This idea that everyone must chase their dream or turn their passion into a career is honestly exhausting and unrealistic. Not everyone has some deep, burning calling, and that’s okay.
Some people just want stability, decent pay, and time to enjoy life outside of work. There’s nothing wrong with clocking out at 5 and spending your free time on hobbies without trying to monetize them or make them your “purpose.”
The pressure to be exceptional is overrated, being content should be enough
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It’s not crazy to say that
Yeah i am really struggling atm,because i need to decide my master soon. I am not really sure if i want to try as hard as possible and, or If i want to go in a field, where i have a stable 9-5.
Many people who chase their passion end up broke and resentful.
Best to pick something you can tolerate that pays well, which can fund your passion.
Can you teach me how to get a stable job and chill? Because after posting over 1000ths application, the employers want a unicorn, hence I follow my passion. It is either sink or swim.
As always, it depends
As someone who chased a passion job for way too long, I strongly advise people to not do so unless they understand what they are giving up.
A job needs to meet three criteria.
you can’t hate it. You don’t have to love it but you can’t hate it. You spend too much time at work for that.
it needs to pay enough to support the lifestyle you want
it needs to have the schedule you need to support the lifestyle you want
I think you could say the same for the reverse too
There’s a saying. It goes something like ‘there’s no better way to destroy the pleasure of your hobby than making a career out of it’.
Agreed.
I agree. It might be because parents pay money for tuition that they don’t want all of that to go down the drain. I know that’s how it was for me. At the same time though, I never said I wanted college. My parents just felt like it was naturally the next step. And I honestly didn’t get the quality of education worth the tuition money. And I honestly don’t care enough to go to graduate school. It’s a matter of just finding what’s out there and sticking it out until the next best thing comes. Now everything we do in this world has to be monumentally life-changing.
My passion is arson. I settled on bookkeeping.
In my experience (software developer) following my passion has lead to stability. And people who don’t, often end up not developing their skills and not achieving the stability.
I think it’s important to note not every passion is profitable. Also certain passions only the best are profitable… like society often rewards only the best so you can spend your entire life trying to be successful only to fail miserably because despite your undeniable passion you simply are mid at it
Hell yeah 💯 agree
If I have kids, I’ll let them chase their passion after college for 3 years (I won’t pay for it though) if it doesn’t amount to anything, I’ll encourage them to get a more traditional job.
I know so many people who are “one break away” and just never make it, they wake up and their 40 with no good professional experience. Scary.
Not everyone has a passion that can be monetized anyway.
My mom’s passion was retail and she literally went into tech to support her family lol. My first ever manager was passionate about the little candy shop we worked in. Her husband died, and she couldn’t afford her place anymore, but she didn’t want to leave her job and downsized so she could keep it. My aunt works at Disneyland, and she’s VERY passionate about that, and her partner is passionate about his role in the lumber mill and his Boys there. I think following your passions is good, not everyone aspires to be an astronaut
My passion is to have money to do the things I love
Didn’t this get posted a few days ago?
https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/1ktvsd9/comment/mtwyvdj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Most people are just not truly passionate about anything. They just think they are. I see it all the time as a mechanic. People get into the profession because they love cars. Only to work as a mechanic for a few years and then get out of the career because it made them hate cars. I became a mechanic by falling into it. For me it’s a means to make money.
If you think you’re passionate about something ask yourself: are you willing to do and think about that thing 80 hours a week? If not, it’s not a passion and it’s better to keep as a hobby. If you can’t eat, sleep and breathe it, it’s not passion.
Not an unpopular opinion in my opinion. It’s just called being an adult.
My husband loves gardening. But he’s also very good at plumbing, something he picked up along the way. Does he necessarily enjoy plumbing work? No. Is he good enough at it that he can work less than 40 hours a week and still make over $1k a week. Yes.
The actual issue is people chasing jobs as passions. I do my job so I can chase my passions in my own time.
I monetize my passion, and it’s so little money I can maybe have a small vacation with those money. Emphasis on the maybe.
I love doing it but nobody can actually live off of it, and I don’t think I could do it for 40 hours a week.
Chasing your dreams and turning them into careers are two separate things
I understand the sentiment, but I think the real solution is to follow your passion, but recognize that there will be boring moments, difficult moments, and confusing moments throughout your career
There’s a few people in my life I’d like to see this….
I think the pressure to make money off your passion is the most capitalist thing a person with a capitalist mindset can fall for and the hilarious part is that it’s mostly (but not exclusively) people who claim to be rebelling against the system who seek to do that.
No Brendahmzg (“hmzg” is silent), your overpriced knitwear is not a rebellion against the system, please go back to accounting.
You are right. I don’t think this is necessarily unpopular though.
Hard to argue with that title.
I’m not sure how unpopular it is, though.
Not everyone has the resources or opportunity to follow their passion(s). I imagine it would be hard to find many people that truly believe that in all circumstances, everyone should always follow their passion(s).
The trick is finding passion for some aspect of your job, aside from a paycheque, vacation time, break, pension, benefits, end of day etc., if you can’t get the job you’re passionate about.
What proportion of people follow their passion instead of getting a normal job?
You should definitely always chase your passion… As a hobby. Love skiing, then build your life around living close to a hill, find a job that allows for tons of skiing in season.
Professionally? Why even, absolute best case is you spend your entire youth and hundreds of thousands of your parents money and you win a gold medal and people talk about you for about a month.
I learned the hard way doing what you love as a job can kill your passion for it.
Agree. Work a job. Make money. Spend money on something you are passionate about,
Fact: Not every kid will grow up to be an astronaut.
Many people do not have a real “passion”, or rather, they are normal, average, biologically inclined human beings that get maximal self-actualization from reproducing, raising offspring, and being accepted in their social circles. That is not an insult at all, it is just a recognition that humans are animals. Encouraging these people (and I include myself as one of them) to risk financial/social/reproductive development to pursue a “greatness” they likely are not cut out for is a recipe for failure and depression.
This is important to realize because when you are young it is really easy to have delusions of grandeur that will distract you from developing as a well adjusted member of society.
Most people should just get a job that fits their lifestyle and leave their passions as hobbies.
this!! i’m in grad school right now doing a course that’ll definitely help my future, but it’s not something that excites me and honestly, i probably wouldn’t be doing it if i didn’t have to think about supporting myself. that said, i don’t hate it either.
growing up, i never had a clear “dream” or imagined myself as any one thing. my older sister always knew she wanted to be a doctor and was super vocal about it since forever. now i see her constantly exhausted mentally and physically from the endless exams and pressure just to qualify. i have so much empathy for her, but at the same time, i’m kind of grateful i never had that kind of passion that pushed me to the brink.
i’m okay with having a boring job and a stable income if it means i can feed myself and still make time for the things i actually enjoy.
I’ve worked 9 years in my passion job. My first job was what I thought I would only get later in life. And then I thought that I could get a corporate job that paid more but was soulless. Accepted the invitation.
Tons of money, but it was the absolutely worst mistake I made. Regret it everyday.
I chased being successful (moving up the ladder) for 35 years and was miserable. I got fired then got a job where I’m responsible for me and my work. I am not responsible for anyone else’s work. I don’t necessarily love my job, but I definitely don’t hate it, I make more money than when I was “The Boss”. I would like a more set schedule, but this schedule is better than I had in the past. I have 7 years until I retire and I plan to keep this job until then.
I’d rather have a job I care about so I don’t hate the majority of my life.
100%! Comfort is underrated and I’m sure plenty of people who get jobs to pay the bills enjoy the important, simple things in life when not in work. Like family quality time
Maybe generalising here but hopefully this makes sense
I’m almost 40 and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.
If everyone could follow their passions, let’s say money was no object, there’d be way too many artists and entertainers, very people doing jobs that provide people with things they need, so yeah, some people get to do those things, others hopefully have a fulfilling home life and/or hobbies.
I had a friend tell me “when your passion becomes your job, it’s no longer your passion” he was a musician turned statistician.
most people end up not following their passion anyways
I’m sick of following my passions. I’m just going to ask them where they’re goin’, and hook up with them later.
My passion job is game development, especially higher end with sequels. I HAVE to turn it into a job or else it does not become a reality. It really sucks to be stuck to stuck in a undead end job with little motivation and fleeting connections to others in my perfered industry.
I cannot even remember when was the last time I’ve ever been to a game jam due to this. The pandemic was the perfect time to break out of this. But nope, didnt follow my passion, get back to work. A massive fuck up in my life. At least those who tried ultimately knew what happened, good or bad; I will never know.
Also, last year, on a Nintendo Direct, when I heard one of the devs conceited and developed their game during the lock down, my heart sank a bit, “I” could’ve been on that screen there.
Ya have a passion? Ya winning already.