“One of the biggest lies in the world is to follow your passion,” says Amazon Insights for Entrepreneurs Mark Cuban, part of the series. According to him, the reason why this is bad advice is that one cannot always be very successful or happy in a job done with passion. Of course, it is important to follow your dream and do what you love, but when it comes to career choice, a choice made based only on passions can turn the job you love into a nightmare.
Pursuing your passions or doing what you love is often interpreted as turning your hobby into a job. However, when a hobby turns into a job, the expectations of business life also come into play, and therefore the pleasure derived from the hobby can lead to the same amount of difficulty and disappointment when it comes to work related to the hobby. So much so that loving the job may unknowingly lead to the behavior of voluntarily accepting too much workload. In this case, the job that was initially done with love begins to turn into a job that abuses this love and harms the person.
If You Do What You Love, You Will Have to Work More
If you think that you will not have to work even a day after finding a job you love, you are wrong. You’ll probably work harder than everyone else most of the time, without even complaining. Do What You Love: And Other Lies About Success & HappinessMiya Tokumitsu, author of the book, attributes the idea of doing what you love and are passionate about to this very reason. Tokumitsu, the concept of following your passion It reveals that it was first built by the 1946-64 generation called “baby boomers”.
Because this generation has finally become prosperous after long wars and started to think about their own desires and ask “What would make me happy?”, “How can I improve myself?” He started asking questions like: The subsequent 1970s and 80s were the years when the “me” culture was built in America. When considered periodically, Tokumitsu interprets the search for satisfaction as the counterpart of the “I” culture in business life. According to Tokumitsu, this is the basis of the search for “passionate” candidates, which is frequently included in job postings today. A passionate employee does not complain about excessive workload and gets more productive results in the work he does passionately.
Tokumitsu’s approach asks, “So, is it necessary not to do something with passion?” It may bring to mind the question. Of course, doing something with passion provides greater satisfaction, better results and is critical to success. However, running from one job to another, constantly trying to get something done, and devoting all your time to achieving this task can make you forget why you are doing all this. In such situations, it is important to slow down and ask, “Does the work I am passionate about really make me happy?” It is necessary to have the courage to ask the question.
Passion is not Single and Static
It is a fact that the work that interests you the most and excites you the most has a higher potential to produce the best results, but what is often overlooked is that this is not a simple or static equation. Business life and even life itself are in a constant state of flux. Therefore, it is natural that personal and professional goals and interests may change over time. Therefore, to constantly put pressure on oneself to find what that one and true passion is, or to believe that this is the meaning of life, is to resist a natural change.
Dave Evans, professor of the “Designing Your Life” course at Stanford University, says that the first question asked in this course is, as it is thought, “What is your passion in life?” He says he has no questions.
Because most people have more than one passion. A financial executive can have a passion for literature and diving at the same time. So should he quit his job and pursue a career as a writer and diver at the same time? Or does the fact that he pursued one of these passions mean that he did not realize his true passion?
Thinking of having only one passion means limiting one’s own potential with prejudices. However, experiences in both business and social life enable the individual to know himself/herself better; It enables people to discover their talents, interests and passions. It is almost impossible to understand whether you have passion in a field you have never experienced. Ignoring this change and development and constantly questioning what the real passion in life is and focusing on revealing it leads to being under constant stress and missing the moment. Thus, the pleasure derived from the current work disappears and passion is replaced. to anxiety leaves.
Determine Your Priorities in Life
Decisions made based solely on passions are like jumping into a pool without checking whether there is water in it. Ambitions must always be in harmony with expectations and priorities. If this adaptation is not achieved, taking steps for change does not mean that you have to give up your passion completely. You can try to find different ways to achieve this harmony.
Matt Welsh, who worked as a professor at Harvard University’s Computer Science department for many years, resigned from his job after realizing that his passion for computers did not match his expectations in academia and started working at Google in the same field:
“I realized that being a professor was not the job I thought it would be. There is a lot of administrative work and finding resources for research is much more difficult than it should be. The funny thing is that the best possible outcome of your research would be if someone working at Google, Microsoft, or Facebook read one of your articles, got inspired, and implemented something similar internally. But you will never know about it. Additionally, your ability to get to this point will be significantly limited by the sheer volume of grant applications, teaching, committee work, etc. On Google, the way to implement ideas is much more direct and you can see the impact on the result. I can just sit down, write the code, build the system. “For me, I find this more satisfying than an elaborate academic process.”
When passions no longer match expectations, as Welsh does, it is possible to find different ways in which passion and expectations are met together. Even if it’s your own business, you don’t have to be stuck in what you’re doing at the expense of being unhappy to pursue your passion. You can continue to use this passion and turn to a different job that makes you happy and meets your expectations.
Pursue Your Effort
Mark Cuban suggests paying attention to what we spend the most time on, rather than the areas we claim to be passionate about, and recommends investing in these areas. According to Cuban, everyone asks themselves, “What am I investing my time in?” should ask the question. So much so that what you invest your time in reveals what you put the most effort into. “A lot of people talk about passion, but that’s not what you should focus on,” Cuban said. Shall I tell you a secret? No one wants to give up something they are good at because being good is fun. You must strive to be the best. So don’t follow your passion, follow your effort.” he advises.
The myth of “there is no gain without pain” built in society has placed in people’s subconscious the belief that success can only be achieved by suffering and making great sacrifices. However, if you are talented in a field, you can do it easier and more enjoyable than other jobs. As Cuban advises, doing work that you put effort into and are successful at is enjoyable, and over time, it becomes your greatest passion. If the job you love forces you to make a lot of sacrifices and makes you feel under constant stress and pressure, maybe this job is not suitable for you.
“Find things where you can succeed quickly,” says Jeff Chapin, co-founder of Casper. To achieve this, he recommends taking small and local steps. Rather than trying to bring peace to the world, buying food for the homeless person on the corner is much quicker and easier to achieve, and is still the product of an effort that will make the world a happier place.
Find Your Passion, Not Your Passion
Many business professionals end their careers in corporate life to pursue their passions, such as starting their own business, becoming a writer, teaching yoga, or returning to academia. In fact, most people are not aware of the real identity of these businesses. They don’t know whether it really suits them or not. However, what needs to be understood first is what drives a person to pursue this passion and what the essence of passion is based on.
For example, if the reason you want to become an academician is a more stress-free and comfortable work environment, the change you make considering this may cause you to lose motivation and be disappointed. So much so that according to a study conducted by Berkeley University in 2015, according to Contrary to popular belief, 47 percent of postgraduate students struggle with depression. According to a 2013 New Scientist article, academic staff are three to four times more likely to have mental illness than the general population. The same article reveals that 53 per cent of academics in the UK have a mental illness.
If you are not aware of the real reason behind your desires, you will make decisions based on the prejudices and restrictions you have brought since childhood. When you understand what lies at the core of passion, you can make much more accurate and predictable choices.
Bonus: Consider Artificial Intelligence
The work that you do with passion and that you think makes you happy may not have any value in the business world in the near future. According to Jason Dorsey, General Manager of Strategy at the Center of Generational Kinetics and Millennial generation expert, “The jobs that are in danger of being replaced by artificial intelligence are not just entry-level jobs as people think. More operational white-collar jobs, such as accounting or financial services, are also at risk.” An article published in The Guardian articleincludes managers, lawyers, journalists, therapists, recruiters, actors, and even poets and novelists, among the roles that could be entirely replaced by artificial intelligence.
In short, when pursuing passions, it is necessary to make sure that these passions match expectations and skills. Otherwise, pursuing passions will not bring happiness. Passions can also change as expectations change, experience is gained, and new skills are realized. Constantly worrying about what your true passion is and what will make you happiest in life leads to anxiety and stress.
Compared to the baby boomers, the millennial generation has existed in an individual-oriented society where saying “I” has become the norm and has been trained to follow their dreams. Of course, it is great for an individual to be aware of his or her own wishes, but in the real world, dreams may not coincide with reality in terms of expectations and skills. This may lead to a frustrated, unemployed generation growing up.
Stopping constantly worrying about what makes you happiest will help you become happier. Paying attention to the world from a wider perspective and putting problems at the center of decision-making, thinking about how to be a valuable participant for the world while saying “I” will bring more happiness.
