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Is "find your passion" a big hoax?


MechEng

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After a long time I've come to realize that encouraging people to find their passion is futile. Passion is not something to be found, you're either lucky to come across it at the right time or you don't, as per my generous estimate only 1% of global population know their passion/drive (it might be way lower than 1%) rest just work jobs to meet their daily needs.

 

Besides the pursuit of passion can be dangerous, you can only be what the economy you live in allows you to, you cannot be anything. For example in the field of arts you cannot have a full time career unless you're extraordinarily good, be it poetry. film making, actor/actress, sports, painting, music, philosophy and etc. If you're not in the elite band then you won't make enough money to even pay your monthly rent. I know a childhood friend of mine who dropped out of engineering in 2nd year and pursued poetry/writing/story telling as full time career, he was (and probably is) very famous in Pune arts circle with his gigs as a stand up comedian and sometimes in Pune poetry slam, but because he struggled to generate a stable income he had to choose to become a maths/science tutor at a coaching class for 9th standard students in order to survive. At least in my field you can survive easily with a good life as a mediocre engineer, heck the average salary of the most menial engineering jobs in the US is $70,000.

 

Stability must always be the first priority unless you know deep within that xyz field is your calling. It's high time we stop selling dreams.

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1 hour ago, punjabi_khota said:

Your passion doesn't have to be your profession. 

^

This.

Your passion can be your hobby. Besides, 90% of the people will start hating their passion , if they start working with it everyday of their lives. It results in developing a negative emotion towards their passion. Hence, your passion can be something you do in your free time.

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2 hours ago, I6MTW said:

^

This.

Your passion can be your hobby. Besides, 90% of the people will start hating their passion , if they start working with it everyday of their lives. It results in developing a negative emotion towards their passion. Hence, your passion can be something you do in your free time.

Not always true, see our top cricketers they never get bored of what they do!

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1 hour ago, MechEng said:

Not always true, see our top cricketers they never get bored of what they do!

Hmm no. Their is fatigue with cricketers as well. Dhoni has asked for break multiple times and BCCI used to used we don’t stop anyone from taking a break.

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13 hours ago, MechEng said:

After a long time I've come to realize that encouraging people to find their passion is futile. Passion is not something to be found, you're either lucky to come across it at the right time or you don't, as per my generous estimate only 1% of global population know their passion/drive (it might be way lower than 1%) rest just work jobs to meet their daily needs.

 

 

Stability must always be the first priority unless you know deep within that xyz field is your calling. It's high time we stop selling dreams.

 

Your passion changes over time. It's never permanent.

 

You might like doing <x> in 2020, but 10 years from now, you'll have no interest in <x> and move on to <y>.

 

Passion for something is often irrational.

 

A strong society is one that provides opportunity for every kind of passion. Indian society, for whatever reason, doesn't provide enough opportunity.

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8 hours ago, Manny_Pacquiao said:

 

Your passion changes over time. It's never permanent.

 

You might like doing <x> in 2020, but 10 years from now, you'll have no interest in <x> and move on to <y>.

 

Passion for something is often irrational.

 

A strong society is one that provides opportunity for every kind of passion. Indian society, for whatever reason, doesn't provide enough opportunity.

Kohli and Tendulkar would disagree I guess, they always loved cricket. Or maybe singers like Lata Mangeshkar too who have been lifelong singers.

 

Regarding India, we are still not a very rich country yet where people are relaxed enough to embrace life. When a large population has to battle for limited resources, passion goes out of the window.

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A lot of talented people don’t achieve their potential because of various factors like timing , luck and opportunity. I have realized there is nothing like a career, you all work at a job that pays and try to find peace and happiness in what we do eventually and call it our passion if we make peace. Others pursue passion as a hobby that gives them peace.

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12 hours ago, MechEng said:

Kohli and Tendulkar would disagree I guess, they always loved cricket. Or maybe singers like Lata Mangeshkar too who have been lifelong singers.

 

Regarding India, we are still not a very rich country yet where people are relaxed enough to embrace life. When a large population has to battle for limited resources, passion goes out of the window.

Kohli is 31 years old. Tendulkar is around 40?

 

It's safe to say that they haven't even lived half their lives yet. Maybe their minds will change. Many sports people 'fall out of love' with their sport and do something else. Don't you see husbands getting bored of their wives and divorcing them after 20-30 years? Its very common.

 

Like i said, passion for something is never permanent.

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7 hours ago, Manny_Pacquiao said:

Kohli is 31 years old. Tendulkar is around 40?

 

It's safe to say that they haven't even lived half their lives yet. Maybe their minds will change. Many sports people 'fall out of love' with their sport and do something else. Don't you see husbands getting bored of their wives and divorcing them after 20-30 years? Its very common.

 

Like i said, passion for something is never permanent.

Agreed. Passion itself in  my opinion is a kind of mental illness. You have to be a borderline sociopath to overly focus on one thing in life, although they achieve true greatness in that field but still are socially awkward. 

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3 hours ago, MechEng said:

Agreed. Passion itself in  my opinion is a kind of mental illness. You have to be a borderline sociopath to overly focus on one thing in life, although they achieve true greatness in that field but still are socially awkward. 

Spot on!

Even psychologists have started to blur the line between passion and obsession. And between obsession and mental illness.

The 'flipping point' is when you lose control and derive an undue sense of accomplishment and pleasure from a certain passion neglecting everything else.  Perfectionism, is also a kind of obsession, which more often than not, causes self harm.

 

Junoon is perfect word to describe this passion/obsession duality!

 

Edited by Mariyam
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On 5/11/2020 at 2:20 PM, Mariyam said:

Spot on!

Even psychologists have started to blur the line between passion and obsession. And between obsession and mental illness.

The 'flipping point' is when you lose control and derive an undue sense of accomplishment and pleasure from a certain passion neglecting everything else.  Perfectionism, is also a kind of obsession, which more often than not, causes self harm.

 

Junoon is perfect word to describe this passion/obsession duality!

 

And those annoying "find your passion" TED talks encouraging young people to go crazy!

 

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Another thing I found in my own experience is that if you do make your passion your career, it often comes with lots of other things that you may not be so keen about. So in theory it is great, but reality is a bit less rosy. Of course if you are independently wealthy, you don't need to gaf.

 

Taking an example of cricketers...one can say that someone like Sachin probably just wanted to play cricket..but had to deal with all the team/BCCI politics, media scrutiny, loss of normal young/adult life etc. etc.

 

 

Edited by punjabi_khota
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I'm a pilot and I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE what I do.

 

From the initial flight planning to the pre take off checks, from the moment the wheels lift off to the actual flight itself (even the really long ones), it's all enjoyable.

 

No two flights are ever the same - The elevation of the air strip above the ground, the temperature, the air pressure, the weight of the cargo/fuel/passengers (and also how they are loaded), the direction of the wind (head wind/tail wind/cross winds), low lying clouds, they all make a difference. They all effect the performance of the airplane. Flying, as I see it, is one long exercise in situational awareness and risk management.

 

In my eyes, those pilots who do those medical repatriation flights, they are nothing short of saints. If you are in a town that is 800 kilometres away from specialist dialysis facilities, these medical repatriation flights that provide to and fro transport, they are life savers.

 

Having a partner who is a pilot has it's perks :D Exploring your own backyard before you start exploring the world has never been more apt ;)

Edited by EnterTheVoid
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