“Follow your passion” is terrible advice. That statement probably caused you to raise an eyebrow in suspicion. Your whole life you’ve been told, “follow your passion and you’ll never work a day in your life”. While this sounds nice, it isn’t rooted in reality. So much so that it is actually detrimental to the outlook of those who follow this advice hook line and sinker. When people take the passion approach to finding a fulfilling career, they often find themselves in jobs or careers they don’t necessarily feel passionate about and move on in search for their “calling”. My argument, as argued in the book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You, by Cal Newport, is that building up proficiency and skill over time will increase fulfillment and lead to passion. This is the mindset of a “craftsman” rather than passion pursuer. It is the craftsman who eventually unlocks the gate to passion.
Why following your passion doesn’t work
Picture this:
You’re a recent college graduate who got a degree in business. You land your first job out of school working as a cold caller at a small real estate firm. Your job is to use a script to contact leads and bring listings to the agents in the brokerage. There is entry level pay, but really good training that comes with the job. At first, you hate your job. Calling people and dealing with rejection is very difficult for you. You don’t feel any passion for what you’re doing. The thought of quitting enters your mind so you can find your true calling. You have a decision to make. Should you quit to find your true passion, or leverage the opportunities and progress you’ve made and can continue to make in your current position. My answer is as follows:
Let’s say you like the people you work with. It’s an environment where you really feel like you can grow and learn. The training is good and the gates of opportunity are open for you to learn a lot from this job, increase your skills over time, and then pursue a higher level opportunity in this space. With all these factors in place, I think the “follow your passion” line of thinking is downright destructive. This is a career path with lots of opportunities to grow and level up. Not by “climbing the corporate ladder” so to speak, but by gaining valuable skills in this field to allow you to increase your efficiency, autonomy, and compensation.
Why I believe this situation is ripe for opportunity
Being a cold caller sucks. This is almost universally agreed upon, at least in the beginning stages. That being said, two things are accomplished by this job.
- You are out of your comfort zone therefore facing the prospect of growth like nothing in your comfort zone could provide.
- You are subject to immediate, harsh feedback! This is perhaps the most painful part of the whole process which is what makes it the best thing you can deal with to promote the growth in yourself you are looking for.
With these two factors in play, you will undoubtedly continue to grow and increase your proficiency over time. Not to mention the feedback and coaching you will be receiving from your coworkers as stated in the above section. We should note at this point that this WILL NOT be easy. There will be many instances during this process where you’ll want to quit because the discomfort and feedback are getting to you in a negative way. When you want to seek shelter most, know and understand that this feeling of discomfort is the most important part of the process. Understanding this feeling should help you embrace it rather than run from it when you feel it. This is the manifestation of growth in the way these situations make us feel.
Leveraging “Career Capital” to expand your horizons
The ability to become a great cold caller is a valuable skill that not everyone can attain. There are several potential avenues you can take this growth using the “career capital” you’ve gained from this experience. First off, let’s define exactly what we mean when we say the phrase “career capital”. Career capital, to paraphrase as written in the aforementioned So Good They Can’t Ignore You, means the accumulation of skill and experience that allows you to advance to more fulfillment in your given career path. The career capital gained from being a successful cold caller opens up the gates for you to translate that into a career as a realtor. This is a break out of the comfort zone of being a cold caller and a big step toward the autonomy and compensation you desire. From there, success opens up even more doors. Perhaps starting a team in your brokerage or becoming a broker yourself is something you choose to do. Maybe you use this career capital to become an investor, flipper, or a hybrid of these in your own unique way. You can literally leverage career capital to grow down any avenue you choose. The continuous accumulation of career capital in a certain field over time will open the floodgates of fulfilling possibilities you will develop passion for over time.
Passion comes from proficiency
Another reason why following your passion is bad advice is because not many people have monetizable passions. Most of our passions more or less have to do with hobbies and things we do for enjoyment. In the working world, not many if any of the professions or careers you could take on share aspects of these things most people are “passionate” about. Therefore, looking for this same passion could eventually end up feeling like you’re chasing your tail (which you are). The truth is, in the real world, proficiency builds passion. You become passionate about things you are really good at. If you are continually putting yourself in situations where you are slightly out of your comfort zone and you’re subject to immediate feedback, you will continue to accumulate more and more career capital. The skills that you acquire will open up more doors for you where you’ll have the ability to be more autonomous, make more money, and develop a passion for what you’re doing. Passion is created through hard work and developing proficiency, it is not found. Rewiring this in your head will help you get a lot more clear about how to live the most fulfilling life possible. It’s all within your reach!