I know it is not intuitive, it even seems totally wrong but stay with me. If you have time, listen to Cal Newport, author of So Good They Can’t Ignore You.
Science and social data says: telling a young person to follow their passion actually decreases the probability they will end up passionate.
Most people who are really passionate about their work did not start out with an intense passion. The passion grew with the mastery of what they did. This is exactly the story of my second job. Nobody in the whole world is innately passionate about managing complaints against doctors… i started out with curiosity and as i became competent at this incredibly useful and important task, my passion about the work grew exponentially. Now i feel privilege to do a very difficult but immensely important job in our . healthcare system.
So if you have teenagers )or you yourself are searching a new path in life), tell them not to worry too much if they did not find “their passion” yet because only 5% of Canadians have a passion that is relevant to work. Just try doing something useful and when you do, go deep, get involved, learn constantly, always strive to do good work. That is how passion ignites.
Passion follows mastery.
It’s not how you get started, what really matters is what you do when you get going.
Build a set of valuable and useful skills.
Be so good they can’t ignore you
Do deep work.
Martin Pham Dinh 