Passion is overrated, focus on Career Capital.
Let's dive deep inside and see how just banking on 'Follow Your Passion' might not be as shinny as it sounds.
The Control Trap
Most college students and people in their early 20s want to make a dent in the world. You hear many bloggers and youtubers casually throwing words like "follow your passion", "follow your dream", don't confine yourself in 9-5 job, be your own boss".
Everyone dreams of taking control of their work. I think that it’s dangerous to pursue more control in your working life before you have career capital to offer in exchange.
Just to be clear, by career captial I don't mean 'wealth', capital funding is as easy as it gets. By career capital I mean you need to build up rare and valuable skills to offer in return. It generally takes years to be good at something, and that too by the most intelligent people. Yeah, ofcouse you might be a quick learner and you shouldn't compare yourself to others. Even the most competent and conscientiousness people need to put in the hours and time to truly hone their skills.
Think of these rare and valuable skills as a prerequiste to follow your passion.
But I'm really passionate and I will put in the effort when I pursue THE DREAM
Passion dies. Few months down the lane, when the going gets tough most people give up.
The traits that make a great job great are rare and valuable, and therefore, if you want a great job, you need to build up rare and valuable skills to offer in return.
Lifestyle Design Community
This movement argues that you don’t have to live life by other people’s rules. It encourages its followers to design their own path through life—preferably one that’s exciting and enjoyable to live. It’s easy to find examples of this philosophy in action, because many of its disciples blog about their exploits.
Contrary to popular belief, most people skip over the part where they need to build a stable means to support their unconventional lifestyle. They assume that generating the courage to pursue control is what matters, while everything else is just a detail that is easily worked out.
Don't fall into the trap - If you embrace control without investing in career capital, you're likely to end up frustrated and in dismay.
Career Capital Theory
The traits that define great work are rare and valuable, and if you want these in your working life, you must first build up rare and valuable skills to offer in return.
Acquire enough Career Capital
Acquire enough career capital to get meaningful control over your working life. This is exactly the point when you’ve become valuable enough to your current employer that they will try to prevent you from making the change.
Get the control you're looking for
You should only pursue a bid for more control if you have evidence that it’s something that people are willing to pay you for.
Cal Newport calls this "The Law of Financial Viability" which says “Do what people are willing to pay for.”
By aiming to make money, you're aiming to be valuable.
The Law of Financial Viability
When deciding whether to follow an appealing pursuit that will introduce more control into your work life, seek evidence of whether people are willing to pay for it. If you find this evidence, continue. If not, move on.
Conclusion
That’s it for today, see you soon. :)