

Just because it doesn’t suck doesn’t make it your passion - stevencorcoran
http://blog.lawnstarter.com/post/87099392543/just-because-it-doesnt-suck-doesnt-make-it-your

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evanlivingston
I think it's curious that we take the idea of a guiding passion for each human
as a given, that we believe it's reasonable or admirable to be guided by a
singular, unified idea which is somewhat unique to each individual.

At some point in recent history in the West we started using the narrative of
passion in relation to success and happiness. We've developed an ideal that
people ought to be passionate. Some people, many people, are simply not
passionate people, but I don't feel as though that has any relevance on their
"importance" in society. Why has the level of passion a person feels become
part of the metric by which we value people? Personally, I feel as though it's
because we call "passion" often translates into financial success, in which
case "passionate" just serves as a euphemism for wealthy.

Furthermore, it's easy for us to _imagine_ that we are passionate about
something, only to realize a year later we were tricking ourselves all along.
It seems in tech we often misconstrue passion for something a little more akin
to an addiction to work because we _want_ to be passionate people, but many of
us simply arn't.

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delluminatus
Reminds me of a book, _So Good They Can 't Ignore You_, which goes to great
lengths to argue against the idea that "following your passion" is a good way
to be successful. Very much recommended.

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tekalon
Just finished it last week. I also highly recommend it.

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ctdonath
TL;DR: passion = you can't not do it.

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dreamdu5t
"Regardless what I’m trying to say is that if every aching bone in your body
wants something and you are willing to give up everything to get it you will
find success more often than not."

Cute. Many passions do not translate into any kind of financially sustainable
careers. Not everyone is passionate about angel-funded SaaS companies and
online marketing.

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badman_ting
People say this because we are enjoined to "do what we love", find our
passion. Well, what's so wrong with just doing something you like? Nothing
(IMO), but it doesn't sound good. "Complacent" and "content" are dirty words.

The flipside of working in a field about which you are passionate typically
goes unremarked upon - sometimes the realities of the job can destroy your
love/passion for the thing itself. It's very sad.

My grandfather worked on machines in a factory his whole career, accumulating
so much knowledge about the machines that he could know what was wrong with a
machine just by listening to it. Then after he retired, companies kept hiring
him as a consultant, flying him out to solve their problems. Of this he told
my father, "All those years working with my hands, I should have been working
with my head." I get to do that, and I have my whole career. I try not to lose
sight of the value of that.

