Careers vs, Passions

I wrote this initially for my blog but feel it deserves a glance here by you warriors, many having switched or evolved careers to better follow your desires and passions.

An Objective Look at Careers vs. Passions

In a way all fact is opinion, but even still I feel obliged to say this portion of the article is not an opinion piece. I do have a personal opinion on this topic but I will reserve that for the last section. For now we’re simply looking, as objectively as possible, at some of the pros and cons (opportunity costs, trade-offs, time-investment, etc.) of following either a career or a passion.

Let’s start with definitions.

Career

The Oxford dictionary defines a career as “an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress.” These three components, here in bold, deserve a deeper look.

1. A career is an occupation, which literally means that the primary price you pay for it is time. In other words, it occupies your time. This is the primary opportunity cost of a career; you give up the opportunity to do something else with said time.

2. A career spans years, if not decades or a lifetime. Hence “significant period” above. This isn’t simply about how many hours a week you work. If someone works 5 hours a day, 4 days a week, for 35 years, it can be said that they spent a significant period of their life on their career. Likewise, someone who works 70 hours a week, 6 days a week, for 4 years has also assigned a significant amount of time to his or her career.

3. A career presents you with a chance to climb the corporate (or non-corporate) ladder, to progress and to grow. This happens via several routes: promotion, job switch, career switch, etc. This mechanism gives most employees incentive to work harder (and smarter). To remove opportunity for advancement from the equation is also to remove much purpose and reason for getting to work.

Possible PROS: (relative) safety of income, benefits, structure, networking opportunities

Possible CONS: role dissatisfaction, role ambiguity, termination, salaried, limited advancement (glass ceiling)

Passion

The Oxford dictionary defines a passion as “an intense desire or enthusiasm for something.” As above, two key parts of this definition warrant a second peek.

1. A passion is something that you do out of desire, or in other words out of your own accord, without being told to do so. My research, which is based on the extensive and universally accepted and respected works of Napoleon Hill and Jim Collins, suggests that desire is the starting point of all worthwhile achievement. Nothing can be optimally accomplished unless desire and belief are the first steps taken toward its attainment.

2. Perhaps there are better (and more extensive) definitions of enthusiasm, but we don’t need to look beyond “a reason to wake up with a smile each morning.” That’s enthusiasm. Beyond this all definition is subjective. At the same time this feeling must be personally (subjectively) felt to know it’s true objective meaning, quoted above. In other words, those who have felt this feeling will understand this definition; those who haven’t will not.

3. As with a career, pursuing a passion will also cost you some time. The difference is that you control the amount of time you wish to invest in a passion. And it is precisely this variable (time invested) that, along with organized effort and desire, will determine chances of advancement through whatever passion, as with most careers.

Possible PROS: role satisfaction, unlimited earning potential, control over time (freedom), executive role (you execute all decisions pertaining to where your passion will lead you), performance-based (if performed well), networking opportunities

Possible CONS: (relative) inconsistency of income, performance-based (if performed poorly), usually no benefits, significant risk of setback or failure

Personal Opinion

In the definitions above, we saw that time was the main opportunity cost of both a career and a passion. For this reason above all, most persons have either a career or a passion that dominates their lives. It seems to me the only logical way to optimize the situation is to find a career that you are intensely passionate about.

Those struggling with interest or enthusiasm at work should ask themselves the following questions:

1. What can I be the best in the world at?

2. What am I intensely enthusiastic and passionate about?

These are two questions we routinely ask and brainstorm about in my company. The clearest direction, the best ideas, and the some of the most memorable and creative moments have been the result. The answers to these two questions will give you the surest idea of what you should be doing for work. All else is time aimlessly spent, and, as we have today learned, time is the greatest currency known. Material currency (money) gained or lost is merely a reflection of the use or misuse of time, the true currency underlying all ventures.

The above, double-question approach is all you need to find your true calling, purpose, whatever noun you prefer. It will cost you a pencil and a paper (recommended) or some keystrokes and, of course, time. And it will be one of the biggest favours you will do yourself this year.