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Is Following Your Passion the Right Thing to Do?

August 11, 2020

At some point in life, someone is bound to tell you to follow your passion. It seems like something that you should do because it just feels right, but what does it really mean to follow your passion? How do you even fully understand what “your passion” is? 

Passion is hard to define simply because people come from many different walks of life and will always differ in what they want to do or be. It can be defined as having an emotional attachment to something that you are willing to follow. One author even writes, “It’s a cause that I care about so much that I am willing to suffer for it,” just to emphasize the importance of the matter. Finding your passion is searching for what you care about the most, and giving the maximum time and energy to see that to fulfillment. 

Now that passion is defined, the real question is if following your passion is the right move.  An article from The Muse explains why following your passion on a personal level is not the right move for two different reasons. 

First, it’s unclear how to follow your passion. It’s great to want to do something you love, but do you understand the logistics that go into it? Will you make money? Do you have to major in a specific field or go to a specific college? Do you have to move to another state or even country? All these questions will pop up during the process of attempting to follow your passion.

I always wanted to be a general manager of a professional sports team. This “passion” of mine was something I wanted up until my freshman year of college, and quickly went away after analyzing the improbability of that happening. Most people would tell me that I gave up on my passion. Instead, it opened up way more opportunities for me in college and my career path as well.

The second reason is that people assume that following your passion is easy when it’s not. It takes a lot of time and dedication for someone to follow their passion, as well as days where you can doubt yourself. Thinking about following your passion is comforting and exciting, but if you reach it there’s always the potential that it can turn out differently than imagined. Life comes at you fast and can quickly turn your passion into something that you may not want to pursue anymore.

The point of this article is not to discourage you from following your passion. The point is to make you think about why you’re following that path. Is it because you truly want to dedicate your life to whatever your passion is, or is it something you think will bring you the most happiness? I want to encourage you to reflect on what you want to accomplish in life before deciding on your path to follow.

 A great quote to abide by is “The path of least resistance is what makes rivers run crooked.” If you go through life with no issues, are you really accomplishing anything? Resistance creates hardships temporarily, but when you reach your passion’s goal, it makes the journey so much sweeter. Reflect and analyze before pursuing your passion. It could save you from wasting time and point you towards the correct path.

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/quotes/2580/#:~:text=The%20path%20of%20least%20resistance%20is%20what%20makes%20rivers%20run%20crooked.

https://www.themuse.com/advice/why-follow-your-passion-is-pretty-bad-advice

https://www.embracepossibility.com/blog/real-meaning-passion/


 

Written by: Mike Tammaro

Mike Tammaro is a Junior double majoring in Finance and Economics and writes for the blog in order to expand my skills as a student. As a business major, the curriculum does not allow for a lot of creative writing, so being able to publish written work is freeing from my normal educational routine.