This piece of advice seems to be thrown about so carelessly by people, often with good intentions, and I do think there is a bit of truth to it, or usefulness one can gather from this sort of advice, but the big stick in the mud that I feel is often left out when telling someone this is that while it’s important to find what you’re passionate about in life and in the best and smartest capacity possible, to pursue it, YOU do not exist in a vacuum. This advice to me, should be given with a bolded disclaimer: in the process of discovering your true passion in life, and setting your sights on achieving your goals, to see your dreams realized to fruition, first consider the context of your life at this point in time (do you currently have dependants that rely on you for support and emotional presence, do you have large debts that should not be negated), and second, come to terms with the fact that what you think might be your passions now, could very well end up changing down the road and remain flexible should those passions shift and diverge from your original plans.
Ya, the disclaimer ain’t sexy, but ultimately, it’s absolutely irresponsible to leap off a cliff to go base jumping, without first considering those you are potentially affecting with your actions. One other important thing to consider though, is that many of us can easily get bombarded with the “realities†of a decision-making process and may use that as reason never to move forward on their dreams, that’s not good either. You have to instead, find what OF your current dreams and passions, are you truly yearning for? There is something within those ambitions that is leading you towards that path, and many times, the vision is hardly the only answer, but merely just one path to obtaining what you truly seek.
While it’s just as vague as “follow your passionsâ€, I’m more inclined to suggest to someone, “do now, what will help you to achieve the vision of yourself, in the not so distant future. It’s neither wealth, career, nor status, but you as a person, who do you want to become, and how will you get there?â€