I had always believed in following your passion at work. Doing what you love and getting paid for it. This for me was the ideal scenario. Occasionally I’d fantasise about my dream job. This usually involved food or sport.
It was a seductive vision. Make a career out of your passion. It’s the passport to true happiness.
So when I heard Professor Scott Galloway on a recent podcast say that following your passion is terrible career advice I sat up and listened. It made me ask myself, is following your passion overrated? Should this really be your guiding principle for a career choice?
So I looked into it. I concluded that following your passion may not be such a smart idea after all. Here’s why.
1 Your passions change
People change and their passions can change with it. There may be times in your life when you love say skateboarding, making videos or music. But then you move on. You discover something new, which takes the place of a previous passion.
This hardly seems like a solid foundation for a lifelong career choice.
2 Passion does not equal competence
Even though you love something, it doesn’t mean you’ll be successful if you pursue it as a career. When I was younger I used to really enjoy playing cricket, football and playing chess. However, I didn’t play any of them at a decent level, Certainly nowhere near good enough to consider a professional career in any of them. To pursue your passion as a career, you need to be blessed with the requisite talent and work incredibly hard, just to have a chance of earning a living pursuing it.
3 A career may destroy your passion
Turning an enjoyable pastime into a full-time job may well kill your love for it. It’s not the same. Cooking dinner for friends can be fun, but working as a professional chef requires a completely different level of commitment and skill. Would you be prepared for that?
So what’s the alternative?
Rather than focusing on what you’re passionate about, focus on what you’re good at. Use this as the basis for searching for a career. It could be an academic subject, such as maths or physics or foreign languages. It could be a practical skill, such as project planning. It could be a personal quality, such as empathy. If you’re good at something, there’s a decent chance of ultimately getting paid to do it.
Sometimes it’s hard to know what you’re really good at.
To find out, you’ve got to experiment. Follow your curiosity. Try stuff out. Take on a part-time job. Do some work experience. Volunteer. Say yes to opportunities that come your way. You’ll begin to find out what you enjoy and what you’re good at. Equally, you’ll find out what you don’t like. You may surprise yourself. You may find certain types of work incredibly rewarding.
Ask yourself whether the job you’re doing enables you to learn and grow. A rewarding career will push you beyond your comfort zone. If you’re picking up new skills, and developing in a new direction you’ll find it rewarding.
Finally, think about whether you find it enjoyable. If choosing a job based on your passion is too high a bar, then you’ve got to at least find it interesting and enjoyable. No one should do a job that they hate.
As a final caveat, it’s worth remembering that you career path you set out on may not be where you ultimately end up. Life intervenes. An unexpected opportunity, a chance encounter, redundancy, meeting a partner, kids. These, amongst many other interventions, will shape career choices in unexpected ways. Chance has a big part to play.
Remember as well that work-life is constantly evolving. The career you pursue in the future may not exist today.
So to summarise
What I conclude is that following your passion is just one question you should ask yourself when seeking a career direction. Don’t make it your primary focus.
Of course, you might get lucky or work incredibly hard and your passion could become your career. You may well turn out to be a professional photographer, a successful DJ, or a best-selling novelist. But don't bank on it.
Thinking about what you’re good at is a more pragmatic approach. If you’re good at something, you’re likely to enjoy it and find it interesting. You’ll then start to become passionate about it. And eventually, create a successful career.
Passion is a consequence of hard work and can grow over time. Experiment, learn and ultimately you’ll discover a rewarding way to earn a living.