Follow Your Passion or Not

We hear almost every day talented, famous, and successful people tell us in acceptance speeches, interviews, and how-to's tell us to follow our passions. "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." All these people are successful, and they almost universally cite following their passions as the key to their success. How can that be wrong?

It's wrong like this. The Maryland lottery sells millions of dollars every week in lottery tickets. All total $1.908 billion in tickets were purchased in 2015. Of that $1.135 billion went to prizes. If you went and asked those people who won big what their advice would be, I bet to a person they would say, "you won't win if you don't play". However, on average you are only going to win $0.59 for every dollar you spend on the lottery. Realistically it's even less than that because a big chunk of the money goes to a few big winners where there is a astonishingly small probability you will be. Playing the lottery is a losing proposition.

"Follow your passion" is the same thing. Looking at the winners tricks you into thinking that is the key to winning in life. But for your average person that is more than likely poor if no terrible advice. Here is what actually determines success.

1. You are interested in a thing. If you have no interest in something it is hard to have any motivation to do it. This isn't passion though. It can be a low level interest. Just enough to get you by. It's hard to do something well if you hate it.
2. You are good at the thing. If you aren't good at something, no matter how passionate you really shouldn't try to make it a vocation. The world is a big place and there are lots of people who are good at it. So they will overshadow you.
3. There is a market for the thing. You love to do the thing, you are good at doing the thing, but no one cares enough to pay for you doing it. That's not a recipe for success. If there isn't anyone willing to pay you are good to have a bad time.

So find that accountant job that is kinda boring but pays the bills. Be a receptionist because there is honest work to be done. Do you best and grow in that field. Practice your underwater basket weaving in the evenings and weekends and enjoy it. Share your passion with your friends. Life a good life. Maybe someday it will find that perfect niche and blow up, but it probably won't. That's ok. We aren't all going to be super stars, but we can all be content and enjoy our passions in the corner of the world we are in.