Do you have a case of Career Passionitis? Well, I made it up. But here’s my best WebMD impression:
Career Passionitis refers to the intense, often overwhelming urge to pursue one’s passion as a career, leading to feelings of being stuck, trapped, and dissatisfied in one’s current job.
If you work a 9 – 5, Career Passionitis typically manifests in 3 ways:
- You do nothing and feel “stuck” and unfulfilled at your job.
- You attempt to change careers (or perhaps go back to school).
- You quit your job, take a “leap of faith”, and pursue your passion.
But, what’s the root cause?
It’s the belief in the passion hypothesis, of course! The idea that in order to achieve career fulfillment, you must find a job that matches an existing passion of yours.
You see, an unintended consequence of subscribing to this idea (and not knowing how to deal with it) is that you risk NEVER being satisfied in your career. It can lead to endless job hopping, in search of the elusive “unicorn” job that you think will give you ultimate fulfillment.
Recent studies by Gallup show that 80% of people are unhappy at work. Could they be suffering from Career Passionitis?
There’s nothing inherently wrong with exploring your passion as a career, and while I agree that it’s important to love what you do, taking the “leap” should be calculated. And the fact is, not all passions are created equal.
The problem is that many people don’t do that. They make drastic, ill-advised decisions and leap headfirst into their passion without a plan.
1% may make things work, But the other 99%?
It’s like committing career suicide.
But don’t get me wrong, if you’re already feeling unfulfilled, inaction is almost always the worst thing you can do. Sticking it out and hoping that things change for the better is a dangerous game.
So, you SHOULD take control and explore your interests, but in a bite-sized, systematic way.
The HOW, IF, and WHEN you go about doing so is what makes all the difference. In short, be calculated.
There’s no need to drop out of school. There’s no need to quit your job. What you need is a framework to proactively discover what you like to do, what you’re good at, and what you can be paid for.
And what if I told you that there’s a proven cure for Career Passionitis? Something the Japanese call, ikigai (a reason for being) and bitter melon. Yes, you heard me, bitter melon.
