“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
Mark Twain
Today the famous phrase by Mark Twain has become so close yet so far from reality in the labor market. On one hand, as human beings, we aspire to follow our passions and yearn for the possibility of earning money doing the things we love to do so that working doesn’t feel like working. On the other hand, reality shows us that finding these opportunities has a higher degree of difficulty than we envisioned, even though the modern world surrounds us with what seems to be endless possibilities. Then, why is it so difficult to make a living from our passions?
A Stanford research paper published in 2018 showed that one of the main reasons people are more likely to surrender in the pursuit of their passion is the acquisition of the wrong concept of passion. We tend to believe that passions are something to be found as a magic key to success when, in reality, passions should be developed.
“Urging people to find their passion may lead them to put all their eggs in one basket but then to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry.”
Carol Dweck and Gregory Walton
Researchers found that developing a passion requires a growth mindset. At the same time, this mindset requires the ability to praise and reward effort and the ability to make our effort effective which produces excitement and love for learning and resilience. And this shows that time and effort are the two factors that build commitment.
“If you look at something and think, ‘that seems interesting, that could be an area I could make a contribution in,’ you then invest yourself in it,”
Gregory Walton
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