When Passion Doesn’t Precede Profession

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

It’s a question we probably all have been hearing since kindergarten.  At that age, parents just think it’s adorable when their child answers, “A cowboy, doctor, and truck driver!”  As we get older, though, the pressure to answer that question with something definitive increases.  My last post asked, “Why do you do what you do?”  Now I pose a related question, “What is your passion?”  Supposedly if you know what you are passionate about, you will be able to craft your ideal career about it.

But, what if you can’t answer the questions . . .

In a recent post written for Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding blog, Beth Kuhel, Founder and President of Get Hired, LLC, shares that it’s OK not to know your passion.  Sometimes it takes lots of hard work, trial and error, and a sense of achievement in a field before that profession turns into a real passion.

Kuhel writes that instead of letting your passion guide your career decisions, maybe you turn that on its head.  Find out a niche in which your knowledge or personality or skill set would be beneficial and then try it out.  Maybe you will get a job that doesn’t initially spark much passion in you, but as you work and see that you are making a positive difference, and others notice this as well, you very well may find that the passion comes with this engagement and success.

I highly recommend you check out the entire thoughtful and detailed piece, as Kuhel offers some reassurance to those who have yet to find passion in their careers.

I want to hear from you.  Did you enter your current field because you had a passion for that type of work or subject matter?  Or, did passion surprise you as it developed over time?

About the author

Joe Lavelle

Joe Lavelle is the Co-Founder of intrepidNow. Prior to that Joe was an accomplished healthcare IT executive and career coach with a record of successfully meeting the business and technology challenges of diverse organizations including health plans, health delivery networks, health care companies, and several Fortune 500 companies.

Joe is also the author of Act As If It Were Impossible To Fail, available on Amazon.

   

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