STOP ‘Following Your Passion’. It’s Horrible Advice; Here’s Why

This road doesn’t lead to where you’d expect…

“Follow your passion and you’ll never work a day in your life”, says Instagram.

This is some of the stupidest advice I have heard, and I can say that honestly because I’ve done it at least three times myself.

Working in social media, this quote gets thrown around all too often – both in and outside of Instagram. From the first time I took it to heart as a seven-year-old Girl Scout and my ‘passion’ for cookies contributed to my father’s dietary-related health issues, to the last time I let it fail me working on a nonprofit that didn’t have a market fit in 2017, I have noticed something peculiar.

This quote always holds the same allure to the people who, like myself, are searching for a successful career, and fulfilling life. But following your passion is not going to get you there.

Let’s talk about why this is horrible advice, and (assuming you want to lead a meaningful and fulfilling life) what you should follow instead.

Upon face value, it sounds good: “follow your passion and you’ll never get bored!”, right? Let’s use the analogy of spaghetti dinner to describe passion.

Let’s say I ask you what your favorite food is and inform you that you have to eat it every day for the rest of your life.

You say spaghetti.

Spaghetti is a great choice, and it’ll still be your favorite by the end of day three. Maybe even by the end of week one the answer is still ‘yum’. But by week two it’s going to start to get old.

By the end of the first month, you might even start feeling guilty. Spaghetti was your favorite food, but now you feel nauseated going near it.

This is the same trap that those Instagram quotes are leading you into.

Don’t follow your passion, because: 
• It can become a part of your identity. 
• Passions get old quicker than we realize
• Worn-out passion breed feelings of guilt
• Guilt can cause a lack of adaptivity and mobility.

When we choose a passion it can too easily become a part of our identity. To use myself as a glaring example; My name is Cassandra, I am a cat lady, a Philz coffee drinker who lives in the Silicon Valley and I am passionate about these things!

We hold onto our passion, our identity, so tightly. But when that passion stops serving us, we almost refuse to let it go. It sits on our ankle like a ball and chain weighing us down, preventing us from growing into who we are meant to be. Additionally, when your passion has become your comfort zone, there’s nothing more to learn. Life starts to get a little bit boring, even when you try to add more sauce.

Admitting that an old passion is something that you no longer care about can breed intense feelings of guilt or even an identity crisis.

Additionally, your passion will change. Think about what you were passionate about as a kid, versus a teenager, versus today. I’m sure a few things that used to mean the world to you are now completely irrelevant.

Oh, how tastes change….

Newsflash: That’s growth, and if you are anchored to a specific topic or idea, you won’t have the freedom and flexibility to progress.

“Following a passion” is following a road that leads to nowhere. You need to be on a road that has highway intersecting it, a few crossroads and perhaps a river that runs through it. You need flexibility, options, and a sense of curiosity.

Even in the context of a relationship, passion can die out. Excitement never disappoints.

Relationships, spaghetti, entrepreneurship and beyond, we are humans and we evolve. It’s why we no longer have tails, and why you shouldn’t follow your passion as so many hipster quotes suggest.

Unlike your passion, your excitement is something that, slightly unfamiliar, will always be tied sense of curiosity and exploration. Being ‘excited’ by something, by virtue means that it is of interest, and perhaps even a slight challenge. And just like you, someday it will change.

But “following your excitement” gives you permission and freedom to change with the world. As Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher has been quoted as saying “change is the only constant.”

If you continue to follow your excitement instead of your passion, you won’t be stuck eating spaghetti for dinner for the rest of your life.

Get excited

So let go of what’s weighing you down, stay curious, and start walking the unpaved trail of excitement.

If you enjoyed this post, consider reading more student entries here. If you enjoy this train of thought, you’ll probably enjoy this poetic video.

Follow @SincerelyCass11