2 Important Myths About Passion

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#1
Hey buddies, I think this article may help those who are struggling to find "passion" in their jobs. Please feel free to comment. Big Grin

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If you Google “find your passion” you will get 39,000,000 hits. Go to the self-help section of any bookstore and you will see 50 or more volumes on finding your passion, following your passion, living your passion. Every other Twitter bio or LinkedIn bio has a reference to “passionate about.” Passion, as they say, is the new black.

So I was hardly surprised when a young friend came to me for career advice, and started the conversation by saying, “My job stinks, I’m bored to tears. I just can’t figure out what my passion is.” She spoke as if somewhere, out there, is a single career-related purpose that, if she could but find it, would lead to eternal fulfillment. This was her fifth “it stinks” job in three years, and it was clear she had fallen for the passion myth.

Myth #1: I’m not making enough money, so clearly I’m not on the right path.

Reality Bite – Passion does not equate with income.

If you are lucky, you have a passionate interest that feeds your soul and gives lightness to your day. But if you look outside yourself for affirmation or compensation for your passion, you may be in for disappointment. Don’t believe me? Watch the auditions for American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance, and you’ll see thousands of people hoping their talents will make them a star. For all but a handful, that dream will be crushed. Many of those crushed enthusiasts will be too embarrassed to ever sing or dance again and that, to me, is tragic. If you are passionate about singing, then sing. If you are passionate about dancing, then dance. But do it because you love to sing and dance. Not because you crave the applause.

Nearly every self-help book or website mentions turning your hobby into a career. Stories abound of people who did exactly that and made millions. Less often told, but exponentially more numerous, are the stories of people who tried to turn their hobbies into an income stream and things didn’t work out the way they expected. The woodworker who stopped getting any joy out of his art because all of his commissions were boring pieces for clients with no imagination. The cooking enthusiast who never got to do any cooking because they spent 95% of their time dealing with the mundane business details involved in running a restaurant.

More practical advice would be to “Find a Job that Pays Reasonably Well So You Can Afford to Follow Your Passions Outside of Work" – but that wouldn’t be a very sexy book title.

Myth #2: "Following your passion" is doing work that has meaning instead of being a mindless worker ant.

Reality Bite – All work has meaning – even the boring stuff.

Stop approaching passion as if it were something you can “find,” like the perfect lifestyle accessory, or something you “do,” like saving the world. Start thinking of passion as a way of being a quality you can and must cultivate.

When it comes to our work, we choose to be passionate. Or not. We choose to be actively engaged. Or not. We choose to be conscientious. Or not. We choose to treat customers and colleagues with courtesy and consideration. Or not. We choose to give more than is expected. Or not. We choose to see ourselves as part of the big picture. Or not.

People who can manage to be engaged, conscientious, courteous, considerate, giving and enthusiastic even while slinging hash browns or counting widgets *have* passion. And that passion gets noticed. And that notice results in new opportunities to do something more challenging and interesting. You are only a mindless worker ant if that is how you choose to see yourself.

Does that Mean I Shouldn’t Leave My Horrible Job?!

Of course not. But take the time to honestly figure out what makes the job horrible. If the problem is your attitude, your expectations, your need for applause, your passion myths, then chances are good the next job you find isn’t going to be any less horrible than this one, and you are not going to be one inch closer to finding your passion.
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#2
Looking forward to getting up in the morning!

I prefer this phrase as it's more encompassing on all aspects of living.

If I don't look forward to tomorrow, then perhaps its time for me to go...
Just google singapore man of leisure
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#3
Haha passion? In Singapore? Must have rich daddy
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#4
This was sensational... thanks thriftville. As I have been in a period of drawdown at the moment, my passion is what enables me to keep going with pulling the trigger. I fight my way out, and I love the challenge of what I do.

Passion huh...
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#5
You will develop your "passion" and learn to love or at least like what you are doing when that's the only things you can or know how to do to go on earning your living. i always dream if i am a hawker like a "Char Kway Teow man", i always will strife to be the most loved "Char Kway Teow" in town. Then i think everybody will be happy. But alas not to be, i found one of my "calling" in trying to be as good as i can be in investing. i am still trying. How about you? Have you learned to love whatever you are doing at the moment? Passion can be developed slowly too.TongueBig Grin
WB:-

1) Rule # 1, do not lose money.
2) Rule # 2, refer to # 1.
3) Not until you can manage your emotions, you can manage your money.

Truism of Investments.
A) Buying a security is buying RISK not Return
B) You can control RISK (to a certain level, hopefully only.) But definitely not the outcome of the Return.

NB:-
My signature is meant for psychoing myself. No offence to anyone. i am trying not to lose money unnecessary anymore.
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