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Almost every life coach will tell you that if you follow your passion and do what you love, you will never have to work another day in your life. It would seem as if they all read the same book or took the same Life Coaching Class 101.
Of course, it’s great when we follow our passion but that advice is like telling someone to follow their passion and run off to New York and become a Broadway Actor. How likely is it that they will become a Broadway actor, and if so how long will it take, and how will they survive in the meantime?
Being happy is what we strive for as Human Beings. It is not money or the big house, the fancy sports car or even the private jet. What we strive for is what having those things will do for us, and more importantly how it will make us feel.
If you have a desire to own a $7 Million mansion on a private island, how will owning that mansion make you feel? Will it make you feel more secure, feel more confident that you’re able to provide for your family and give them a lifestyle where they have freedom? Will owning that mansion mean that you now have the freedom to do what you want—when you want to do it?
What if you could get that feeling without having to own a $7 million mansion on a private-Island? What if you could get that feeling and you didn’t have to worry about having to stress yourself on how you are going to acquire $7 million?
We live in a society where we need to offer something of value in order to get paid, and based on the value we offer we will get paid accordingly, and the amount we get paid is what determines what we can afford.
So, when it comes to following your passion there are things that have to be taken into consideration because most of us have to find a way in which to make a living.
Based on that alone, here are three reasons why following your passion is actually a bad piece of advice.
1. Can You Earn a Living Following Your Passion?
I recently met a young lady who told me that her passion was painting, and after a few more questions I realized that she had never painted a day in her life. In fact, she knew very little about painting at all. So the question is, whatever you are passionate about, is it something that you can make a living from?
For most of us when we were younger there were things that we wanted to do, have and become. However, as adults who have to find ways to provide for ourselves and our families and even though we might have enjoyed doing certain things as children, would we still have that same level of enjoyment if we had to do it every day to make a living?
2. How Do We Decide Which Passion To Choose?
If I asked you to think about what you’re passionate about, how many things would you be thinking about at once? Exactly! We all have different things that we are passionate about, and we are more passionate about some more than others. So how do we decide which passion to follow?
Most people who take this advice usually end up doing nothing because they don’t know which direction to go and which passion to follow. Sometimes the different idea you are thinking about may seem so far apart that it doesn’t seem like you can combine them into one passion.
Let’s say for argument sake that I decide to follow any one of my passions, now what? Haven’t we all heard, “just follow your passion and you will never have to work another day in your life.” This kind of advice makes it seem so easy. What the advice givers are not telling you is the long hours and late nights, the uncertainty of whether your idea will work, the fear and anxiety that has to be conquered.
3. Passion Changes As We Get Older.
The things that you’re passionate about at 18 will very likely be different at 38. Our passions evolve as we evolve which is why it’s a great idea to be open-minded and not get stuck on just finding a passion because, tomorrow, we find might something that brings us unimaginable joy.
Just like everything else in life, passions change, sometimes we just don’t enjoy it anymore or not as much as we used to, and we want to do something that will be more fulfilling and something that actually makes a different in people’s lives.
What if you suck at your passion? It’s a hard pill to swallow but sometimes we just suck at the thing that we love to do. I wanted to be a singer like Michael Jackson when I was younger but I am a terrible singer, so should I really follow that passion?
Here’s what I suggest you should do instead of following your passion. Follow instead the things that you’re good at and the things that add some contribution to the world.
Passion is something that can be developed, and the way you develop passion is to find something that will make other people’s lives better and, also making the world a better place. In doing so you will find happiness.
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