Introduction

• The concept of passion is an emotive and contentious topic, a thorny issue and that’s why I want to cover it. Is it a good thing (an enabler) or a bad thing (constraint)? Let me start with a brief definition so we are all on the same page, I am defining a passion as something which you have a strong and intense love for, or interest in.
• I have two fundamental views on the importance and role of passion;
  1. Don’t wait for your passion to come and find you, because it won’t, go out and live life, by doing so you will start subconsciously cultivating a passion. Passion isn’t something waiting to be found, it takes (often accidental) hard work and development.
  2. If your job is your ‘passion’, lucky you, congratulations. But for everyone else – including me – keep going, I do a job I enjoy and get value and pleasure from (most of the time!) however it isn’t my passion, but that doesn’t matter. Why doesn’t it matter? Because if I did work my passion as a full time job I’m concerned I’d lose my passion for it. Work is inevitably not the most fun part of your life, and it can ruin even the purest passion.
• In the rest of this piece I am going to detail the rationale behind why I’ve come to the above beliefs and hopefully provide some compelling arguments for you to agree with me and Mike Rowe (see quote above), enjoy!

‘Following your passion’ can (metaphorically) paralyze you

• I formed my view on the role and importance of passion by carefully considering the following question; does living by the mantra ‘follow your passion’ help you break free from the shackles of oppression, or paralyze you into never starting or committing to anything?Mike
• Wider society likes to paint the first picture very vividly, that following your passion can set you free. This all starts from a very young age; ‘what do you want to be when you group up?’ The question implies that you can (and want to be) only be one thing and you should already know exactly what that thing in. Whilst you (probably) don’t want to be the same thing you did aged 6, the underlying thesis remains; we all have 1 thing in life and you should know exactly what it is, and be happiest doing it. This rigidity and focus on ‘one’ thing and ‘the’ thing creates a fear in people on all ages – but mostly profoundly in their late teens and early twenties – who haven’t found their ‘passion’.
• This fear of finding your passion stops you doing things for the hell of it, or because ‘why not’? It blinkers people and it depresses them. Not only does it stop their fun it also stops them starting anything, when you’re focused on finding your ‘passion’ and you don’t know what your passion is, it stops you doing anything as you are waiting for that ‘passion’ to magically appear.
• By not starting you’re failing to build towards your passion, as I’ve already mentioned, your passion won’t come to you in an epiphany, you’ve got to go out, live life and your passion will be cultivated by doing the things you enjoy, and trialling things to find out what you enjoy.
• By not realising and understanding this people become paralysed in two ways; (a) paralysed from having fun because that is time wasted not finding your passion (b) paralysed from starting the road that could lead to their ‘passion’ because what if it doesn’t?

The Alchemist & Passion

• Now I’ve covered why I think telling people to ‘follow their passion’ is detrimental to them and doesn’t set them free in the way probably intend, I want to focus a little on why I came to these conclusions.
• I have just finished reading ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho, you can find it on Amazon here. It is a really interesting and well written book – selling 65+ million copies suggests it’s got something about it– and I’d recommend if you haven’t yet read it you should. However, a large part of the premise of the book didn’t sit well with me.
• The protagonist, affectionately referred to as ‘boy’, had just two dreams about finding treasure before deciding to continually give up everything he has to search for his ‘passion’, inspired by god. Is that really a passion? It sounds more like blind faith that, if seen through rose tinted glasses, ends up working out in the story.
• There are three specific things which get to me; (1) how the boy can say he has a passion after two dreams (2) the ‘lesson’ that you should always give up what you have in pursuit of your ‘passion’, (3) false expectations that giving things up will always go right.
• You are probably thinking right now that I am a massive pessimist who is trying to ruin an uplifting and beautiful story, but stay with me, I’ll spend some time explaining what drives my views.
  1. Defining/Realising Passion – The boy in ‘The Alchemist’ seemed to know after just two dreams. So is there a magic time when you know? My immediate answer is no, but that two dreams is too short. Be careful about jumping into something too quickly, a passion is cultivated over a period of time, those who have historically found it difficult to define their passion can too rapidly jump into things only to realise after a couple of months they’ve lost their love for that passion. Another important point to make is that if you have to go searching for what you are passionate about, then the chances are you are not actually passionate about it. For example, a young kid doesn’t ask themselves how to find fun, they just go out and have fun.
  2. Give up everything for passion – ‘The Alchemist’ continually suggests that despite the boy having a good life, living comfortably and even finding love that he should give everything up for what I shall refer to as his ‘two dream passion’. This is where the rose tinted glasses point is very important, even if you know with 100% certainty that your ‘passion’ is 100% legitimate and will be for the rest of your life, giving everything up will not; (a) ensure you get to live your passion (think of how many passionate actors are waiters) (b) ensure that if you do live your passion you’ll be happier than you are right now.
  3. False expectations – Even if you do find your ‘passion’ it doesn’t mean you no longer have to do the boring things or get to simply focus on the fun stuff. Best case scenario is those boring and rubbish things feel a little less boring and rubbish because you love the end result but that’s only best case. What you could end up doing is ruining your passion, or realising that living your passion actually makes you less happy than you were either; (a) before you had your passion or – more likely (b) when you were leaving your old life but with your passion as a hobby.

Other things to consider…

• If you’re reading this and thinking, I knew immediately what my passion was and have not had to cultivate it then I am jealous. However, I do take solace in the fact that I have cultivated my passions’, and as cheesy as it sounds, I enjoy looking back at the journey I took to cultivation, it’s that journey that makes the passion even more special to me.
• At the other end of the spectrum if you are reading this thinking I still have no idea what my passion is, or even what could be cultivated into a passion then don’t worry about thinking “I don’t know what my passion is”. Instead think along the lines of “I am still cultivating my passion. I’m going to continue to live life without fear of not having a defined passion and say yes to a wide array of opportunities”.
• Another important thing to remember is that not every passion can be turned into monetary gain, and this absolutely isn’t a bad thing. There will always be stories about people who turned their passion into a multi-million pound business, but there is a reason this is newsworthy – because it’s extremely rare. Enjoy your passion and don’t get concerned if you get no monetary value from loving it. Surely it’s better to have a passion as a hobby than do it full time and start resenting it?

Conclusion

• The concept of passion and how large a part your passion should play in your work life is an extremely interesting and divisive topic. One of the reasons it is so disputed is because it’s personal to everyone, so everyone has their own view. In this piece I have offered my view on the role of passion, my fundamental view is two-fold; (1) don’t wait for your passion to come and find you, it won’t. Go out and live and love life, it’ll come. (2) If your job is your ‘passion’, lucky you, congratulations. For everyone else keep going, your job doesn’t need to be your passion, as long as you still enjoy it (most of the time), and keep indulging your passion as a hobby.
• Finally, be inspired and motivated by ‘The Alchemist’ and other incredible books out there that talk and promote following your passion, but remember to appreciate your life the way it is, working your passion shouldn’t be the ultimate end goal for everyone, being thankful for what you do have and embracing that should be.