Passion Does Not Always Equate Profession
Be weary of anyone that tries to convince you that an ideal career is the result of passion intersecting with profession.
Sure - many of us are lucky to be in a position where our livelihood beautifully intersects with our skills, abilities, and our passions. Some of us will experience our livelihood intersect with our skills and our interests - not necessarily our passion. Let’s do an exercise: Google (or look up the definition) of passion.
Now that we are in agreement of what passion entails…let’s answer these questions together:
Does a plumber experience an intense desire and enthusiasm for plunging toilets?
Does an administrative assistant leave their place of work with feelings of arousing ardor?
Does an accountant communicate to you their intense outburst of strong emotions they experienced by crunching in those numbers?
As you can see, it’s quite an absurd idea to think that an ideal career is worthy of our passion. Our passions rarely intersect with our profession. Keyword ‘rarely’. I do not want to sound pessimistic however, you’d have to be quite naive to think that such fervor is relegated to the boundaries of our profession.
Motivational speakers and certain life/career coaches have sensationalized the idea of passion and profession to the point that it has become a deterrent to one’s professional growth and opportunity.
I will go as far as to say that it is downright dangerous to think that you must be in a career or a job that you are passionate about. The truth of the matter is that not a single job will be 100% enjoyable and that is OKAY. We need to practice humility, courage, and possess the wisdom to look beyond the “bad” parts of our jobs for they will give us a relative perspective on the “good” or more enjoyable parts of our jobs.
It is this idea that you have to be passionate all the time or happy at work that ultimately constructs a false, delusional, and impossible standard of reality.
Let our passions be passions, whatever they may be, wherever they are practiced. Improvisors, comedians, and actors will share their passion with their profession and so might other occupations but the reality is that most of us should strive to meet our interests with our skills, not our passions.
Are you living to work or are you working to live? If you are passionate about your career, GREAT! I commend your efforts and your achievement - but please don’t be so deluded that you must preach to everyone that they too can strive for your reality.
I keep my passions separate from my career. That does not mean that I am not passionate about my career. It simply means I hold many passions and I am in no rush to monetize them. If I turn my passions into money-making endeavours, then it will kill the passion…and that’s just my personal story.
The important part is to understand the difference between passion and interest when it comes to the satisfaction of your job and your career. Passion does not always equate profession.