I really dislike the question “What is your passion?”. The question itself is discounting the complexities of what makes each of us unique with the singular word “Passion“. Additionally, it is typically asked by someone who is implying that you must have one passion and that most of your efforts and thoughts and motivations must be in a direction of this singular passion.
Below are three reasons why you should dislike the question also:
1. It devalues the complexity of individuals
The truth about all of us is that we are complex, albeit at different degrees, but regardless we are all complex. This inherent complexity means that we will have different and multiple motivations and interests throughout our life and careers. Some of these motivations such as wanting to make money may always be present once we reach adulthood but the intensity may increase as our responsibilities increase. Some motivations such as wanting to volunteer and help those less fortunate may appear because we have reached a point in our life that frees up more time or we may have accomplished or reached the apex of our corporate career and realize that there is more to life than climbing the ladder.
People often mention they are in a search for their passion in life or that they do not know what their passion in life is just yet. I theorize that the issue is not that they do not know but that they are falling into the trap of trying to define their passion in one singular very focused area. The proper question is “What are your passions” or better yet “What are some subject matters that you could talk about all day?”
2. Misuse and abuse in the corporate setting
Spend anytime in a corporate setting with a large company and the phrase passion will be thrown around a lot. Supervisors and managers will use it when you broach the subject of “Career Development” or if you decide to apply to a position outside of your department or division. Most likely they will use it in a way that implies that you do not know what your one passion is and that you are applying for the position for motivations other than a real interest in the position. That somehow you have to of completely worked through and defined and narrowed down to your singular passion within the walls of that specific corporation and that you should be sharing the discovery of that passion with your manager. The consequences are now you have indicated that your one singular passion is in a direction outside of your current department and your supervisor sees any future career development as a lost cause. Good managers know that people are complex and this complexity means that at different points in their employees career they will have different motivations and interests.
3. Misapplication and misunderstanding
There is a saying that goes something like “Do what you love and the money will follow”. Well, maybe, maybe not. Both passion and earning a living or making money should be able to stand on their own or more aptly put individuals should be able to pursue both their passions and making money in parallel and not feel pressure to combine their passions into something revenue generating.
I once had an instructor tell me that he was jealous of those who knew what their sole passion in life was. He would stay up night after night trying to find that one thing that he would focus on for his life that would both satisfy his life’s curiosity and sole purpose and bring in enough money to support him and his family. Everything he explored would fail in some regard as he would either find himself dissatisfied with the subject matter or be unable to make a living. He would worry and frustrate himself to the point of sickness and dispair thinking through what his direction in life should be.
What a huge burden this must have been for him and it was a total misapplication and misunderstanding of passion. While he was busy worrying and buying into the sham of trying to narrow down his entire character and being into one singular direction, his other interests in life and his family and his health were ignored. He failed to realize that everything he encountered that peaked his interest, that made him care and made him excited could have been one of his many passions in life.
Passion is a vague word that describes those facets of life that make us excited, things that we would work on for free, talk about all day, write about regardless if its being read. Sometimes, most of the time, people are not able to combine their job or career with their passions in life…and that’s ok. Everyone has responsibilities and most of these responsibilities require some type of monetary support that can be counted upon on a routine basis. As well your family, our families need health care that is both proactive and preventative and available in case of emergency. It would be irresponsible to quit a job that provides healthcare and monetary support for your family to follow your many passions.
Summary
Its ok and perfectly normal to have multiple passions that you are pursuing at once and beware of those who try to paint you or someone into a corner to choose. Our passions are what define us and make us who we are, they make us three dimensional people and not caricatures found in TV shows. So, discover, explore and foster those aspects of life that make you care and excited about the day ahead and about tomorrow. If it happens to be your job, then great, if its not, no reason to fret about it and no reason to go on a desperate search for some change. Work in parallel both at your job and at the many passions in your life.
Brice G. Harrison is a microbiologist who writes reviews for ReviewDecide.com. ReviewDecide.com reviews on-line products around metabolism, increasing metabolism and obesity and other weight-loss products. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brice_G_Harrison
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