Following one’s passion, or not?

These day, it’s become the norm to tell young people "follow your bliss, follow your passion!" This is all well and good and certainly beats the “You’ll never amount to anything” that many of us have heard when we were young, so let’s welcome this new, positive message of support. 

Yet, let’s never forget that it should come with a bunch of caveats that are commensurate with the height of the goal that has been picked. For instance if one’s avocation is to become a waiter, an average car salesperson, or any kind of a journeyman, the cost of entry will be low enough and easing into the job won’t be too hard. 

Getting to become an expert in that seemingly easy job, won’t be easy, though. If on the contrary the plan is to become a rock-and-roll star, a brain surgeon or a cosmonaut, the price tag will be huge with untold quantity of work, adversity, pitfalls and plenty of super good luck. So, while it’s crucial to encourage young people to pursue their passions, it is equally important to emphasize that achieving significant goals often requires hard work, perseverance, and resilience. 

Setting higher ambitions can lead to encountering more challenges, adversity, and setbacks along the way. In addition to encouraging aiming high, it’s therefore even more important to prepare and support young people to navigate through these obstacles, help them build an unbreakable self-confidence, and develop the necessary skills, determination and most of all, infinite patience, to overcome them. 

Following one’s passion is a long marathon indeed and is not for the faint of heart. It’s way over a cool and fashionable goal most of us often hear! 7-11 Follow one’s calling, or not? These day, it’s become the norm to tell young people "follow your bliss, follow your passion!" This is all well and good and certainly beats the “You’ll never amount to anything” that many of us have heard when we were young, so let’s welcome this new, positive message of support. 

Yet, let’s never forget that it should come with a bunch of caveats that are commensurate with the height of the goal that has been picked. For instance if one’s avocation is to become a waiter, an average car salesperson, or any kind of a journeyman, the cost of entry will be low enough and easing into the job won’t be too hard. 

Getting to become an expert in that seemingly easy job, won’t be easy, though. If on the contrary the plan is to become a rock-and-roll star, a brain surgeon or a cosmonaut, the price tag will be huge with untold quantity of work, adversity, pitfalls and plenty of super good luck. So, while it’s crucial to encourage young people to pursue their passions, it is equally important to emphasize that achieving significant goals often requires hard work, perseverance, and resilience. 

Setting higher goals can lead to encountering more challenges, adversity, and setbacks along the way. In addition to encouraging aiming high, it’s therefore even more important to prepare and support young people to navigate through these obstacles, help them build an unbreakable self-confidence, and develop the necessary skills, determination and most of all, infinite patience, to overcome them. 

Following one’s passion is a long marathon indeed and is not for the faint of heart. It’s way over a cool and fashionable goal most of us often hear!