Is Following Your Passion Overrated?

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Aside from January being a month of fresh New Year’s resolutions and extreme weather, it’s also a busy time in academia. Millions of students are anxiously applying to university (or waiting for responses), cramming for exams, and deciding on what to do with their majors. And while choosing a career may be exciting for some people, it can also be confusing. Luckily, there are tons of guides to make the process a little easier.

While browsing Amazon for books on career planning, many of the titles look something like this:

Career Development: Do What You Love and Love What You Do
What’s Next?: Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job
Career Match: Connecting Who You Are with What You’ll Love to Do

It’s no secret that “following your passion” is a hot concept in career development. It has been preached to many Millennials, along with “go to university” and “get good grades, do a bunch of internships, and you’ll get a good job”. However, is this cliché overrated?

Argument 1: Passion Is Overrated

I recently read So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport, which explores this question in-depth. Newport argues that focusing on following your passion is bad advice, and not everyone has a pre-existing calling to pursue. This causes people to constantly question their career path and leads to job-hopping. Instead, he claims that people should find rare and valuable skills that they are good at, or are willing to get good at, develop them, and then happiness will follow.

I think Newport raises some good points. There’s no such thing as the perfect job or career, which may lead to disappointment when steadfastly following the “do what you love” mantra. Also, the job market has been tough for recent graduates and it can be difficult to launch a career. Plus, for those who are passionate about fields where graduate supply exceeds employer demand, the job search is further complicated.

Case in point:

After earning a BA in two social sciences that I loved, I decided to gain more work experience before applying to grad school. I learned pretty fast that the job market was tough, but my friends who were in tech or business were having a much easier time. Although I eventually landed employment in my field, I ended up reconsidering my career plan.

However, more on this later…

Argument 2: Don’t Completely Ignore What You Love

While reading Cal Newport’s book, however, I did notice a bit of an inconsistency. To support his claims, Newport interviewed several professionals, including an organic farmer, a screenwriter, and infectious disease researcher. Although they had developed rare and valuable skills, it seemed that they had displayed interest in their fields early in their careers. The farmer started farming as a teenager and went on to agricultural school; the screenwriter moved to LA right after college to follow his dream, whilst the researcher demonstrated deep interest in the biological sciences as an undergrad.

Perhaps these weren’t their initial “dream” careers. The researcher originally wanted to work as a doctor and maybe the screenwriter and farmer’s true passions were in something else. Nonetheless, they didn’t completely ignore their interests. Having at least some love for your field can aid in career success, and lead to greater motivation, involvement, and development. Plus, even if you’re temporarily in a crappy job, it helps to know that you’re at least gaining experience in an industry that excites you.

In my case, I decided to scrap my original Master’s degree plan and opt for a more “practical” field. The tough job search caused me to believe that following my passion was misguided. Instead, I decided that I would pursue a more lucrative career, get money, and then someday return to my dream fields. Well, after some dissatisfaction and soul searching, I found that it wasn’t what I really wanted to do. Now, a year later, I have shifted to pursuing my interests. So, if following something I love is overrated, then oh well, I guess I’ll just buy into the hype.

Tags: Cal Newport career development employability motivation passion perfect job So Good They Can't Ignore You

Categories: Erin Johnson Wise up!