I call bullshit. Sure, this quote gives us that Hallmark
warm and fuzzy feeling way down in the sub-cockles of
our heart (which by the way, the word “cockles” is nothing more than an
incorrect latin translation of the word chocleae,
which referred to ventricles… go warm your ventricles, people), however, there
is a very harsh reality that this quote ignores. If everyone in the world followed this quote
to the letter, we would have a ridiculous number of rock stars, hoards of
mediocre professional athletes, and such a high demand for accountants that
they would be the highest paid individuals in the world. My point it is that sometimes, it isn’t
possible to follow your heart.
When I was 18, I was an optimistic farm boy, preparing
myself to leave the small town and enter the city for University. I had gotten into a number of schools and was
torn between two very different paths: engineering or music. I still recall a
conversation with my Aunt, the conclusion of which told me that music would always
be there for me no matter what, but engineering wasn’t really something that
people did as a hobby. “Besides,” my
Aunt concluded, “if you pursue music as a career, it becomes work, and you can
never really love work.”
While I may disagree with my Aunt on that last point, that
conversation was quite possibly one of the most important defining moments of
my young life. The difficulty was, had I followed my passion and pursued a
career in music, I would probably end up among the huge statistic of struggling
artists who barely make ends meet working shift jobs at cafes and pubs, trying
to chase a dream that has less than a prayer’s chance of coming to fruition.
The issue here was a problem of demand; there simply wasn’t enough of it to
justify another guy like me trying to play music for a living.
This isn’t to say that one shouldn’t be passionate about
their work, however, don’t feel as though you have to be so narrow-sighted in
the pursuit of your goals so as to ignore the opportunities around you and find
a way to achieve both passion and success.
I, for example, have made a damned good life for myself as an engineer
turned businessman. This has afforded me the luxury of playing in a band during
my free time to satisfy my need for music. Win-win, right?
You may still be wondering if this means that work must
therefore be a monotonous drudgery until the day we retire with our only
respite being the hobbies we pursue in our leisure time. Foolish earthling, give your head a shake.
Research into human motivation has shown that there are a number of factors
that drive our work habits (particularly
things like mastery, autonomy and purpose). I would argue that in order to
enjoy your work on an ongoing basis, you need to find a job that challenges
you. We humans seem to be addicted to
the positive feelings of accomplishment and few things give that junkie’s fix
like overcoming a big challenge. There
is a certain element of pride and strength in the knowledge of overcoming a meaningful
problem though independently learning and applying new knowledge and
skills. For me, this problem solving
high is only slightly less enjoyable than the feeling I get from being on stage
with a guitar and a captive (albeit slightly alcohol-fueled and
inhibition-lowered) audience.
All that said, if you wake up every morning knowing -
absolutely KNOWING - that you will one day be the greatest ballerina that ever lived… by all means, follow your passion.
However, for the rest of us who have our doubts, a good challenge can be
a great substitute for passion and something that I for one, can get passionate about.
