It’s time we all take a good hard look at PASSION and why it’s ridiculous.
Raise your hand if you’ve been asked this:
What are you passionate about?
Have you found your passion?
Wanna pay me money to help you uncover your passion?
Hold up - let’s stop this madness for a minute.
I am constantly hearing “What are you passionate about?” and I literally search for an answer that I think will fit into the mold of what that person might think a suitable “passion” is.
Clean water? Education? Starving kids?
"WHAT DO THEY WANT TO HEAR?!?" I silently scream to myself.
The real honest answer: I’m passionate about creating enough revenue that my husband can stop stressing about his student loan payments. THAT’S my passion - HIM. I’m passionate about creating a business that let’s me be home during the day with my new baby girl. My passion? HER.
My "passion” is them.
As a little girl and well into college, I wanted to be an Opera singer. I studied music in college and finally realized that being an Opera singer most likely meant waiting tables. While I loved my time at Joe’s Crab Shack, I didn’t want that to be my career trajectory.
Was music my passion? Hell yes it was! But why does that always have to translate in to your work?
Can you be PASSIONATE about your work without it being your PASSION?
I believe so.
I also believe that this question has left us feeling bad about what we are pursuing. As if being an accountant or a bartender is any less noble because your passion isn't GAAPS or gin?
How about being passionate about being able to have a business that creates jobs for others, or bringing in a decent income in the evenings so you can be there when you precious child comes home from school?
It’s OK to use your work as the vehicle to your passion. We shouldn’t be chasing our passion anyway, we should be solving a problem - if you happen to be passionate about that problem, jackpot!
Let’s let go of having to work on your “passion” and decide to be “passionate” about your work instead.