Finding and living your passion is the most famous career advice ever given. It takes a long time to find one’s passion. It is a tedious and arduous journey in which people hope to answer the question about what they will do for the rest of their life. There is so much emphasis on finding that one thing that gives you satisfaction and happiness. But is one thing enough to last your lifetime, or can passions change?
In a single word, Yes! Passion can change over time. When people start their journey to find their passion, the goal is to build a career and, more specifically, to find a job. The pursuit leads to misconceptions about passion and how to find it.
One of the biggest misconceptions about passion is that it is present out there, hiding beneath some rock, just waiting for you to come to find it. The truth is that finding your passion is not a journey at all because there is no destination. It is a discovery that will happen when you introspect.
The second misconception is that passion doesn’t have something to do with a career. Passion is what gives your life purpose. It means doing something important to you, which is a meaningful use of your limited time. According to this new definition, it is perfectly natural that what’s important to you will change, so your passion will also change.
As time passes, you will evolve as a person and grow. Circumstances in your life will change, and significant life events will impact things about which you are passionate. Things that seem more critical once will feel less because other aspects of your life will demand your attention. Your values evolve as well. You may find yourself in a new environment leading you to take unprecedented actions.
Cal Newport cites research in his book “So Good They Can’t Ignore You,” which supports the notion that passion takes time to develop. If you want to pursue anything for a long time, it has to be something essential and meaningful. You start doing a new activity, follow it over time, and get good at it until you achieve mastery. That’s the recipe for passion.
Things that seemed important in your 20s will seem nightmarish in your 30s. I was passionate about dancing in school, but then I started enjoying writing. I didn’t do a lot of writing because that’s not how I wanted to spend my time. I used to enjoy writing and speaking when I was in India. When I moved to France, I started enjoying meeting new people and took up salsa dancing for the first time.
Think about it. When you are young, you enjoy partying all night because that’s all you care about when you are young. Now, you may enjoy having a drink with your friends and having deep conversations because that is what feels like a better use of your time. But ten years later, you might still want to have a good time, but the old way might be less appealing now.
I urge you to rethink your approach regarding your passion in life. Being passionate is about doing something useful with your time, worth the effort and skills needed to pursue the activity. Any pursuit is worthy if it challenges you and if it helps you grow as a person. It’s always a step in the right direction to question your beliefs and do away with old notions.