Why “finding Your Passion” Isn’t Enough
We love to say that people must “find their passion” in order to be successful in their careers and therefore in life. If you really love something, it will be easy and right. Right? In fact, this may be the worst approach to new beginnings.
New research from Stanford psychologists suggests that an old adage has permeated our minds so deeply that it has changed the way we think about passion for your work. The story became quite popular on Reddit, where it was posted by u / ekser on Wednesday. Stanford News reports that researchers Paul O’Keefe, Carol Dweck, and Gregory Walton believe that telling someone to “find their passion” has an unspoken consequence – basically, if you really love something, it’s a breeze. This means that when you inevitably face an obstacle, you are much more likely to give up.
Problem
The team started with Dweck’s mind data. In previous research, Dweck found that when children or adults believe in a fixed IQ, they are less likely to continue in school. What’s the point if you’re at the ceiling of your intelligence? They decided to test how a “fixed” perspective can be limiting in other ways:
In the first series of experiments, the researchers recruited a group of students who identified themselves as “techies” or “fuzzy” in Stanford to describe students with an interest in STEM topics (techies) versus art and humanities (fuzzy). The researchers asked both groups of students to read two articles each, one on technology and the other on the humanities.
They found that students who adhered to a fixed mindset about interests were less open to articles outside of their interests.
It was unsettling to find how few people were open to things they perceived to be outside their own interests, because, as Walton pointed out, innovation usually results from the merging of worlds.
“Many advances in science and business happen when people bring different areas together, when people see new connections between areas that may not have been seen before,” he said.
The following experiment showed how people with the fixed mindset can also be limited within their area of interest. The participants were shown a video about “black holes and the origin of the Universe”. It was supposed to be extremely fun and the students were hooked. Then they were handed a thick piece of paper on the same topic, and most of them lost all interest, especially those with a fixed mindset. The researchers believe this is because they thought they shouldn’t be interested in what they just found so exciting. It has become too difficult.
Solution
It’s not as easy as snapping your fingers and forgetting all the inspirational Instagram posts you’ve ever seen about following your dreams. It is difficult to shake off widespread cultural beliefs. The advice of the study’s authors is pretty simple: instead of following your passion, develop it .
Instead of counting on a good attitude towards everything you do, go about your day-to-day work, such as a musician running with weights , an athlete in the gym, or a scientist sorting through tricky, boring paper. Think of your passion as something that you fuel to empower it. You feed it, not the other way around.
“At first, my students admire the idea of finding their passion, but over time they become much more excited to develop their passion and carry it to the end,” Dweck said. “They are coming to understand how they and their future will shape, and how they will ultimately contribute.”
The pursuit of everything you care about will continue to involve tiring days, increasing work, and moments that are impossible to get through. Continue; if you are truly passionate about something, it will be worth it.