“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs
Welcome to another Ask the Readers segment.
Today I’d love to hear from you in the comments whether you think “follow your passion” is good advice for either starting a business or choosing a career path.
Over the past few months I have been hearing a lot of discussion about whether or not this advice is flawed. Here are some of the stances I’ve seen people take.
- Chris Guillebeau talks about the importance of your passion having convergence with what people are willing to pay for in The $100 Startup.
- At WDS a couple weeks ago, Cal Newport gave a keynote talk on why “following your passion” is flawed advice from Steve Jobs’ commencement speech.
- My friend Scott Dinsmore runs a course teaching people how to “Live Off Their Passion” that I have heard grand praise for.
- Pat Flynn recently discussed the difference between passion and interest and whether or not you need passion to profit online.
Share your thoughts in the comments below this post.
Last Time on “Ask the Readers”
In our most recent ask the readers discussion I asked, “when is the right time to spend thousands on your business?” My favorite answer came from Sunny:
“I think it’s smart to invest in yourself and your business/passion … as long as you’re committed to it and are willing to put in the effort to make it pay off…
There are a lot of people that will throw money at anything that they think will help motivate them, but don’t realize how much work you actually have to put into building a business. It doesn’t matter how much money you’ll throw at a problem if you’re not willing to back it up with work.”
If you’re wondering, my wife and I did go ahead and make a large investment on camera gear. 
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Alright, back to today’s question:
I’d love to hear: is “follow your passion” good career/business advice?
If not, what should you be doing instead?
P.S. If you are reading this in an email or RSS, you can comment here.
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Mark Cuban has some interesting thoughts on following your passion. Check out his post - Don’t Follow Your Passion, Follow Your Effort (http://blogmaverick.com/2012/03/18/dont-follow-your-passion-follow-your-effort/)
Thanks for sharing that post Mark. I tend to disagree with what he said in this post though. I think there needs to at least be strong interest or an underlying passion for the skills that you’ll use and develop though.
It’s great advice if you can monetize your passion. And I think it’s probably hard to find something you can’t monetize in today’s day and age
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Great point Eugene. You can pretty much monetize anything nowadays. (Maybe not to the level of supporting yourself, but at least to supplement regular income.)
I think that following your passion is only part of the equation. Passion is the most important part of the equation, in my opinion, but it really depends on what your motivations are for doing whatever it is you are doing.
If your motivation is to make millions of dollars, your passion probably comes secondary to solving a major need that you may or may not be passionate about.
If your motivation is to make a living doing what you want to do on your own terms, millions be damned, then passion is only one part of an equation that you need to balance out.
If your motivations is to just do what makes you cry with joy every day whether or not you end up homeless. Then follow your passion is perfect advice.
Just my unprofessional opinion. Passion is a strong indication of future success. If you’ve ever met anyone who was on fire about everything that they did, you’ll know what I mean. But it’s not a guarantee on business success all by itself.
-Liz Out
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Thanks!
I love the distinction you made here Liz. Passion is just a piece of the puzzle (along with motivation and solving a problem).
Thanks for sharing.
Interesting post. When I left my job to search for passion, I slowly began to discover that no single thing really got me seriously amp’d up. It was more the creation process and watching your “child” take that first step that got me going. Really makes it easy to dive into the entrepreneurship world at that point.
Interesting point Jason. It sounds like it was more of a mental barrier you needed to go through.
Since hearing Cal Newport talk, I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I’m not sure I completely understand his argument yet, but it seems he believes that you shouldn’t start with what you’re passionate about but rather with what you’re good at. I suppose that’s reasonable.
I do still think that it’s important to do what you’re passionate about, whether it’s for success or happiness or both. Do I think all passions can be made into a career? Of course not, but there are many that can and many more that closely tie in to what you care about.
To answer your question, I don’t think “follow your passion” is bad career advice. I think everyone should do what they’re truly interested in. But the words “follow your passion” need and deserve more consideration rather than just being treated as a standalone motivational phrase.
So it needs to be more along the lines of “follow your passion (that people will pay for)”.
If you want to be effective, focused, and leave your “dent in the universe”, you need to find something you’re passionate about and work towards that. You’ll put more effort into it because you’ll want to - you’ll want to share it with the world, you’ll want to spend your time and energy on it, and you’ll want to make it happen.
We don’t need a world of wanderers. We need people who are willing to do the work even if it doesn’t get them fired up every second of every day. If in the end you know you’re doing something to the best of your abilities and putting real effort into it, you might just find that it’s your passion.
Desire and drive are key in whatever you do if you want to be successful.
Love it Sunny: “We don’t need a world of wanderers.”
I had a co-worker from an previous job of mine that loved old cars. I mean, loved loved loved old cars. He knew everything to know about them, he was a very proficient mechanic and he even bought and sold or parted out old cars on the side selling on eBay and other forums.
One day I asked him “why don’t you just open up a garage and be a mechanic full time?”
He responded “because then my passion hobby would become my job.”
There are lots of people who would argue that “if you love your job won’t work a day in your life” but I tend to disagree. Obviously one should strive to follow a career path that they enjoy but if we all tried to follow our passions as our main line of work there would be an over saturation of “world traveling family men & women”!
I look at my own path a little bit to try to answer your question. I started as an engineer working for someone else. Then worked as an engineer for myself where I spent more time on the business side of things when running my own shop. I had to learn how to make a website, how to get that website ranked, how to advertise, how to market all to make my business survive, grow and prosper.
This process made me realize that I really enjoy finding niches, building, ranking and generating income from websites and led me into my next venture Kings of Azon. When I was taking my computer in engineering course in college and hating every minute of it I would never guess that I’d be working online a decade or so later.
Steve Jobs once said, “you can only connect the dots looking back” and he’s spot on. I would have never guessed in a million years that I’d be doing what I’m doing today but I couldn’t be happier.
Great thought provoking question Caleb! Keep them coming!
Here’s to your $uccess,
~Austin
Thanks for sharing the story Austin and I like the Steve Jobs quote about connecting the dots.
Perhaps the famous words of President Theodore Roosevelt might apply here:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Tim
I generally disagree with the mantra of “follow your passion”. It is wonderful to have that fire burn within, pushing us toward goals and causes that we believe are greater than ourselves. BUT at the same time, we live in a world where passion alone is not enough; skill and relevance (“marketability”) is most important to the marketplace, even though meaning/passion/relevance (“existential purpose”) may be more important to us as emotional humans. Passions and fires wane over time — few of my passions years ago are my passions today. The world is constantly changing, supply/demand is changing, and competition in the marketplace is changing and can all alter our paths overnight. When the fire of passion goes down, people still need to get up and be productive members of society. The question is, how can we be both marketable AND feel a sense of emotional meaning/passion/relevance?
A week before leaving my first consulting job 3 years out of college, I went to meet with the head partner of the practice. I candidly asked him “what advice do you have for me to be successful in my life.” His response: “strive to be the absolute best at what you do and be better at it than everyone else.” One day, I may willingly change or be forced to change course in my life, but as long as I have learned new skills, adapted to new developments, and pushed to be the best in what I do, I will always find relevance in the world.
On the emotional side, passion isn’t necessary — Doing something that we enjoy and feel enthusiastic and interested in doing most of the time IS absolutely necessary. Consistent with one of Steve Jobs’ statements, if don’t enjoy what you are doing too many days in a row, leave and find something else to do that brings you more satisfaction. In my vocation, sometimes I have fiery enjoyment, and sometimes I do not. Sometimes I have great days and sometimes I have terrible days. Passion is not what brought me into my line of work and passion is not what keeps me in it. My ongoing fulfillment and purpose comes from my love of problem solving and being one of the best at what I do. I was not good at it when I first started; I was insecure, inexperienced, stressed, and unfulfilled in my role as a little peon learning the basic skills. It took years and years of hard work, practice and experience to get the skills and confidence. Being great at what we do and doing work that is meaningful to ourselves and others can be tremendously satisfying. That work can be derived from a deep-rooted passion, but it doesn’t have to be.
Hi Carl,
I have to agree with your philosophy.
In absolute terms, “passion” is overrated. It is physically impossible to live with passion every second, every hour of our life (our brain and physiology just won’t allow it). Period.
Sometimes there are good days, sometimes there are bad days. I don’t think anyone can argue about that. But, as you said, “Doing something that we enjoy and feel enthusiastic and interested in doing most of the time IS absolutely necessary.”
I would argue, that this is what people mean when they talk about following your passion/
“My ongoing fulfillment and purpose comes from my love of problem solving and being one of the best at what I do.”
-> You might be living from your passion yourself
Len, I agree and you make an interesting point. Perhaps passion is not something that you do, but more the feeling that comes from doing it. I choose to use the words enthusiasm, interest, excitement, challenge versus passion because I think passion is too absolute and as you point out, many people who pursue ultimate passion are seeking constant happiness, fulfillment, stimulation, and meaning; these can happen frequently and often, but it is never a constant. As you highlighted, I get fulfillment from solving problems and being good at what I do. Let’s presume that I’m good at construction and at consulting; two completely different vocations, yet they both could fulfill my love of problem solving and being the best at what I do. But we could take it a step further and analyze the environments that might make me miserable in one context and satisfied in the other. Physical and mental demands are different, pay scales are different, travel requirements are different, hours are different, challenges are different. You might have a passion for helping others, which might be fulfilled by consulting for people online or by being an in-person teacher. Both may fulfill a passion you have, but one might be a great fit for you and the other might drive you nuts. Passion can be important, but again I think enthusiasm, interest, excitement, and challenge which lead to internal and external value is the utmost goal for a vocation of good fit.
Cheers,
Carl
Hi! Long time reader, first comment!
Great question. I think Pat Flynn’s point is right on target. You’ve got to have enough interest in what you’re doing in order to sustain the activity and not go bonkers. It may be the case that you’re passionate about something else and want to do that, instead. But as long as your work isn’t physically or emotionally harmful to you or others, perhaps it’s best to think of your work as temporary, as a means to achieving the ultimate goal. If your passion doesn’t initially (or won’t) align with you being able to take care of you and your dependents, you should pursue your passion only after you’ve reduced the risk factor to a level that would be acceptable to all the parties that will be affected. Pursue work a field that you’re interested in, that you can make decent money in, and which will give you enough free time to cultivate whatever habits you’ll need to do what you’re passionate about. Don’t get in debt. Don’t work to consume. Save like crazy. Live simply and sincerely. This will give you leverage to pursue your passion very soon.
Yes! I think this is excellent career/business advice.
Here is my personal belief (I guess that’s obvious): When we step out follow our passion we cannot help but learn and grow from that experience. When we partake in something we truly love we consequentially we will become engaged that we notice the small details, the most obscure of things.
We will notice those things that others miss. Passion allows us to 1) continue to push through those challenging moments and 2) to become hypersensitive to these experiences.
Let me throw it your way Caleb. Do you tend to notice the small details about how people manage money? Do you pick up on things in regards to finances that seem to pass by the average Joe?
For me, my passion is martial arts. Do I currently make money doing this? No, I don’t. Do I believe I can? Yes, I do. This is why I am following my passion in Japan. Right now, I am not skilled enough in martial arts to generate income from it. But in time, as I train more, I will develop the skills to make money from it.
I don’t really like to give my reasons why I do thing passion is important without first mentioning people may feel different from me. So here is why I think it’s needed, but these might be the same for someone who isn’t passionate.
When you write content you don’t need to think about what to write. You live your niche and it’s constantly going around in your head. If you want to write something you can just write everything from what’s inside you and be passionate about it.
It gets you up in the morning. It makes you stay awake late at night. You don’t care if the money isn’t coming in yet. You don’t care how hard it is. You still absolutely love it and nothing in the world can make you upset. You’d spend years working a normal job just so you could keep building your passion subject in the background, knowing some day with all the hard work you put into it you will make it.
You are constantly innovating and trying to thing of new ways to make it better and easier for people to understand. You don’t care how many times you fail, because ultimately you will get it right and change peoples life’s.
That’s why I think passion is important.
Follow Your Passion is the current version of “Do what you love and the money will follow.” The fact is, and a more accurate way to state it would be - “Do what you love and you are doing what you love.” The money following - whether doing what you love or following your passion, is a whole other matter. If you love to paint, write, watch movies, etc - there are ways to monetize this, but the business side of things is usually not what people have passion for. Following your passion is a wonderful way to live your life, but often is not the same as making money following your passion.
Great question, Caleb! I recently wrote a post for the Shopify blog titled “Don’t Follow Your Passion! A Better Way to Pick a Product to Sell”. In it, I argue that when it comes to picking a product / market / niche, your primary selection criteria should NOT be something that you’re passionate about. Instead, it should rest solely in identifying a demand online and creating a business to meet that need.
But passion still is important. To be able to persevere, you MUST be passionate about building your business, and the process that goes behind it. If you’re not, you’ll almost certainly give up and fail because it’s a difficult process.
So, in a nutshell, I think passion is critically important when it comes to building a business, but the business niche doesn’t need to be tied to your particular passion. If it is, that’s great! But it shouldn’t be the sole factor when deciding to enter a new niche.
For those interested, you can read my Shopify post in its entirety below:
http://www.shopify.com/blog/6187532-dont-follow-your-passion-a-smarter-way-to-find-a-product-to-sell
There are some interesting views here. I like this discussion. I fall into the Guillebeau camp and believe that your “passion” must intersect with what people are paying for if you want to make a living at it. In addition it has been my experience that the vast majority of people have more than 1 passion and it’s critical to understand that searching for that “one” big passion, for most, is an unfair request. Passions are often seasonal and are more pronounced when one assesses ones current life values and priorities. I think maybe a more pragmatic gage may be “what things fulfill” you that, at the same time, add value to others in the process. So let’s play with this and say “Passion” = personal fulfillment + marketplace need! any thoughts?
Totally agree. It is all about the convergence between the two. Post coming tomorrow about it…
I think it depends on why you leverage your passion. Cal did a great job explaining his rationale and gave some specific examples with the unit tester that leveraged her domain knowledge for more vacation time or further her level in the hierarchy. It’s safe to assume that she wasn’t passionate about being a unit tester, she did it out of necessity than being passionate.
Another example that comes to mind is “comex the iPhone jail breaker” Read more here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2011/08/01/meet-comex-the-iphone-uber-hacker-who-keeps-outsmarting-apple/
He’s an apple fan boy and certainly passionate about coding. With the intersection of these two things, it led him to tinker with the iPhone code to find flaws. I think without his passion he wouldn’t have stuck with it because he wasn’t getting paid like the in the previous example. He was a teenage kid living with his parents and simply doing what he liked to do and it led him to an internship at Apple.
You bet I believe in following your passion? Why? Because for years I work a job I was good at, I enjoyed, underneath knowing it was far from my last stop…far from the career that I was meant to do. Then I decided to try “making money online” with Adsense and niche sites, and some blogs I wasn’t passionate about. I’ve made some (not a lot) of money, and got burnt out. Learned some great skills, but burnt out.
I resisted the passion thing for far too long. Hearing people always say “follow your passion, the money will come.” In my mind I always thought “BS! You gotta learn how to make money first, then your passion can be done.” As someone who got burnt out, I now understand what they mean, because without that fire burning inside, you’ll give up.
I woke up one day saying “you know I spend so much time on my own doing personal development, I’m trained as a coach, so WTF am I doing not making alot of money doing something I hate? Why don’t I do what I love all the time, and give myself a shot at living my passion everyday AND make money.”
Duh! Well I never said I was a fast learner, but I’m glad to be following my passion and living from my vision as it develops changes and grows everyday.
Great post Caleb, thanks.