Why blindly following your passions is bad career advice

“Follow your passions”, “Pursue your interests”, “Chase your dreams”. This is a common message told by career advice, counsellors, and the media.

As cliche as it sounds, and having wandered around in my career and personal pursuits in the past several years, I believe that this is bad advice for most people, and could ultimately be holding you back from your true career and financial potential.

Many people today are told this lie and believe pursuing your passion is an entitlement. However, it is merely a modern privilege, stemming from the good materialic times we lived in since the end of WW2.

Most people in the past did not have this privilege. When times were tough, people had to work undesirable jobs to make a living. Bills and rent need to be paid and food must be put on the table. Many would not survive or make a living if they simply followed their passions.

Let’s begin with my story.

As a kid, I was intrigued by civil engineering. Perhaps as a byproduct of my father being an urban planner, I was fascinated by buildings, infrastructure, and transportation. As I grew older, I became deeply interested in earth sciences, particularly weather (meteorology), climate, and geology. In high school, I also became interested in math and physics as I was doing well in school.

When I was deciding what to study for university, I did not have a strong preference. However, under the pressure of my parents, who wanted me to study something computers or engineering-related, I decided to go into the Engineering Science program at U of T, thinking that I had a couple more years to “figure things out”, since the first two years of this program is general. Two years flew by, and I only found out which subjects I hated (which include civil engineering, math, and physics) rather than what I wanted to specialize in.

I was contemplating whether to switch out to an earth sciences or meteorology program, but was discouraged when I looked at the career prospects of these fields. There were simply very few opportunities available. Also, the idea of staring at weather charts all day and presenting weather forecasts every day sounds daunting.

As a result, I chose to specialize in machine learning and artificial intelligence, again at the advice of my parents. This led me to gain extensive work experience in data science and software development, paving my way toward a six-figure job post-graduation.

Currently, in addition to working my full-time job, I am also pursuing a master's degree in psychology part-time, as I developed an interest in mental health and personality. Also, it helps that I already have several publications in this area, and built working relationships with some professors in this field.

Although I’m not truly passionate about tech and AI, it offers a great deal of career opportunities, and I can make a good living even if I’m not the best at it. That in itself is enough to keep me going.

I wouldn’t have ever imagined 10 years ago in high school that I’d be working with programming and AI every day, when back then I barely even knew how a computer worked. I’m sure many of you older folks feel the same.

As for my earth sciences and weather passion, I currently pursue it as a hobby through clubs, online forums, and doing research on my own.

My story is common among immigrant families in North America. Parents telling their children what they should study (“You must become a doctor or engineer!”), whereas their own interests were constantly changing. Looking back, I’m glad my parents guided me toward a relatively stable career path, and that I did not blindly follow my ever-changing passions.

Looking at my peers from high school, many of them are lost in their careers. They studied hard in high school, and went to prestigious universities and programs, but became disinterested and disillusioned in what they were studying. Others pursued their passions and quickly realized it wouldn’t give them the lifestyle they wanted.

Many soon realized that the field they were studying didn’t offer many career prospects, so they were forced to switch careers (e.g., I know people who studied sciences who ended up becoming real estate agents, as well as math & physics majors who became software engineers or high school teachers). Bills need to be paid, and passion alone doesn’t pay bills.

I also know people who pursued creative career paths such as becoming artists, actors, athletes, content creators, or starting businesses. Some made it big, but most didn’t. The ones who truly made it actually had the talent and initiative (note I went to a primary arts high school). It is a very challenging path. Many others had to settle for another career path once they realized the difficulties of a creative career.

Now that the story has been told, let me summarize why I believe blindly pursuing your interests or passions is bad career advice.

Note, I didn’t say do not pursue your passions, but you need to extensively research your passions before making an informed decision on whether or not you should pursue them for a career. Figure out if you actually have the talent and qualifications to pursue this path.

The truth is, for many highly selective career paths, most people don’t have what it takes — It takes someone very special. To be an athlete, an artist, or an entrepreneur, you need to be in the top 1%, arguably the top 0.1% to have a chance at making it big. The remaining >99% are struggling to pay rent unless they have rich parents or have another source of income.

If you have that same level of talent and effort in a more common career path (like programming, engineering, or medicine), you’d probably have a house and family by now.

Others mistake their hobbies for a career and quickly realize that hobbies don’t always pay the bills, let alone give you the lifestyle you envisioned. People need to see value in what you’re doing or else you don’t make money. You need to wake up from your fantasy and be realistic.

I believe talking to more experienced people such as your parents, teachers, and mentors can help a lot.

• Passions can change over time — It is rare for one’s passions to stay consistent throughout their entire life. Most people become interested in different things over time.
• Many people don’t know what their passions are — They are indifferent about most things they do, and do what needs to be done to get by. A lot of people are motivated merely by money and status.
• People develop interests as they do well in something — The positive feedback from doing well in something makes you become more interested and develop a passion. This is pretty common in children.
• Only the privileged get away with that — They have the financial means to support pursuing their passions full-time, especially ones that do not offer a lot of financial returns, such as the arts and sports.
• Turning a passion into a career will turn it into a chore, and you will stop enjoying it — The pressure of maintaining your work performance and making a living can quickly take the fun away from the passion.
• You’ll get tired of it — Even if you find your dream job, doing the same thing for 8+ hours a day, no matter how interesting, will get you tired of it. We are meant to explore different things in life and not be tied down to one thing.
• You risk becoming very one-dimensional — Focusing too much on a select few passions can make you lose the bigger picture and prevent you from becoming a more well-rounded individual.
• You do what you have to do — There are many things that you have to do that you may not enjoy. Many have a family to raise and bills to pay. Even in a field or job that you enjoy, there are still tasks that you might dislike in which you must perform.

The reasons above may sound discouraging, but you should still try to devote time to your passions if you can. At the end of the day, life is too short, and you still want to enjoy it if you can. So what are better ways to pursue your passions and interests?

1. Pursue your passions as hobbies — There are lots of interest groups and clubs out there for all kinds of subjects and activities. You can even get involved in something part-time related to your passion (e.g., taking up a part-time job, a volunteering gig, or researching/learning on your own).
2. Make a good living and be financially stable before switching to a career you are passionate about — You can put yourself in a “privileged” position where you have the financial means to enjoy your passions freely. Once you build a solid financial base (or become financially independent), you can quit your current career and use that to fund your passion as a full-time career.
3. Create the opportunities — A lot of times, passions don’t turn out to be productive right away. However, if you realize this is something you want to pursue, you have to create the opportunities. They don’t come out of thin air. Network, connect with people, build stuff, found a startup, and try different things. You can create opportunities to succeed in your passions if you really try.

In essence, you want to do something that enables you to do what you love. When you create the means (money and time) to pursue your passions, it will feel much easier than blindly chasing them without a plan.

Now, what if you don’t know what your passions or interests are? A lot of people struggle to find their passion their entire lives, and I believe a lot of life is lost if one does not live with passion.

1. Try different things — Go out there and explore! You don’t know if you enjoy something or excel at something until you try it.
2. Improve your mental health — You will see the world differently and enjoy things that you once didn’t enjoy when your mental health is in a better state. Seek therapy if needed.
3. Do something you are good at — The positive feedback from doing well in something makes you become more interested and develop a passion.
4. Follow the opportunities — Again, a lot of times, you discover things you are interested in, but following opportunities makes things a lot easier. Seize the opportunities when they come, even if you may not be interested initially. Be open to trying and learning new things.

One important message to note, no matter what you end up pursuing, do not chase money or status. It will make your life miserable.

In essence, follow the opportunities, and take your dreams with them. Don’t blindly follow your dreams.

Sometimes, it’s ok to listen to your parent’s or elders’ advice. They are more experienced and will know what is a better career path than others. Even though times are quickly changing, a lot of your parents’ advice or conventional wisdom could still hold. What is popular isn’t always right.

Choosing the right career path is one of the most important decisions in your life.

I liken it to choosing a road. Some roads are smooth and wide while others are narrow and bumpy. You can be mediocre in some career paths and still make a good living (e.g. computer science), while there are other career paths where only the best of the best can even survive (e.g. professional sports).

If you are a parent, you should make your children try out different things, whether it be sports, subjects, or extracurricular activities. They generally don’t know better until they try, and oftentimes, they can become interested in things that they do well in. It also helps boost their confidence when they know they can do something well.