Don't ‘follow your passion’ is this man's mantra

The secret of finding the work you love is actually not to follow your passion. Benjamin Todd, co-founder , 80,000 Hours said in his TED Talk recently, “Research shows that people who take the approach (follow your passion) are unlikely to enjoy or excel at their job.”The career advice people have been giving in the past has changed from Follow your parents to Follow the money to Follow your passion. The logic behind the ‘passion’ approach is that, if you identify your own interest, find a career option according to that and work hard; you will be more likely to get success and hence have a fulfilling career.

So, what is wrong with this approach? Todd says according to a survey of Canadian students, 90% were interested in sports, music etc. but there only 3% jobs were available in these fields. So, if they had followed their passion, majority will fail. This proves wrong the fact that success will come if you follow your passion. And even if you succeed, there is no guarantee that you will have a fulfilling career. It is simply because you might not find the work meaningful.

Moreover, people often seem to ignore the fact that interests change. Are you interested in the same things in which you were interested several years ago? Probably no.

So what do you do?

According to Todd, we should, “Do what’s valuable.” He says, “Focus on getting good at something that helps others and makes the world a better place and that is the secret to a fulfilling career.”

Todd quoted a psychologist who has done several years of research on what actually causes people to be satisfied. He stated two main points from his book:

1. Achievement, which means getting good at something or mastering it and,

2. Meaning, or purpose which means making the world a better place.

Combine the two together and you get to do what’s valuable. And you can find your passion in it and a fulfilling career.

How can you do that?

Here are three steps that Todd gives:

1.Explore – you have to go out and discover. Try out different things.

2.Get good at flexible skills – achieve skills that are of value and get good at it. You may get passionate about them.

3.Solve pressing problems – figure out major problems in the world and how you can apply your skills into solving them. You can have the greatest impact if you pick a problem that is being neglected by everyone.

Note: The web report is based on a Ted Talk delivered by Benjamin Todd in 2015. You can access the full talk at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKlx1DLa9EA

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