most consistent advice I have noticed lately, seems to challenge people to start writing.? The benefits shared are that writing will deepen your understanding of concepts, clarify your goals/purposes, and reduce stress among other things.

Thus, I am taking the challenge and writing my first article relating to leadership and things that have helped me in my career. (Exciting times for my 3 followers who will read this)

There are a few quotes that will instantly get under my skin:

1. “You will never work a day in your life if you love what you do”
2. “Follow your passion”
3. “Never give up on your dreams”

If I took this advice literally, in 5 years I would be bankrupt and in rehab.? People who tell you this are already rich/successful.?

It is not that I don’t believe those quotes have some truth in it.? It is more the fact that those quotes are grossly simplified and have led a significant amount of people into a state of confusion and frustration.? We live in a culture where staying at your current job for more than 2 years is abnormal.? Flight is the preferred response rather than fight when things get difficult.??

Here are 5 ways I have personally found (stolen from people smarter than me) to help tackle this dilemma.

1.Grow your Passion:

a. Successfully growing your passion has more to do with Hard work and “grit” than blindly following something you are passionate about

b. Angela Duckworth (Author/Psychologist) studied grit in depth and found that true success comes from the ability to pair passion with perseverance over a long period of time.??

c. The formula is pretty simple:? The harder you work + the longer you stick with a job/task = More passion for that job/task

2. Passion is not romantic

a. How horrible is the question: what do you want to do when you grow up or what is your dream job?

b. Early on as a parent I was given advice that our jobs as parents is to expose kids to as many sports/activities as possible and see where they take interest

c. David Epstein's book Range also makes a strong case that being a generalist opposed to a lifelong specialist is a better recipe for success/passion

3. Be Self Aware:

a. It is great to be passionate about things, but be realistic about whether or not that passion is a career or a hobby.

b. Said another way: “Just because you are passionate about something doesn’t mean you won’t suck at it” -Mike Rowe

c. When I was little I dreamed of playing in the NBA.? I worked really hard and practiced as much as I could. It was about 9th grade and shortly after using a mini trampoline to dunk on a 9 foot hoop that I realized I will never be athletic enough and it was time to focus on schooling.? Thus, I settled for the next best thing which was getting College paid for by hoisting up three point jumpers.? #humblebrag

4. Show up:

a. 80% of success is just showing up. Whether it is in life, your career or exercise, I have found that just showing up is the biggest part.? Millions of workouts are skipped every day because of the fear of starting.??

b. How many times have you realized it really isn’t that bad once you get started???

c. How much better do you feel when you don’t skip out?

d. Have you noticed how your passion grows for something the more consistently you put in effort?

4. Appreciate your current role (Practice Gratitude):?

a. “Your happiness has very little to do with the job itself” (Happiness comes before success)

b. If you ask people what their “dream” job is most of them will say something that allows them to travel or take it a step further and say that their dream job is to not have a job.

c. A job is not a curse, a job is good for you.? Have you ever been out of a job?? I have and it was amazing for about 3 days.? After those 3 days I was miserable.? Up to nothing leads to up to no good quickly.??

d. Shift your perspective from saying I HAVE to go to work and be thankful that you GET to go to work.? For me it helps to think about the things we often take for granted. (food security, shelter, income)

e. Think of how good it feels when you have a productive day of work.? Now think of how bad you feel when you spend the day not engaged and thinking about why your job sucks.

5. Value Consistency:

a. Musicians, Athletes, Entertainers are all quick to give award speeches that mirror the 3 quotes above.? Those speeches rarely highlight the 10 thousand plus hours of practice they put in. ? They rarely highlight the fact that they received hundreds of rejections before finally making it.??

b. Think of the people you love most in your life or who are your favorite people to work with.? I am sure they have some unique and amazing personalities however the most important personality trait you will find is consistency.

c. Consistency makes you dependable, consistency makes you faithful, consistency means people can count on you, consistency builds trust.