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"Most workers want to do a job they love" I forget where I read/heard it, but some of the best career advice I ever heard was (paraphrasing here): if you keep

by iamben 4y ago

"Most workers want to do a job they love" I forget where I read/heard it, but some of the best career advice I ever heard was (paraphrasing here): if you keep searching for the job you love you'll never be happy. Find a job you are, for the most part, tolerant of doing every day. There will always be ups and downs, but if you can't even face starting in the morning you're definitely going to spend life unhappy.

auggierose 4y ago
There are definitely things I love which I would classify as useful work. I can do them basically 16 hours a day. So while I would not say that this is bad advice in general, I think it definitely is dangerous advice for those with a passion. Why would you spend your life doing something else than what you know you love?
- iamben 4y ago
  Whilst I don't disagree - there are definitely things I'm happy to do for 16 hours(!) - I think the point (at least based on my understanding) is more that you'll never love something all the time. You could be a famous actor or a rockstar and still resent the fact you have to come in to dub over voices, do the press tour, or play the show that didn't sell out where the monitors don't work properly. You could love to code (I did!) and then burnout because your boss has forced you to work on something you hate, to hit the deadline that's unreal. You could be working for yourself and find it's absolutely not the easy life you thought it would be. It could be the thing you love doesn't provide the income that makes for a comfortable life. There's so many things. I'm well aware (personally, anecdata, I know!) that passions can become a chore when you think that everything has to be monetised. Sometimes you should just do the thing because you love it. Of course there will be exceptions, but I think the advice is good. Most people won't love their 'job'. Hang on to the advice of "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" and you'll end up thinking the work that's actually fine really isn't and you'll end up unhappy where you are, or unhappy chasing an unattainable goal. But hey, we're all different and this is just my 2c :-)
  - Applejinx 4y ago
    Regarding the monetized thing: there's a special point with that. You can have all the passion in the world for a thing, but is your passion about how OTHER PEOPLE react to that? If so, monetizing can be your passion, but the way other people react to a thing is not that thing, it's a separate thing. I know that in my line of work I can get passionate about plenty of ideas, but there's no real correlation between what keeps me going, and what clicks with a mass audience. One of the things that clicks with the mass audience is that I'm there seeking out really quirky, specialized things that might possibly result in something amazing. In that sense the mass audience is more interested in me being passionate, than in every specific thing I'm being passionate about. Bit like a zoo. Watch the tiger code widgets! If the tiger codes an amazing, saleable widget, that's a real marketing story, but people will still be curious and watch even if the widgets don't suit them. If the tiger thinks every widget is gonna be a hit, he's going to burn out and quit in despair.
    - iamben 4y ago
      Indeed. I've can absolutely familiarise with that kind of burnout. So much effort and nothing lands. Lots of lessons and hindsight is wonderful thing. But at the time it becomes very demotivating and pointless.
  - auggierose 4y ago
    I think it is good advice as long as you don't have a REAL passion. Once you have one, it is spectacularly bad advice, because in this case there is just no way you cannot follow it, and trying to do so is just hurting yourself. Of course your passion always also involves things you might not cherish as much, such as marketing, sales, etc., but you'll endure that if that stays just a tolerable part of what you do.
ycombinete 4y ago
Perhaps we can say, "Find a job that you don't hate".
substation13 4y ago
There was self-help type book (quite a good one, but its name escapes me) that talks about the Passion Mindset and the Craftsman Mindset. The Craftsman derives joy from mastering their craft, learning from past failures and improving every day. You can be a Craftsman in any career which allows for outlier performance - public speaking, writing books, trading, academia, entrepreneurship, software engineering. The Passion mindset is about finding your strongest passion and then working in that area. The problem with this is that most people don't really know what they will be passionate about from the start. And worse, it's even harder to know if the current thing is what you are most passionate about! You also may not have a skills edge in what you are passionate about.
- maroonblazer 4y ago
  Likely not the book you're thinking of, but related and one I found useful: "I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This" https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Know-What-Step-Step/dp/0143128515 https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Know-What-Step-Step/dp/014312851...
  - substation13 4y ago
    It was So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
vouaobrasil 4y ago
I think this can be good advice for some but terrible for others. I am one of those people that needs to do something they love. I finally found that last year, quit my job as a programmer and now Im happier than ever. I think it is very worthwhile to follow your passions if you have enough ability.

by iamben 4y ago

auggierose 4y ago

There are definitely things I love which I would classify as useful work. I can do them basically 16 hours a day. So while I would not say that this is bad advice in general, I think it definitely is dangerous advice for those with a passion. Why would you spend your life doing something else than what you know you love?

iamben 4y ago
Whilst I don't disagree - there are definitely things I'm happy to do for 16 hours(!) - I think the point (at least based on my understanding) is more that you'll never love something all the time. You could be a famous actor or a rockstar and still resent the fact you have to come in to dub over voices, do the press tour, or play the show that didn't sell out where the monitors don't work properly. You could love to code (I did!) and then burnout because your boss has forced you to work on something you hate, to hit the deadline that's unreal. You could be working for yourself and find it's absolutely not the easy life you thought it would be. It could be the thing you love doesn't provide the income that makes for a comfortable life. There's so many things. I'm well aware (personally, anecdata, I know!) that passions can become a chore when you think that everything has to be monetised. Sometimes you should just do the thing because you love it. Of course there will be exceptions, but I think the advice is good. Most people won't love their 'job'. Hang on to the advice of "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life" and you'll end up thinking the work that's actually fine really isn't and you'll end up unhappy where you are, or unhappy chasing an unattainable goal. But hey, we're all different and this is just my 2c :-)
- Applejinx 4y ago
  Regarding the monetized thing: there's a special point with that. You can have all the passion in the world for a thing, but is your passion about how OTHER PEOPLE react to that? If so, monetizing can be your passion, but the way other people react to a thing is not that thing, it's a separate thing. I know that in my line of work I can get passionate about plenty of ideas, but there's no real correlation between what keeps me going, and what clicks with a mass audience. One of the things that clicks with the mass audience is that I'm there seeking out really quirky, specialized things that might possibly result in something amazing. In that sense the mass audience is more interested in me being passionate, than in every specific thing I'm being passionate about. Bit like a zoo. Watch the tiger code widgets! If the tiger codes an amazing, saleable widget, that's a real marketing story, but people will still be curious and watch even if the widgets don't suit them. If the tiger thinks every widget is gonna be a hit, he's going to burn out and quit in despair.
  - iamben 4y ago
    Indeed. I've can absolutely familiarise with that kind of burnout. So much effort and nothing lands. Lots of lessons and hindsight is wonderful thing. But at the time it becomes very demotivating and pointless.
- auggierose 4y ago
  I think it is good advice as long as you don't have a REAL passion. Once you have one, it is spectacularly bad advice, because in this case there is just no way you cannot follow it, and trying to do so is just hurting yourself. Of course your passion always also involves things you might not cherish as much, such as marketing, sales, etc., but you'll endure that if that stays just a tolerable part of what you do.

ycombinete 4y ago

Perhaps we can say, "Find a job that you don't hate".

substation13 4y ago

There was self-help type book (quite a good one, but its name escapes me) that talks about the Passion Mindset and the Craftsman Mindset. The Craftsman derives joy from mastering their craft, learning from past failures and improving every day. You can be a Craftsman in any career which allows for outlier performance - public speaking, writing books, trading, academia, entrepreneurship, software engineering. The Passion mindset is about finding your strongest passion and then working in that area. The problem with this is that most people don't really know what they will be passionate about from the start. And worse, it's even harder to know if the current thing is what you are most passionate about! You also may not have a skills edge in what you are passionate about.

maroonblazer 4y ago
Likely not the book you're thinking of, but related and one I found useful: "I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This" https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Know-What-Step-Step/dp/0143128515 https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Know-What-Step-Step/dp/014312851...
- substation13 4y ago
  It was So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

vouaobrasil 4y ago

I think this can be good advice for some but terrible for others. I am one of those people that needs to do something they love. I finally found that last year, quit my job as a programmer and now Im happier than ever. I think it is very worthwhile to follow your passions if you have enough ability.