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THE SECRETS TO CAREER CONTENTMENT:DON'T FOLLOW YOUR PASSION"DO WHAT YOU LOVE" HAS BECOME A CAREER MANTRA, BUT IS IT A

FORMULA FOR REAL SUCCESS?

BY SEBAST IAN K L EIN

"Follow your passion," might be the most common career

guidance, but it is actually bad advice.

The theory that following your passion leads to success first surfaced

in the '70s, and in the intervening decades it’s taken on the character

of indisputable fact. The catch? Most people’s passions have little

connection to work or education, meaning passionate skiers, dancers,

and readers run into problems. In a culture that tells people to

transform their passions into lucrative careers via will-driven alchemy,

it’s no wonder so much of today’s workforce suffers from endless job

swapping and professional discontent.

In his book So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Cal Newport exposes the

Passion Trap and offers up advice about how not following your

passions will ultimately lead to satisfaction. The following four tips will

help you put yourself on the path to professional fulfillment.

DON’T DO WHAT YOU LOVE. LEARN TO LOVE WHAT YOU DO.

It seems that one of the most important factors in career contentment

is simply experience. In a job satisfaction survey of college

administrative assistants--work traditionally considered repetitive or

“boring”--a third of respondents considered their position a “job,”

merely a way to pay the bills. Another third deemed it a “career,” or a

path towards something better. The final third, though--incidentally,

also those who’d spent the most time doing this type of work--

considered it their calling or an integral part of their life and identity.

The takeaway: Be patient. Passion comes with mastery and time.

ADOPT A CRAFTSMAN’S MINDSET.

People with the passion mindset ask “What do I really want?” which

breeds an obsession with whether or not a job is “right” for them. They

breeds an obsession with whether or not a job is “right” for them. They

become minutely aware of everything they dislike about their work

and their job satisfaction and happiness plummets. By contrast, the

craftsman’s mindset acknowledges that no matter what field you’re in,

success is always about quality. Once you’re focused on the quality of

the work you’re doing now rather than whether or not it’s right for

you, you won’t hesitate to do what is necessary to improve it.

The takeaway: Make the quality of what you do your primary

focus.

PRACTICE HARD AND GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE.

So, how do you become the craftsman? You practice.

A chess player must devote roughly 10,000 hours to becoming a

master. Once that level has been reached, however, the real pros

continue not just to practice, but to do it smarter. They study seriously

and engage in what Newport terms deliberate practice. In the case of

the chess player, deliberate practice might mean studying difficult

theoretical chess problems well out of the established comfort zone.

The takeaway: Although deliberate practice is often strenuous and

uncomfortable, it’s the only path to true mastery.

ACQUIRING RARE AND VALUABLE SKILLS.

The craftsman mindset drives you to acquire and refine special skills.

People with rare skills are more likely to get great jobs in which

they’re allowed creativity and control. Also known as career capital,

they’re what help set you apart.

For example: A new app company hires two product designers. Ned’s

a bit of a newbie to digital and has a background in illustration and

print design; he was hired for his great eye. Dan, however, seriously

studied app design and, realizing its importance a few years back,

worked to become a whizkid at code. When the company hits a rough

financial patch and someone needs to go, it’s Ned who gets let go.

Why? Dan had the rare and valuable skill.

The takeaway: Improve the quality of whatever you do--and if that

means acquiring a valuable compatible skill, do it. All the more

career capital for you.

Though following your passion is today’s ideal, it often won’t get you

anywhere but frustrated. Focus instead on acquiring unique skills and

refining the quality of what you do with the focus of a devoted

craftsman. You’ll be well on your way to cultivating not only a

satisfying career, but a new, rarer kind of practical passion built on

satisfying career, but a new, rarer kind of practical passion built on

commitment, mastery, and pride.

--Sebastian Klein is cofounder at Blinkist, a service that feeds curious

minds key insights from non-fiction books. As Blinkist's Editor-in-

Chief, he specializes in distilling complex concepts from great books

into smart, beautiful language. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

[Image: Flickr user Zemlinki!]

February 12, 2014 | 6:32 AM

A DD NE W COMME NT S I GN I N

Type your comment here.

30 COMMENTS

SEB AST IAN KL EIN 8 DAYS AGO

As someone who has taken the recommended path and reaped a

lifetime of frequent career dissatisfaction, I couldn't disagree more

with this article.

Part of the problem is failure to differentiate between passion -

which to me implies a personal sense of meaningfulness - and

simple enjoyment. I may enjoy sleeping in on weekends and doing

the Sunday crossword, but clearly nobody is going to get paid to

do that. Superficial pleasures, of which we all have many, don't

imply passion. The key is identifying what activities give your life a

deeper sense of meaning or purpose, and then - no easy task, but

necessary - figuring out in what environments consonant with

your values you might be paid for engaging in these.

That said, it's helpful to (at least attempt to) perform any task,

regardless of how small or mundane, with a sense of mindfulness

and awareness, and to do it as well as we can.

F RAB IS

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN A MONTH AGO

It's True that "Be patient. Passion comes with mastery and time",

but Which one you want to pursue. It has to be the one you love

doing, or you care about.

From my experience, forcing myself to grow passion from things

i'm not into has lead to frustration, since has weak foundation. I

believe there are may choices out there. So what I did, I reset my

self, quit my job, learn new passion, grow it into skill, and create

new business out of it.

Many has underestimate passion since it's a bit overrated. I think

Passion is the fundamental base of great works & creation.

PO ST PASSIO N

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN A MONTH AGO

I disagree that you should learn to love what you do even if you

don't find it your passion. I used to sell insurance and investments

for 16 years. I tried every which way to love it, learn it, master it, but

I could not make myself do it. I switched to training people in

career transition and it was infinitely more enjoyable and used my

natural gifts of public speaking and workshop facilitation. This

latter work was much more aligned with my values, my skills and

talents, and who I am a s a person. However, I do agree that

mastery takes patience and continual development, but doing it in

an area you love, is so much more enjoyable and therefore

motivating!

J O YC E KAW ASAKI

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN 2 MONTHS AGO

Wow I disagree with this article. Passion comes later?? So not true.

You know what you are right for when you love it even if you aren't

great at it in the beginning. From this perspective, anyone can love

doing anything if they just work hard and master it. I'm an amazing

video editor and have been paid a ton of money for it. But I found

out I didn't have the passion for it so I left and have never been

happier. I started following my passion and I can't wait to go to

J O SH U A YO U NG

happier. I started following my passion and I can't wait to go to

work in the morning. This is just a really silly idea.

3 Share Link Reply

SEB AST IAN KL EIN 4 MONTHS AGO

I do not think it is simply a choice between one or the other. To

start with you must always put your heart and soul in to what you

do; whether you are passionate about it or not, and do it to the

best of your ability; always striving to improve.

The key difference with following your passion is that you must

decide what you are willing to give up pursuing it. Following your

passion may involve less money, no perks and giving up many

luxuries that a boring but salaried job could afford you. However, if

you passion makes you happier, less stressed and allows you to

spend more time with the people you want to then maybe the

trade-offs are worth it.

Ultimately, it is always a choice each of us need to make BUT with

consequences that we must be willing to accept and live with. Or

you will always be miserable no matter what you do...

NIKH IL VAISH

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN 4 MONTHS AGO

I think passion is often confused with motivation, which is a more

useful term to apply to career. It refers to the general willingness

or desire someone has to do a particular thing. In this article, the

focus is put on a skill or craft. There is a certain innate pleasure in

learning to perform a job well, to master a skill. And most people

will settle for an extrinsic reward for applying that skill in a job. But,

just because we do something well, doesn’t mean we enjoy doing

it day in and day out, as several people have commented. A ‘can

do’ skill is not the same thing as a natural talent that energizes

rather than drains us. When are motivation is intrinsic, then we are

more likely to persist with that career even in the face of significant

G EO RG E D U T C H

challenges, or take less money, or put up with lousy job

circumstances. Furthermore, our skill set is only one part of our

motivational pattern. Understanding our pattern and how it

correlates to jobfit increases job satisfaction.

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN 4 MONTHS AGO

Without passion you don't have a true connection to what you are

doing. You may excel at it, you may master the skills but without

passion your rewards are monetary or other inward rewards.

With passion even after working 16 hour days you go home and

do more of it, research it, discuss it with friends, blog about it. In

other words you own it to the core of your being and nothing can

separate you from that passion. It's not just what you can get from

it but what you can contribute to it.

Not everyone needs to be a leader, a Mark Zuckerberg, the next

pop star to feed their passions. If you think that then you have

completely misunderstood what passion is all about.

ERNEST M C G RAY, J R.

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN 4 MONTHS AGO

I am somewhat torn about how to feel about the article overall. I

definitely agree that if you approach your career with an attitude of

chronic dissatisfaction, then you are just going to be frustrated

waiting for the "right" opportunity that never comes. I agree that

we need to work hard, invest the time to gain mastery in a job and

look for ways to provide a unique skill set to the job we do.

However, I still think following your passion is important.

I took a "break" from following my passion several years ago after

a series of heartbreaking setbacks and learned a new trade. I

worked hard and went into it 100% even though I knew it wasn't

something that I wasn't passionate about at the start. And several

years later, I still found the job largely unfulfilling. I have now gone

back to my original course. I don't regret the detour and I learned

J ESSIC A ANN L L ANES

back to my original course. I don't regret the detour and I learned

a lot, but despite the mastery and time investment and unique

skills, I never spontaneously developed a passion for it.

1 Share Link Reply

SEB AST IAN KL EIN 4 MONTHS AGO

Thanks for a thought-provoking piece! As a career coach whose

worked with over 10,000 professional women and written a book

(Breakdown Breakthrough) about the 12 hidden crises working

women face today, I can say this without hesitation - doing the

above is great, but it's far better when you have passion for the

outcome -- when what you're doing is meaningful and purposeful

to you. Sheer mastery and excellence at your work simply doesn't

achieve that. I was masterful at my corporate work, but hated

much of it. In other words, it's doing work that you care about

deeply -- giving form to your life goals while being of service to

others in ways that matter to you -- that's what gives you the

staying power to gain mastery and excellence. I help thousands of

folks each year do that, and make great money at work they love

AND are masterful at. It's not a pipedream - it's a very real

possibility. if you take the right steps. Thanks!

KAT H Y C APRINO

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN 4 MONTHS AGO

Life is about living, success and happiness are two different words

with their own meaning, haven't we seen even unsuccessful

dancers and singers living the real life just because they love their

things and nothing else matters to them.

Also, now in this social world, i really doubt making your passion

your career is difficult, haven't we heard of those singers who

started from their home and youtube , and now known worldwide,

and those aren't known, weren't either passionate enough, or

passionate about their passion but not making them career which

isn't bad too.

I believe its a law of nature, when you love something, and are

passionate about it, the whole world gets together with its positive

vibes, to ensure you get it, only thing which we need is to

differentiate passion and hobby. Living someone else's life,

G O L D Y ARO RA

differentiate passion and hobby. Living someone else's life,

becoming someone else by doing something you aren't

passionate abt, may make us successful, but only for others,

would we perceive ourselves as successful, i won't.

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN 4 MONTHS AGO

This is interesting because it's the age old dilemna of searching for

meaning versus creating meaning for yourself. I come down on

the latter and therefore enjoyed this article. I think if you are always

searching / struggling to find your passion, you potentially miss

out on the small things in life that bring you joy. And happiness is

all about the small things, not the big things. Read Matthew Syed's

Bounce and it talks all about the importance of hardwork, mastery

and he's an ex world class ping pong player. Was he passionate

about ping pong? Of course, but he worked at it and got the

satisfaction from mastery and the success it brought down the

line. Good article, thank you.

PAM KENNET T

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN 4 MONTHS AGO

I've read a lot of hate speech, maybe these people have a better

idea. But I find this article great. It's true... you have to know your

strengths first to know exactly your passion is. A good example

might be like this: If your passion is singing and do not possess a

great voice to begin with, you might consider tapping on your

other talents.; probably music production. Master that skill and

that's passion

AC E M AC ASINAG

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN 4 MONTHS AGO

This article was frustrating to read because I disagree with so

much of it. To 'follow your passion' may take a long time with

unclear directions, but the goal is what keeps us going! Of course

we should make the most of the journey by developing valuable

skills, but that shouldn't be the goal in and of itself.

L EANNE L I

The administrative assistants pointed out who consider their work

a calling likely stayed in their jobs for the longest /because/ they're

passionate about what they do, not the other way around.

For people asking “What do I really want?”, the answer is often to

keep trying and discovering different things, NOT staying at a

boring job for years and forcing themselves to be 'practically

passionate' about paperwork.

4 Share Link Reply

L EANNE L I 4 MONTHS AGO

I fully agree with you, Leanne

B EC AU SEIC AND O IT .C O M

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L EANNE L I 4 MONTHS AGO

The idea of this article was to provide an opposing view to

the common "follow your passion" mantra. Of course,

everybody has to find their own "right" way, and, as usual,

the truth probably lies in between both extremes.

SEB AST IAN KL EIN

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SEB AST IAN KL EIN 4 MONTHS AGO

Great article. As someone who has been serially dissatisfied with

anything which isn't a personal passion (but which pays the bills) I

can say this is good advice. The missing part is to never forget your

passion. Work hard at work and play hard at your passion.

Incomplete article, but I thought it was good nonetheless.

SO L L AW RENC E

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