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I don't think I've heard anyone say you will succeed by following your passion... I've always heard you're more likely to be happy if you do. I think that's an

by jharger 10y ago

I don't think I've heard anyone say you will succeed by following your passion... I've always heard you're more likely to be happy if you do. I think that's an important distinction, especially if you define success as making a lot of money.

JKCalhoun 10y ago
Bingo. The article disproves something no one I am aware of has ever asserted (except perhaps the author). Following your passion leads to happiness.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  >Following your passion leads to happiness. No, not when it leads you to start your own business, which then fails, leaving you penniless and living on the street. Following your passion may have a better chance of leading you to happiness than following something that you hate, but that's about it. It's not a guarantee of anything. If everyone followed their passion, then society would probably collapse due to massive unemployment and necessary jobs never getting done (like cleaning up trash). How many people really get up every day to go to work because they're passionate about their job? Not many.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- brianlenney 10y ago
  Tons of people say to "follow your passion" but in the context of the startup world, you can be passionate about something you suck at, and it'll fail, which will make you very...unhappy. Passion is a nice to have but not a pre-requisite for success.
WalterSear 10y ago
I don't think this is an accurate distinction. I know a number of people who are living in penury right now due to chasing this boomer fallacy. People tend to downplay the requirement of a minimal level of material success for happiness, because the alternative is admitting that society isn't set up to profit from, not help us achieve, our hopes and dreams. It's part of the bootstrap fallacy, essentially - you just need to want something enough, and everything will fall in place.
- georgemcbay 10y ago
  I think whether or not it is an accurate distinction depends upon the person and the situation. The author of the post being discussed here actually had two separate goals in tandem (one to follow their passion and two to find business/monetary success as a startup), though they only really explicitly acknowledged the passion aspect. If you seek both of these goals (following your passion and finding financial success) simultaneously you are likely to come up short on the financial success end, but that doesn't mean following your passion is always bad advice, to assume so implicitly assumes that one's only goal in life should be to be financially well-off, which is certainly not a universal belief. There are people out there who follow their passion with eyes wide open to the fact that this decision is likely to mean they will not amass much money doing so, and I think that's perfectly fine and should be commended in many cases. Following your passion only becomes an issue when you do it blindly without thinking and end up making bad decisions like going into massive student debt, etc. There are lots of people out there who have followed their passion in a realistic manner and are living the modest life they want to live. The actual message shouldn't be to never follow your passion, but to be realistic about the trade-off that usually has to be made between following your passion and being financially successful, and then this realism has to be applied to big life decisions.
- _andromeda_ 10y ago
  I think that both schools of thought are wrong in this case and would like to propose alternatives. Number 1, it doesn't matter whether you want to call it following your passion or not, hard work and applying yourself are the most important things here. Secondly, as it pertains to what you refer to as the bootstrap fallacy, this is beyond important for wealth creation. You have to have a low time preference in order to accumulate the capital needed to invest in whatever business you're in. You have got to be 'froogle' so to speak. All in all, all these debates are borderline useless unless hard work and frugality are employed.
- CuriouslyC 10y ago
  Material success only matters for happiness to the degree that it alleviates wants/needs. Truthfully, if you don't buy into all the things society says you should want, you can live on a startlingly small sum of money, and be genuinely happy. The brutal trap is people who chase wealth as a proxy for social status; as you become more successful your peer group tends to change, so you never get ahead of the curve.
baldfat 10y ago
happy and success are two separated stae of beings. They are usually self defined based on outside influences. Though your success and happiness really is a state of mind. To me content is a much better life goal now that I am getting old. It's 100% my responsibility if I will be content.

by jharger 10y ago

JKCalhoun 10y ago

Bingo. The article disproves something no one I am aware of has ever asserted (except perhaps the author). Following your passion leads to happiness.

Grishnakh 10y ago
>Following your passion leads to happiness. No, not when it leads you to start your own business, which then fails, leaving you penniless and living on the street. Following your passion may have a better chance of leading you to happiness than following something that you hate, but that's about it. It's not a guarantee of anything. If everyone followed their passion, then society would probably collapse due to massive unemployment and necessary jobs never getting done (like cleaning up trash). How many people really get up every day to go to work because they're passionate about their job? Not many.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
brianlenney 10y ago
Tons of people say to "follow your passion" but in the context of the startup world, you can be passionate about something you suck at, and it'll fail, which will make you very...unhappy. Passion is a nice to have but not a pre-requisite for success.

WalterSear 10y ago

I don't think this is an accurate distinction. I know a number of people who are living in penury right now due to chasing this boomer fallacy. People tend to downplay the requirement of a minimal level of material success for happiness, because the alternative is admitting that society isn't set up to profit from, not help us achieve, our hopes and dreams. It's part of the bootstrap fallacy, essentially - you just need to want something enough, and everything will fall in place.

georgemcbay 10y ago
I think whether or not it is an accurate distinction depends upon the person and the situation. The author of the post being discussed here actually had two separate goals in tandem (one to follow their passion and two to find business/monetary success as a startup), though they only really explicitly acknowledged the passion aspect. If you seek both of these goals (following your passion and finding financial success) simultaneously you are likely to come up short on the financial success end, but that doesn't mean following your passion is always bad advice, to assume so implicitly assumes that one's only goal in life should be to be financially well-off, which is certainly not a universal belief. There are people out there who follow their passion with eyes wide open to the fact that this decision is likely to mean they will not amass much money doing so, and I think that's perfectly fine and should be commended in many cases. Following your passion only becomes an issue when you do it blindly without thinking and end up making bad decisions like going into massive student debt, etc. There are lots of people out there who have followed their passion in a realistic manner and are living the modest life they want to live. The actual message shouldn't be to never follow your passion, but to be realistic about the trade-off that usually has to be made between following your passion and being financially successful, and then this realism has to be applied to big life decisions.
_andromeda_ 10y ago
I think that both schools of thought are wrong in this case and would like to propose alternatives. Number 1, it doesn't matter whether you want to call it following your passion or not, hard work and applying yourself are the most important things here. Secondly, as it pertains to what you refer to as the bootstrap fallacy, this is beyond important for wealth creation. You have to have a low time preference in order to accumulate the capital needed to invest in whatever business you're in. You have got to be 'froogle' so to speak. All in all, all these debates are borderline useless unless hard work and frugality are employed.
CuriouslyC 10y ago
Material success only matters for happiness to the degree that it alleviates wants/needs. Truthfully, if you don't buy into all the things society says you should want, you can live on a startlingly small sum of money, and be genuinely happy. The brutal trap is people who chase wealth as a proxy for social status; as you become more successful your peer group tends to change, so you never get ahead of the curve.

baldfat 10y ago

happy and success are two separated stae of beings. They are usually self defined based on outside influences. Though your success and happiness really is a state of mind. To me content is a much better life goal now that I am getting old. It's 100% my responsibility if I will be content.