Don’t Follow Your Passion. Be Passionate About What You Do.
Why purpose, usefulness, and value matter more than loving your work
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“Don’t Follow Your Passion. Be Passionate About What You Do.”
That idea makes people uncomfortable because it sounds almost cruel given that the world keeps telling us the opposite. Find your passion. Chase what you love. Embrace it and never let it go.
But first, a story:
If I followed my passion, I’d probably play harmonica on street corners and draw caricatures on napkins in bars.
I’m pretty good at it, too.
I can get smiles, applause, free beer, and even handfuls of spare change. Which is nice.
So nice that I’ve told my wife not to worry, we’ll never starve. Because if I simply follow my passion, we can make tens of dollars.
What we couldn’t do is build a life, support a family, or help put our kids through college. We couldn’t say yes to opportunities that mattered because I’d be too busy chasing what made me feel good in the moment.
That’s the part no one likes to talk about.
Why Following Your Passion Often Fails
By itself, passion doesn’t care if anyone needs what you do or not. It doesn’t care if it’s useful. It doesn’t care if it solves a problem or creates value. Passion is selfish. It cares only that you enjoy it.
And enjoyment is not a viable business model.
Here’s where the confusion creeps in. People mistake passion for purpose. They think the thing they love most must automatically be the thing they should do for a living. And then when that doesn’t work out, they assume that something must be wrong with them.
After all, they followed their passion.
But there’s nothing wrong with them; they were simply sold the wrong idea. Mostly by rich, successful people who love to pontificate and spout homilies without actually having to suffer the consequences such saccharine sayings create.
Things like “follow your passion and the money will come,” and “if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
You see, people who build meaningful careers don’t start with passion. They start with purpose. They look for something the world actually needs. Something people will pay for. Something that creates impact beyond self-expression.
Then, and this is the important part, they bring passion to that work.
Passion is fuel, not direction.
Passion is fuel, not direction.
It’s what keeps you showing up when the work gets hard. It’s what pushes you to get better when you feel you’ve plateaued. It’s what makes people trust you because they can feel you care. But it only works after you’ve chosen the right vehicle.
Start With Purpose, Then Bring the Passion.
I didn’t build a career because branding and messaging strategy were my childhood dreams. I built a career by discovering how to help people clarify what they do, figure out why it matters, and why it matters to them, and then communicate it effectively. That work was valuable. It was needed. It solved the very real problems real people had. And they were willing to pay handsomely for it.
Over time, I became passionate about it. And that’s the sequence most people miss.
Don’t beat yourself up because you’re stuck, frustrated, or wondering why your passion isn’t paying the bills. Instead, ask yourself a better question.
Who needs what I know?
What problem can I help solve?
Where can I be useful?
Bring your passion there.
You see, I can still play harmonica on the corner, and I can still draw on napkins.
And you can still do what you love and love what you do.
Just don’t confuse passion with a plan.
Instead, build something real and then pour your passion into it.
If this problem makes sense to you, maybe it’s because you’ve seen it in your organization, on your team, or in your career.
And if you’re looking for a keynote that challenges comfortable myths and gives people the language that they can use to reach their potential, let’s talk.
I will print the three Ws plus!
Who needs what I know?
What problem can I help solve?
Where can I be useful?
Bring your passion there.
Thank you, Bruce
Bruce
You know that I read and appreciate your Blog every week – it is also the ONLY Blog I read, as I find that Blogs in general are self-indulgent and a waste of time. Not yours! There is always some new idea, or a reminder of a truth – sometimes huge “Aha’s!” – sometimes the smallest whisper, but it always makes me think.
Now to your recent post on following your purpose:
“But first, a story:” 🙂
I graduated as an architect, followed by a Master’s degree in music performance and conducting. Then for the following 45 years I did neither!? I started as a music school principal, and crossed over to the dark side of management – always executive positions running large performing arts organizations. My passion is music and design. But I felt that if I pursued these as careers, I would not do the one thing that I had discovered being my purpose: making a difference. (I am NOT saying that architects and musicians do not make a difference, it just was not my purpose.) I became completely absorbed by the transformative power of the arts to change lives – for the better. To change communities to be more compassionate, open minded and creative.
So when I read your post, I thought: “Bruce read my mail!” You stated so elegantly the difference between purpose and passion, that I wish I was able to clarify this to my kids (who are now in their 40’s) when they were teenagers. When students ask me about this today, you have now given me the clarity of language to offer life-changing advice.
Thank you!
Bruce, this blog is sooo true! If you told high school me or even when I first went to college that I would be traveling speaking on consent, healthy relationships, sexual assault prevention, and respect for all in schools, universities, and on military installations around the world, I never would have believed you.
At the time, I was following my passion which was acting. Then my life changed in an instant when my sister was sexually assaulted. Soon after, my focus changed to wanting to end sexual assault. I become focused on becoming as good as I could possibly become as a speaker on these topics. I worked hard. The harder I worked and studied on the solutions, the more passionate I became.
Is my work my passion? Absolutely!! And I still have a deep passion for the theater and the Arts.
The difference is I didn’t stop and ask myself 35 years ago, “What passion should I follow?” I was called to do this work and then did the work to make it work.
Thanks Mike.
Having seen you present to teens at schools in my area, I know you’ve both found your purpose and applied your passion. Thank you for all the good work you do in the world.
And thank YOU for your continued support and friendship, Bruce.
Bruce,
Congratulations, one of your best, should be part of the university curriculum. The students and the university would benefit greatly.
Thank you.
alan
Thank you Alan.
It would be a challenging and fun course to teach.
Your comments are so much deeper than the “follow your dreams” fluff. You need a plan and a purpose to do both be financially independent and more. You still play the harmonica, making a difference in the world and providing for your family and the next generation. I shared your blog with several people and the parents replied thanks and most of the younger generation did not reply.
Thanks for sharing the blog, John, and thanks for your kind words.
I wonder what I need to do to engage the younger people on your distribution list… I think it’s pretty critical to their future success and happiness that they understand at least some of this.