5 Steps to Figure Out Your Passion
Follow your passion has become a comically common advice for those who seek enlightment from their workplace. In this article, I review Cal Newport’s simple idea about finding work you love, and reflect on my own journey so far in the journey towards finding fulfilling work.
Why do some people enjoy their work, but other people don’t?
It’s a pressing question which has pressed the minds of many who seek the truth about both, their personal and professional lives. I have been a victim of a similar mentality and it’s plagued my mind for years. So far, I’ve had my fair share of career and life transitions, with many more to come, and I encourage you to join me on this path to fulfilment. Lets explore some of my most critical moments as a successful student and part-time developer.
The Bus Trip
A few days ago, I was on my usual bus trip back home at around six in the evening. It was at this moment that I was intrigued by two female international students, slightly older than me, discussing their lives so far:
Passenger A: What are you doing after these holidays?
Passenger B: I have no clue at all, I’d have to do a masters to get a job but have no clue how I’ll pay for it. The job I’m currently doing doesn’t pay very much and is not teaching me anything new…like it’s basically all busywork
Passenger A: I know…it’s tough, but at least be thankful you can have relevant work experience when you graduate.
This is the real world. Sometimes, we scramble to find opportunities and we take whatever we are given, even if its not ideal, even if its not what our perfect snowflake heart desires. We take it and mould it until we have our own unqiue curves and edges, we meticulously carve out the best shape we can given our circumstances, our own, perfect, albeit rugged, snowflake.
The Intern’s Dilemma
Last year, I landed an internship with, what is considered, a prestigious, international organisation. People who have been there before say that the work is not arduous and that it’s more about the connections that you form while working for the organization. So why am I not as excited for this internship as I am working for the startup that I currently work for?
The building of career capital is by far the most valuable asset.
Career capital is a way to describe the value of what you do for the organization. It’s the culmination of all the skills which you have acquired over the years and leads to the most progress later on. Want to guess what is the fastest way of building Career Capital? Work for a startup, at least once in your life. You’re sure to find out 😉.
But What About Passion?
I get it. You’re in your late teens or early 20s, and trying to figure out what to do with your life. But chasing your passion is a frivolous game which will leave you lost and unfulfilled. Take it from the man that is the father of this passion phenomenon, Steve Jobs himself.
Jobs started off interested in Zen Buddhism. He left his retail job at Atari and went on a trek all over India to find enlightment in the Zen practices of the 13th century. When he came back, nothing had changed. Jobs was still a hippie, changed from one career to the next, from one location to the next and even from one woman to the next. How is it then, that not even a year later that Jobs became such an overwhelming success and, even twenty years later, had the same passion and enthusiasm about creating technological pieces of art, just like he did in the 90s?
Learning to Love What You Do
This is going to be a hard truth. It was a tough pill for me to swallow but the ramifications of a statement like this extend far beyond the world of work. Let’s investigate.
There’s no such thing as a perfect ___.
We as humans are programmed to get dissatisfied by our circumstances, whatever they may be. The same dream job you took three months ago turns into the job you despise due to high stress or a crappy boss. The same applies for relationships, health and fame. We call this the Hedonic Trendmill.
Back when I was in high school, I had some idea about where I saw myself in the future. It was just in my head, but I cant imagine what would have happened if it actually manifested itself. The idea took many different shapes, but most of the time it read something like:
1. Stability is king. Cling to any sort of stability that you see. You only want a career with a secure job. Take as little risk as possible.
2. I wish to stay at home, never go travelling too far from home since it is a waste of time and money.
3. Drive a good car and wear fancy clothes. This will give you some status and therefore you will have influence when you hang out with your friends.
4. Have a happy relationship/marriage. Make sure there is no fighting and that both people are always happy.
Let me be clear. There is nothing wrong with wanting these things. In fact, most of these are the epitome of a happy and successful person. However, none of them lead to loving your life for what it is. These goals would never help me get over the downfalls and missteps which I would eventually make.
Where I Am So Far — The Five Steps
1. Mindset
I am one of the lucky few who realized what they wanted to do early on. When I was in Year 10, I would spend hours coding solutions to simple computer problems which I know could be solved without it. Most of the time the doing it manually would have actually saved me time, yet I would choose to automate it anyway.
The reason I offered this story is to illustrate that it’s really important to enjoy the process, not just the outcome. Happyness is not a commodity, it is not something we can buy or wear or look like. Rather, it is a process. You know that feeling that the periods of struggle in your life strike you as the happiest points? It is here that we are able to grow personally and professionally, make new connections and achieve significant progress in relation to our career capital.
2. Practicality Over Speed Of Progression
Imagine you wish to complete a 20 mile marathon one day. You understand that it’s a laborious task, especially for the 30 year old couch potato you’ve turned into. What would be the first step you would take to reach this goal?
If we investigate, there’s only really one skill that’s being tested here, that is our ability to move our legs and run. It is really important to train for endurance, rather than short bursts too. Once we have identified these, the next step is to indulge in small bets.
We start off with small practical steps, that, at least at first, leverage our current, existing circumstances. We slowly run just one more lap, train one more muscle and practice doing one more sit up. Its these small risks that we take that stretch ourselves just outside the adjacent possible. This is what allows growth of what is possible, and eventually, you too can do a 20 mile run.
3. Response to Difficult Circumstances
Our response to difficult circumstances in our lives plays a key role in having good health, wealth and happiness. I’m sure you’ve heard this phrase too: “With great power comes great responsibility. ” It sounds like something profound, yet its a phrase that you expect your uncle to croak out at the family Christmas lunch after his fifth beer. However, by just flipping the phrases around, you arrive at a much more profound statement:
“With Great Responsibility Comes Great Power”
This phrase was first introduced to me by Mark Manson. His book, the Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, gave me this life changing realization. If we take responsibility for how we respond to all our circumstances, if we realize that the problem is now ours to deal with, and that no-one else will come and clear up the mess for us, we are much more likely to do something about it.
Say we just got fired because of a report that we could not finish on time, due to another employee giving us their work an hour before it was due, leaving you no time to scramble the damn thing together. Presuming our past track record was flawless, it would not be our fault that we got fired. Hell it would be a damn foolish boss who fires an employee for such a petty reason. However, fault and responsibility are separate animals. You may not be at fault for the actions of others, yet now you are responsible. It is at this point that we can use the different perspective to our advantage
Old Perspective: I lost my job because of my crappy boss. Jobs in my industry only have crappy bosses. I’ll never work for another company in this industry again. I’ll never give my full self at work again, doing bare minimum work for a measly wage.
New Perspective: It is my responsibility to fix my situation. I should reflect on my past experience with the company to see if there are any substantial improvements I can identify. If appropriate, i’ll even call up my boss to make sure I have everything I need to avoid another disappointment at my next career shift. While I look for a job, its the perfect opportunity to add more skills to my repertoire and understand the industry better by networking with my peers!
Now that sounds like success!
4. The Importance of Education
Notice how I said education, not schooling. Picking up new skills is crucial, whether you’re in college or have never been to one in your life. Lifelong learning is a skill that can be honed through hours of practice. There’s just one rule you must remember:
If its not difficult, you’re not spending your time effectively.
Everyone wants to do what is easy. Few have the capability of doing what may be just outside their comfort zone. Many of us enjoy regularly playing a sport, strumming to our favorite songs or driving with the radio on. Yet, few go on to become professional athletes, musicians or race-car drivers. Why is this the case?
The answer is staring right in front of you. We never do deliberate practice. We hesitate when trying a new tactic in tennis, do our best to stick to the songs with which we are familiar and practice new race-car driving techniques. It is this barrier that causes you, among many others to be just another joe, mediocre at best.
Education combined with deliberate practice in a skill you love is the best recipe for a fulfilling career.
5. Learning to Love What You Do
This last one is a challenge, both to myself, as well as many of my readers. When I was small, I heard Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Harvard. As he was speaking to millions across the world, a few months before he passed away, he uttered the words, “Do what you love.” Many people caught onto this, pursuing whatever they feel suits their feeling of a perfect career. I, however propose a different argument:
“Love what you do”
No, alas, I didn’t get this one from Mark Manson. I made it up in year 10 as I failed one Math test and then another. It was the only way out for me to be truly happy. It was the only way, that anyone, in any field, can get to the adjacent possible, the next discovery on the frontier of the field waiting to be exploited. Without learning to love what you do, motivation fades, and the resulting melancholic melody drowns us in dissatisfaction. Instead, learning to love what we do, using the small wins as motivation to propel even bigger ones, now that’s a great formula for loving what we do.
Conclusion
That’s it. This is where I’m at so far. Thank you for reading. I would love to get to know you more, so feel free to leave your journey in the comments below or find me on twitter @deeplydiligent. I wish you all the best!
Disclaimer — I Am Still Learning
This blog is supposed to be a way to document my thinking process and journal how it changes thought the years. It is not meant to be life advice and should not be used as so. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I look forward to hearing from you!
