Young Canadians were sold a lie. They were told by their parents, teachers and luminaries like Steve Jobs that if you follow what you love, everything else will work out.
In two surveys published earlier this year – each surveying hundreds of students at American universities – researchers from The University of Washington found that “follow your passion” was the most prevalent advice young people received when choosing their academic majors.
It’s easy to understand why most people think that’s good advice. Many successful people are also passionate about their careers. If you love what you do, you are more likely to persevere in the face of obstacles and to work hard. But ultimately, “follow your passion” is bad advice.
Why? For one, you may not have a definitive passion. Research demonstrates that people who view interests as fixed over time are less resilient than those who have a growth mindset and believe they can develop new interests. According to research by Dr. Paul A. O’Keefe, an assistant professor of psychology at Yale-NUS College, “someone with a fixed mindset of interest might begin their pursuit with lots of enthusiasm, but it might diminish once things get too challenging or tedious.”
The follow-your-passion ideology can also influence you to conform to societal expectations and stereotypes. The previously mentioned University of Washington researchers found that when asked to identify their passions, women and men tend to cite stereotypically feminine and masculine interests and behaviours. For instance, that might mean women refrain from studying traditionally male-majority academic domains such as physics and computer science. The things we are passionate about, our hobbies and academic interests, are often more a product of circumstance than something innate to our character.
When you follow your passion, it’s also more likely others will try to take advantage of you. A meta-analysis published in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2020 observes “that people do in fact deem poor worker treatment (for example, asking employees to do demeaning tasks that are irrelevant to their job description, [or] asking employees to work extra hours without pay) as more legitimate when workers are presumed to be ‘passionate’ about their work.”
Following your passion causes you to needlessly limit your options and waste time and energy. Through my work at Venture for Canada, where we support thousands of young Canadians to launch their careers, and I rarely meet early career professionals who have a life-defining passion. Most people are passionate about dozens of different things and there is absolutely no benefit in picking one passion.
Finding your passion is like the pursuit of happiness: the more you try to find it, the more elusive it becomes. Passions emerge gradually over time. The things you are passionate about as a child often differ from your interests as an adult.
As Jon Jachimowicz argues in Harvard Business Review, “To better pursue your passion, challenge your assumption that passion is something to be discovered.” Instead, you should focus on making yourself useful by learning valuable skills. As Cal Newport writes in So Good They Can’t Ignore You, “If you want to love what you do, abandon the passion mindset (‘what can the world offer me?’) and instead adopt the craftsman mindset (‘what can I offer the world?’).”
Rather than adhering to the follow-your-passion ideology, I suggest you also consider the advice of 80,000 Hours, a U.K.-based career development non-profit, and follow these simple guidelines: Find work you’re good at that helps others and fits into your personal life. Make sure it has supportive conditions, such as compassionate colleagues. And avoid major negatives, like unfair pay.
Steve Jobs was right about many things, but he was wrong when he said “the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
“Follow your passion” is flawed advice that wastes your time, energy and skills. Instead, let your passions develop naturally and, in the meantime, find work that fits your life as it is now.
*Please note that this piece originally appeared in The Globe and Mail.
Scott Stirrett's Blog 
I think this is very good advice. As someone with 3 start ups under my belt, I shudder when I listen/watch an “influencer” or speaker at an event who suggests that if you follow your passion nothing can stop you, or words to that effect. That’s just not how business works and in fact is irresponsible behaviour if it blinds you from acknowledging your business’ shortcomings. The next time you see a motivational poster that says “dance like you’ve never danced before”, replace the word “dance” with another activity: “drive like you’ve never driven before”. Maybe “curb your enthusiasm” is more appropriate.