Don't follow your passion

[laterlazer]

You're leaving forever, or just for today?

just for the day lol

 

[Swivelinglight]

just for the day lol

omg where have u been i missed u

 

[laterlazer]

omg where have u been i missed u

i was gone for less than 24 hours! i have a busy couple days cos family stuff tho

 

[indra]

okay im out, i finally have something i'm meant to be doing today and shall not stay enslaved to this damn shady lying ass forum!!

I've seen it a dozen times, is the thread of a sweater meant to unravel?

 

[laterlazer]

I've seen it a dozen times, is the thread of a sweater meant to unravel?

yes cos fate!! but also idk what you're pertaining too sorry

 

[uumlau]

I was surprised not to see THIS video in the thread:

 

[PeaceBaby]

I will watch the whole video later, but my initial thoughts on this topic are that I've talked myself out of a few different paths because they weren't "practical" and convinced myself to choose career paths that appeared more in demand and potentially lucrative. I mean, that's what I have ALWAYS done in my life, so I'm pretty qualified to be a spokesperson for the "follow opportunity" club. As a result, am I glad I have my skills as a web developer? Yes. Does this work make me happy? Not really. And my success in it hasn't fueled any passion; if anything, I feel trapped and unable to step out into other choices because it's important to keep paying the bills and eat. So ... I'm not convinced. I do look back and have pangs of regret for not following my more natural aptitudes. eta: I also feel some negativity about being surrounded by voices that pushed practicality rather than a balance of passion / practicality.

 

[1487610420]

I think the don't follow your passion advice is sort of a by-product, it's circumstantial to a certain reality, the state of things if you will, and there's a balance to be reached, which is necessarily an individual balance, because not everyone will be able to successfully apply the formulaic approach to either case, not everyone is going to be able to step up and go clean shit and build a business and be happy with it, not everyone is able to build a business. Not everyone will have that Clarity and I think Clarity is the key word.

In either case there's a case to be made about dissatisfaction within oneself, regardless of what the backstory is, it can apply to a dirty job, or a clean job, the bottom line is, we tell ourselves a story and we choose to believe it. I'm pretty sure whatever it is and that telling of that story, doesn't necessarily correlate with clarity, because if it does then there will be less potential for resentment.

 

[cascadeco]

I think the don't follow your passion advice is sort of a by-product, it's circumstantial to a certain reality, the state of things if you will, and there's a balance to be reached, which is necessarily an individual balance, because not everyone will be able to successfully apply the formulaic approach to either case, not everyone is going to be able to step up and go clean shit and build a business and be happy with it, not everyone is able to build a business. Not everyone will have that Clarity and I think Clarity is the key word.

In either case there's a case to be made about dissatisfaction within oneself, regardless of what the backstory is, it can apply to a dirty job, or a clean job, the bottom line is, we tell ourselves a story and we choose to believe it. I'm pretty sure whatever it is and that telling of that story, doesn't necessarily correlate with clarity, because if it does then there will be less potential for resentment.

I will watch the whole video later, but my initial thoughts on this topic are that I've talked myself out of a few different paths because they weren't "practical" and convinced myself to choose career paths that appeared more in demand and potentially lucrative. I mean, that's what I have ALWAYS done in my life, so I'm pretty qualified to be a spokesperson for the "follow opportunity" club. As a result, am I glad I have my skills as a web developer? Yes. Does this work make me happy? Not really. And my success in it hasn't fueled any passion; if anything, I feel trapped and unable to step out into other choices because it's important to keep paying the bills and eat. So ... I'm not convinced. I do look back and have pangs of regret for not following my more natural aptitudes. eta: I also feel some negativity about being surrounded by voices that pushed practicality rather than a balance of passion / practicality.

I like both of these responses, and agree with both.

 

[magpie]

Too late. I already am following my passion.

 

[1487610420]

Too late. I already am following my passion.

 

[Avocado]

Well, I'm going to try teaching, which I hopefully won't suck at. I did well enough on tests in school to know I have the knowledge base, but there is also how much I have to slow my actions down to compensate for being so ADD. Some people call that lazy, I call it cautious.

 

[ThaumaturgicTheorist]

"When a successful person is interviewed, and you say, 'What was the secret to your success?' what they can't say, because society won't let them, is: 'I was smarter, I worked harder, I had better connections, and I got really lucky,'" Adams tells Business Insider. "Instead, they go with a democratic trait: passion."

Lol, I will never be successful if connections are involved omg. But again he was motivated by something to work hard and smart, maybe people just keep pushing passion around and don't know entirely what it means idk

I just glanced at this and thought, I'm completely and utterly fucked then - I'm dumb, lazy by nature, and incapable of making connections (apparently I really don't even know how I come across to people...my boss at work today asked if I had a "problem" with someone I apparently was rude to. I have absolutely no idea what she was talking about. None.) Too bad, I wanted to be successful. So if that's off the table completely, why bother?

The only problem I personally run into with the "follow your passion" thing is I don't really have any particular passion. Or interests. Sometimes I think that's all "follow your passion" ever meant - follow your interests and strengths. Like techy stuff? Go into programming or engineering! Compassionate and eager to help people? Try medicine or psychology. Etc, etc...

However, I really, highly doubt you could plunge someone into a subject they absolutely hate and they'll learn to love it because it's marketable.

 

[Blackout]

The thing I've always wondered is that----if everyone were to follow their passions, would most people simply choose to become artists and video game designers and stuff?

No one would work those boring jobs.

But I guess there's always those who are not really passionate about anything, and would like to simply serve others for fulfillment and purpose. Anyway, I think there's a difference between "dreams" and your "passions" and you should always definitely follow what you are interested in, because that's just a huge indicator towards what brings you happiness, which would be ridiculous to ignore. But in terms of following your "dreams" if you really want something badly enough then you should, but don't if you can't handle the pressure and pain it will bring. It's really often a matter of blood, sweat and tears to actualize dreams into reality at times, but at times it can truly be all the while worth it.

 

[nonsequitur]

https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/do-what-you-love-dispelling-the-myth

Do what you love: dispelling the myth
‘Do what you love’ is a modern myth that sets us up for great disappointment and exploitation, argues academic Miya Tokumitsu

What Dr Tokumitsu had identified was an important shift or realignment of the protestant work ethic (a term coined by Max Weber in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 1904–05). Under the influence of the protestant work ethic, work was a moral endeavour: we worked hard and this made us good, pleasure did not figure.

Then the summer of love arrived, and pleasure became a moral force.

“In the 60s and 70s, whether it was eastern or western religion, or even psychedelic drugs, finding the authentic you became a righteous thing to do, and pursuing pleasure the new virtue."

“This became entangled with the work ethic: if working is good and wealth accumulation is good and uncovering a real you is good, and we put those together, doing what you love is the best possible expression of being good."

"You hear this message repeated by people like Steve Jobs and Oprah Winfrey, ‘you have to live your best life’ and ‘you have to fulfil your destiny’, and it’s really a killing message."

It’s a killing message because in swallowing the ‘do what you love’ rhetoric wholesale, we haven’t grappled with its shadow: it sets us up with grand expectations, makes us feel like failures if we don’t follow our passions or don’t have any, makes us self-centred and sets us up for exploitation.

In a world where workers are working longer hours, ‘passion’ has become shorthand for being prepared to work beyond the call of duty. In being so happy about what we’re doing, we shouldn’t mind working late, on our weekends or evenings.

“Most people can tell themselves ‘you’re really doing it because you love it’, which on one hand can take the edge off, but it’s really dangerous because it can really lead people to their own exploitation.”

And the rhetoric is travelling further than creative, sought-after jobs, and trickling into low wage sectors. Tokumitsu cites an ad she saw in Craigslist asking for house cleaners who were ‘passionate about cleaning’.

“There are cynical actors out there who are absolutely using this to exploit people. Especially with the gig economy or freelancing in, for instance, journalism. There’s a lot of I’ll just write for exposure, I’ll just write to get a by-line, I’ll just write to get a portfolio.”

In addition to this, employers are demanding this authenticity be mined for profit, where workers are being asked to only display positive attitudes to their work, and in service-oriented cultures, emotions are being sold. Happy, fulfilled, passionate service delivered by happy, fulfilled, passionate workers.

It’s deeply intrusive, argues Dr Tokumitsu, “You can’t even have your own thoughts, it’s a kind of surveillance that has a nice veneer, but not even your own mind can be your retreat.”

And this extends to our home lives. Where we might have been expected to have a different persona at work and at home, increasingly the lines are blurring.

“The do what you love rhetoric, because it revolves around authenticity, insists there’s one only true way to be yourself: you have to be that way at work, and at home with your loved ones.

“It forces us to be public all the time – there’s no cycle any more. So it’s oppressive and exhausting.”

While Oprah, start-up gurus and successful artists might have good reason to recommend following their bliss, most of us find ourselves doling out the same mantra to children or people seeking career advice, without having thought it through.

 

[/DG/]

The thing I've always wondered is that----if everyone were to follow their passions, would most people simply choose to become artists and video game designers and stuff?

No one would work those boring jobs.

But I guess there's always those who are not really passionate about anything, and would like to simply serve others for fulfillment and purpose. Anyway, I think there's a difference between "dreams" and your "passions" and you should always definitely follow what you are interested in, because that's just a huge indicator towards what brings you happiness, which would be ridiculous to ignore. But in terms of following your "dreams" if you really want something badly enough then you should, but don't if you can't handle the pressure and pain it will bring. It's really often a matter of blood, sweat and tears to actualize dreams into reality at times, but at times it can truly be all the while worth it.

But it has always been my dream to work at the drive through at McDonald's.

 

[/DG/]

Actually related: when I was little I wanted to be a custodian at Disney World. Like legitimately. It just seemed like a simple task to do in such a happy environment. So some people can take joys in the simple things, but I don't think you could say this for every sort of job.

Interestingly, my brother is going down there in few weeks and will be working custodial lol!!

 

[Kanra Jest]

When I was little I wanted to be a cartoonnist, then mess around with filming (stop motion lego movies), then a mangaka, then cartoonnist (messed around with animation - frame by frame and bone tool), then a writer. Still do. Always story related. Had a vivid imagination since I was a young lad. Stories upon stories. Obsession.

Still going strong. When I'm not so depressed.

I even incorporate story elements and my own characters and such related things into my games I play. All roleplaying games. Tis why I fell in love with character creators.

 

[evilrubberduckie]

Dont follow your passions. Follow a career path that will always challenge you, and where opportunity branches, and is always open to improving yourself and helps you grow as a person.

Follow skill sets. That's what Im doing.

 

[Caoimhin]

Meh, this talk is just a bit lacking. Firstly, he talked about people with personalities that fit a salesman or w/e then went on to claim it doesn't work for them because their interests might change and they should do what matches their skills? Also tbh I was waiting on the statistics or his reason for why people who are set on a path burn out quickly, I had a couple ideas of my own but he only lightly touched on it. Then he's talking about doing what's valuable, but everything and every job is valuable in some way, I think he was aiming at figuring out what we find personally valuable, which in a way is to do with passion too. He had the main point I suppose but it wasn't a well thought out presentation, though he was clearer nearer to the end. At the end of the day imo it's about figuring out what motivates you to work hard at something and using that to work out how you can combine it with your skills and interests to look at a career option, then like he said you might develop or realise you have a passion for whatever the outcome is. It was a good starting point for career advice though!

Usually when you turn a hobby into a profitable endeavor you also turn it into work. Drawing/painting is a rather interesting example: as a hobby you can create what you want, but as a job you have to work on commissions or ideas of others. I would argue that the way to choose work is to go with what you have an affinity towards since work will be work and come to the realization that that's the case; I've noticed that most of the time -- if you are good at something -- you also tend to find it fun and rewarding after a while.

I suppose the subject is rather vague and subjective though... perhaps something one has to figure out for oneself -- like most things in this world.