The Perils Of Having A Passion Impulsive Mindset
How to be So Good They Can’t Ignore You? A question that actually turned out to be a good book written by a Computer Scientist and professor, Cal Newport. A book which is best to be read by those who’ve been thinking to escape the cubicle world to pursue their most awaited passion.
The book can give an invaluable lesson to every “passionate” one. I also got drifted to what I call a passion impulse in the early stage of my career. An impulse that leads me bouncing back and forth from being employed to starting my own business then being employed again, again and again.
Now I can say that this book thought me how can I rightfully deal with my passion-journey in a more sensible way.
“Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.” — Cal Newport
After reading the book, it became so clear to me why a lot of people, even if they choose what they think the best for themselves, still, thirst for something more and even end up complaining about the result that they currently have.
If you are considering to choose your passion over your 8 to 5 job (which you think you hate), please continue reading.
The book assured that the process will be a long haul — “No one owes you a great career, you need to earn it — and the process won’t be easy,”.
If I will be given a chance to pass this piece of advice to my younger self, I will definitely do. Today, let me help you save a decade of your time — or possibly even less.
1. The cost of chasing passion immaturely
“Follow Your Passion” Is A Bad Advice — Cal Newport
We are asking the wrong question from the very start. What is my passion? In this question, a lot of people will definitely choose something that they really love doing, such as hobbies that they find interesting, activities that give them happiness, or the things that they enjoyed doing since childhood. They immediately come up with ideas so personal but having skills that they remain to lack. They pursue what they call a passion that showcases underdeveloped skills often leading to mediocre results.
But how can someone really achieve quality results?
Instead of asking the previous question, ask, “What’s in my passion that I can develop so that I can become so-good-they-can’t-ignore?”
Being passionate is synonymous with being so good and impossible to ignore and it is not a quick formula.
2. Having ‘control’ takes time, rushing it makes you totally out of control
“If your goal is to love what you do, you must first build up ‘career capital’ by mastering rare and valuable skills, and then cash in this capital for the traits that define great work.” — Cal Newport
The phrase “do what you love” is a very brave but ambiguous move.
We live in an age where everyone seeks immediate freedom and control. This is where the ‘courageous passionate’ can lead to probable failure. Freedom is something that you earn, it is something you invest by building a career capital firsthand.
A lot wish to escape the first trap, which is to get out from the cubicle world to do what they think they were passionate about, not knowing a bigger trap awaits outside.
The second trap is following passion without an ally.
If you achieved freedom and control without enough funds and career capital, sustaining this passion will not be as easy as you think. The author highlighted that “Control that was acquired without a career capital is not sustainable.”
This is not to discourage anyone. Passion could be an absolute lighthouse, it leads you in the right direction. But before diving in, make sure that you invest time in gaining the expertise which will be your career capital. Remember, expertise comes from the way you practice rather than the time you devoted to practicing.
In the long run the greater effort you invest in developing your skills, the stronger the impact you can give not just for yourself but to others.
3. Building a career capital leads you to be a craftsman.
Instead of aiming to be passionate, aim to be a craftsman.
“Craftsman mindset focuses on what you can offer the world, the passion mindset focuses instead on what the world can offer you. This mindset is how most people approach their working lives.” — Cal Newport
Having a dedication to doing the skills that could give value to others, defines a true craftsman.
The journey to being a craftsman could start on the simplest level. When you start your day dedicating even a few hours of your time, you are in the process of being a craftsman.
It is less stressful if the craft you love to do also helped you put food on the table. I realized that those who build skills that can support their basic needs are the ones who are more creative and could welcome new learning opportunities when it comes to their true passion.
Human is more creative when they can sustain the survival part. Instead of pushing yourself on reaching a financial target (which kills passion) aim of having a craftsman mindset. We can all agree that the less people think about the money factor the more creative they will be.
Decide on something you can offer to the world and contentment will follow. In the book, the writer highlighted that giving a positive impact to others simple starts by:
- honing your skills by having a dedication to practice
- invest in learning and sharing
- invest on key relationships
4. Great work leads to a mission, which on the latter part can be defined as ‘calling‘
“If life-transforming missions could be found with just a little navel-gazing and an optimistic attitude, changing the world would be commonplace. But it’s not commonplace; it’s instead quite rare.” — Cal Newport
‘Calling’ comes on the later part. It leads to a compelling work, a life-transforming mission. Cal Newport emphasized that “mission is HARD” — a phrase that gives me an idea that every person should have resilience — firm to pay the price on gaining the skills that they want, to invest mental and physical strength, and to give full dedication to that practice.
Ultimately, passion will follow your path — an adventure worth pursuing.
Premature Passion Vs. Mature Passion
If premature passion was pursued, the survival rate will be very low. The essential parts were still not fully developed and invalid, resulting to mediocrity.
Being compulsive with premature passion distracts the individual in terms of finances. He might end up taking all the opportunities that will come his way just to cover the expenses. That’s the danger, the original focus tends to lose track.
The phrase “earning doing the things I love” is so popular in premature stages. The effort focuses on the things that the person loves to do while avoiding areas that are hard and confusing. Avoiding hard things is a habit that will lead the person out from being a true craftsman.
Mature passion, on the other hand, comes after earning enough expertise. It is the stage where essential parts were fully developed. Personal and financial confidence was present. This is where a person gains control of the career capital. The author stated that “…people with more control over what they do and how they do it increases their happiness, engagement, and sense of fulfillment.”
Mature passion yields quality results. Dedication to practice leads to enough experience. It’s where the true freedom of control can be achieved.
Mature passion won’t take forever to bloom, as long as it’s fully formed, honed, and well-prepared — then it’s ready for delivery.
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