Life

Don’t Follow Your Passion

Don’t follow your passion??

*Gasp*

In a world where everyone seems to have this whole “Life” thing figured out – it can be downright frustrating taking a simple stroll down social media avenue where the rich get richer and the amazing happens to everyone but you.

Hell, the only exciting thing that happened to you today was that you didn’t run out of toilet paper – high five.

Today we live in a world where everyone shares their accomplishments yet few share their struggles.

The outside world only sees the good and never the bad – we  fail to see the work that goes into success.

But we’re lucky –  the cat’s out of the bag, the successful have shared their secrets to building an incredible, soul fulfilling life.

The secret is this – follow your passion.

Just follow your fuck-king passion and the world will open up for you like the ladies of the night open their legs for paying customers.

Now if you’re anything like me, every time you read “Follow your passion” your eyes can’t help but roll.

If everything was as easy as following your passion then Hell, you likely wouldn’t be reading this very sentence – you’d have this mystery figured out!

You see the follow your passion advice has always bothered me, because like you, I’ve always wanted to find my passion but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t seem to find the damn thing.

The question of “What are you passionate about?” was too generic – I needed help sharpening my focus, the question was too big for me to answer thoughtfully.

My realization was this – instead of asking what your passion is, you should start asking “Where do I get my energy from?”

And no, I don’t mean this in a caffeine fueled,  yes, I’ll take another cup, kind-of-way but rather what activities do you do that physically make you excited and bring energy into your life.

To me, finding your passion is better said by saying follow your energy, because passion = energy.

Don’t look for your passion; choose to look for your energy – it’s much easier to recognize.

Now when you find what energizes you, the ball’s in your court – it’s up to you to figure out what to do with your life but that’s the beauty; – you’re in control of your final destiny – I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The truth of the matter is this – you’re going to die one day therefore you owe it to yourself to go after what you really want.

What’s the worst that can happen? You already know your final outcome, might as well apply yourself why you still have time.

Follow your energy and watch how life reenergizes you  – you’ll be the next energizer bunny.

Be sure to like comment and share. Let me know what energizes you and if this article helped.

 

–          ATRW

79 thoughts on “Don’t Follow Your Passion”

  1. This is an honest take on the matter — good! What gives me energy is being alone/napping, lol, which can’t be followed anywhere, so I’d put my passion as being that which most often makes me delightfully lose my self and all sense of time: writing.

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  2. I agree “follow your passion” is a very generic statement. A lot of blood, sweat and tear goes into executing an idea. It is also important to note that nearly 90% ideas do not lead to success. Does that mean, we should not follow what tickles us? I think it depends on how hard is the tickle, do you have fund to support you through hard times etc. At the same time, if people had not tried, despite facing many failures, we may not be here today sharing our ideas on computer terminal. Regarding following your energy, I think most of us do not know what is our purpose and what really drives us. We follow others in a rat race.

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  3. I couldn’t agree more. Everytime someone tells me to “follow my passion” (the writing that I do, but seldom get paid for), I look at them like the lame after-school special they are. But, its true. If you keep working on something, eventually, your hard work pays off. My writing doesn’t support me, not financially, anyway. But, that’s just for now. I intend to keep writing for as long as my brain will let me. Eventually, something good will come out of it.

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    1. Absolutely – I firmly believe if you are good at something you can get paid for it – but sometimes you need to pick up the phone and call a magazine and let them know who you are.

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  5. Last time I followed my passion, I was in for six years of shined shoes, tautly made beds, mop and mop-buckets and schedules set by whistles. The Navy. HA!
    As I told my sons when they were trying to figure out what they wanted in life, success is measured by not having to decide between eating that week and paying rent. Get a skill that is in demand. (Medieval art history may be wonderful, but you don’t get a hundred job offers with that resume.) A steady check leaves room for a lot of passion.

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  7. At some instinctive level the word passion doesn’t seem to fit this purpose. I figured it had a Latin root, so looked it up. The word passion comes from Latin root pati-, meaning suffering, or enduring. As you well noted, not such great advice.

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  11. That is a nice way of putting it! What energizes us, what drains us. A good guideline. Changes through life and it helps to be aware of our feelings and how events and people affect us. My later in life constants are walking, yoga, writing, reading, learning about different subjects, taking photos, gardening, spending meaningful time with friends and family. It’s a quiet life, but I like it that way. Oh, I’m thinking of buying a piano keyboard …

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  13. Well said. And great advice. My passion is writing. I’ve self-published six ‘books’. How much have I made? Fuck all. What energises me? Art. Painting, drawing, photography. Could I earn a living doing it? Who knows. I guess it doesn’t matter if it energises me.

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  14. Following your passion seldom puts food on the table. For some, that may be okay. Others of us have chosen to eat, and make sure our family has food, shelter, and is dressed appropriately for the weather.

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  15. You’re absolutely right. Following your passion can even be dangerous and deadly. Think about it. Ted Bundy followed his passion, and that turned out ghastly. Following your energy is on the lighthearted side, in my opinion, but we have to have time to generate that energy too. Ever see one of those 6 year old kids bouncing all over a waiting room? Man, what I would do for just 1% of that energy, hehe. Nice blog, rock on. ^_^

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  16. Wait! I have another one for you. “Find when you are in flow.”
    Someone said that to me the other day and I looked at them like they were growing a third arm. What…does…that…mean? The only flow I could think of was the one discussed in fifth grade health class, and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t referring to that cycle. Energy is much better. Passion? Flow? Ugh.

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  17. What I am hearing is that I need to invest in cloning and get myself replicated so I have time to follow everything that energizes me. Unfortunately, I get a kick out of my 9-5, I love my writing, I get huge satisfaction from my gardening, my orchids, my bonsai, I am enchanted by traveling and meeting new people and discovering new customs, I and re-energized by my crocheting, and needlework and quilting and… and… and… it leaves me mere minutes of sleep each night. No, for me the key is focus. I laser focus my attention to no more than 2 (ok maybe 3) of those things that get me pumped. Focus and attention to the minor details, making thing perfect, that is what works for me.

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  18. You’re right and i’ve noticed this too. The idea of finding something that brings you to life and drives you. For me that is many things like discovering something new, drawing, art, making things, sharing things, creating things whether it be concepts or a story and helping to contribute to a better world. Good advice.

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  20. I don’t know how many people I have asked, “What do you want?” and they can’t answer that. I rephrase, “What makes you happy?” Yet another blank look. There are a lot of people who do not know what they want, what they love, what makes them happy! I think asking what gives you energy is a GREAT place for people to start finding the answers to those questions…

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  21. I live for wine, women and song. Not many good options of making a living doing that; I just scrape together what I can wherever I can, and then blow it all on WWAS. Throw in an occasional fist-fight, and I’m happy.

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  22. What a grounded post. Nice to read an honest opinion but your question is a difficult one to answer as I am a dreamer and energy arrive s in spurts. So I suppose dreaming and writing as in creativity are the fuel that gets me moving.

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  23. Exactly the reason I read this post….follow your passion….I would if I knew how! I love your different take on the subject. Always enjoy reading about new ways to look at the same old thing. Thank you.

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  25. Oh man you hit it right on what must’ve been a very tiny button as I have missed it repeatedly. Nice perspective. Writing is what does it for me, though I’m not sure if it’s actually a passion since I tend towards introspection, and invariab
    ly, embarrassing squishy-ness. Well said.

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      1. You are most welcome my goal in life is everything I do must be lead with love and kindness 🙂

        Like

  27. I’ve read so many articles and books about finding your passion etc, but have yet to hear “follow your energy.” This is such a good way of looking at it that I’m surprised I haven’t heard more people recommend this. THANKS FOR THIS POST 🙂

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  28. Good stuff: Favorites–“Today we live in a world where everyone shares their accomplishments yet few share their struggles.

    The outside world only sees the good and never the bad – we fail to see the work that goes into success.”

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  29. ATRW: wait, wait! I found more quality stuff! I liked this even better.
    –“To me, finding your passion is better said by saying follow your energy, because passion = energy.

    Don’t look for your passion; choose to look for your energy – it’s much easier to recognize.”

    Liked by 1 person

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  30. And when you find the source which energizes you, you will automatically be attracted and your heart will be animated. For me, passion is just a game which changes its arena time to time. A man can have multiple passions. No doubt. Ya, need to follow one of them. No worries. I enjoyed it. Cheers and live well.

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  31. Social media is dimming our goals and making it seem like we are at the bottom. I do agree but I still have to stay following and knowing your passion is key. I do like how you interpreted knowing your energy and taking it to a new height.

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  32. Yes! 🙌🏼 love this! … I find sharing my raw, real and vulnerable inspires myself and others more than candy-coated “be happy” quotes. Thanks for sharing the insight of following my energy.

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  33. Hi!
    Nice post! I’m making posts about scientific explanations behinde everyday appearance, so if you have time and will please go and check it out! If you like it please follow me, I follow you.
    Thank you! 😀

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  35. Follow your energy…I love that. I too get sick of seeing how a blogger GOT A BOOK PUBLISHED AND A MOVIE SCRIPT AND THIS ONE GUY MADE MILLIONS SELLING SHIT OUT OF HIS VAN — love your writing…and I’m following my energy for sure! Thanks for this!!

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  41. The “what are you passionate about?” is almost as bad as the “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Thank you for bringing a new perspective to the first one. Writing energizes and exhausts me but there is nothing sweeter than finishing a piece of work.
    Thank you for visiting my blog.

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