Why "Follow Your Passion" is Terrible Advice...

It’s the 4th grade.

And the teacher’s going around asking everyone in the class what I now assume to be a mild form of ‘teacher entertainment’:

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Little Jimmy to my left?

“Astronaut.”

Jimmy was obsessed with everything to do with space.

He knew all the planets…

Could name the NASA missions…

Even had a shirt with the Milky Way on it (that he wore way too often…)

To say that Jimmy was passionate about space travel would be an understatement.

So, where is he now?

Orbiting earth in the International Space Station..?

Roving the moon on a highly sophisticated Honda Civic looking buggy..?

Repairing the Hubble Space Telescope..?

Nah.

Jimmy’s a banker.

And he doesn’t really care much for space at all.

By the 8th grade he realized he’s deathly afraid of heights.

And that put the kibosh on the whole go-to-mars thing.

Why Follow Your Passion is Terrible Advice…

There is a lot of pressure to have it all figured out when you’re young.

To choose a path. And start down that path.

Most people will say:

“Just follow your passion!”

And although I admire the use of their vocal cords, it usually doesn’t help much.

The problem is - you don’t have a lot of inputs or real world experience to choose a path when you’re young.

You’re making a decision based on limited data. Simply because you haven’t lived long enough.

You’d be better off choosing a direction to head in, gather more awareness in that direction, and continue to explore and refine as you go.

Over time you revise what you’re good at, what you like, what you dislike, and what you want to work on moving forward.

Whether you’re new to the game, or a grizzled vet with a long list of life experiences:

Follow Your Curiosity Instead…

The idea of “finding your passion” can create pressure to identify a singular life purpose.

Instead, when you follow your curiosity, you enter a more relaxed approach… one that encourages exploration without the need for immediate commitment.

(Take that 4th grade Mrs. Turner!)

Plus, following your curiosity often leads to intrinsic motivation because it is driven by a genuine interest in discovery… rather than external expectations or pressures associated with ‘passion’.

This is why I write so much about Lifestyle Design and The Art of Reinventing Yourself.

Because the truth is…

I don’t think there’s ever a moment when we arrive at a crystallized answer, to anything.

Because everything’s ever changing. You’re ever changing.

So allow yourself to be flexible. To evolve. To allow your values to evolve.

And ride your curiosity as the wave that carries you forward into the exciting unknown.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
- C. S. Lewis

Have a good Sunday.

- Adam