Don't Follow Your Passion, Follow Your Effort

http://blogmaverick.com/2012/03/18/#/dont-follow-your-passion-follow-your-effort

by ricksta • 14 years ago

35 29 14 years ago

pedalpete• 14 years ago

Please update the title, the url is blogmaverick.com, which I think most people on HN know is Mark Cuban's blog.

I feel like Cuban wrote this post just because he needed to write a post. In the end he says "Don’t follow your passions, follow your effort. It will lead you to your passions...", and the roundabout way he goes to get there doesn't add any value. He himself says if you're passionate about something, you're going to learn about it, and become better, etc. etc. Ignoring that that isn't completely true, I've wasted too much time just writing this comment.

hwang89• 14 years ago

At least you made an effort.. do you feel closer to HN?

michaelkscott• 14 years ago

I was just about to say the title is extremely sensationalist and inappropriate for HN, but the mods beat me to editing it -- like a second after I typed this up.

trustfundbaby• 14 years ago

Its not a very well written article, was a little annoying to find that in the end he was just making a painfully semantic argument

fusiongyro• 14 years ago

When most people tell you to pursue your passion or follow what you love, don't you think they're really saying, "think real hard about what you like, and go do that" rather than "notice you've already put a ton of effort into X, realize that's what you are passionate about, and go do more X."? It's a semantic argument if you interpret "Follow your dreams!" the latter way, but I don't think most people do.

jaggederest• 14 years ago

I think he's right. Too many people pick things that seem dreamy without considering whether it's actually something worth doing.

I'd honestly rather be an excellent plumber than a fifth-rate rockstar.

blackhole• 14 years ago

All this articles proves is that people are misusing the word "passion" to mean some sort of hobby. If you haven't poured almost all your free time into something, you aren't passionate about it.

Tichy3• 14 years ago

Isn't the point of the passion advice that people would wish to put more time into their passion (and find what their passion is to begin with)? So your comment boils down to "it isn't your passion unless it is your passion", which is not very useful.

dwc• 14 years ago

No, I think there's a valid point. The difference between a mild interest and a passion is precisely how much attention and effort you devote to it.

When I was young, computers at home were quite rare. But once I was exposed to them I was hooked. I rode my bicycle to the Radio Shack and stood at the display model writing programs. I saved and bought a Sinclair ZX-80. Almost all of my free time went into programming.

Then there are all the people I've known that say they want to learn to code. People who grew up with a computer, and went to school were there were programming classes, and work alongside programmers. They think they'd like to learn programming, but really they're not interested enough to bother.

gizzlon2• 14 years ago

"1. When you work hard at something you become good at it."

Yup

"2. When you become good at doing something, you will enjoy it more."

Hmm.. what now?

I'm good at a lot of things I hate. I've spent time doing them either because I had to or because I enjoyed it at the time. For me, it often works the opposite of what he says; when I get better at something, I often find it boring.

ajuc• 14 years ago

Regarding 2 I think it's sometimes true - for example people don't like math, when they don't understand it. But when somehow they notice they're good at some branch of math - most starts to love it, cause they can beat challange. At least it worked that way for me for math and programming. Similiar story for team sports - I love basketball cause I was higher than most people in middle school so I was good at it.

Other thing is - when you need to do sth you love for living - it sometimes become a chore instead of passion. External vs internal motivation etc.

gizzlon2• 14 years ago

I think you're right, but I can't remember this ever happening to me. Maybe I just have to think harder.. Or maybe I enjoy learning so much that I don't care that I'm new at something. Or maybe I just avoid things I don't like..

scotty79• 14 years ago

There's even a piece of job advice floating around: "be careful not to become too good at the things you hate"

salimane• 14 years ago

what is "working hard" by the way ?.... I prefer working smarter :)

Tichy3• 14 years ago

Maybe he is a very "clear" person. Lot's of normal people are confused and not so well organized. Follow your passion is a guideline for getting started with organizing your life.

I can only assume that the author was always organized enough to put his effort where his passion is, but he doesn't seem to realize that.

A normal person will just put the effort where he/she is told to put it by authorities: first parents, then school/high school, then the first random shitty job they happen to land. Sure, it works, they'll probably eventually be able to pay off their mortgage. But some people expect more from life.

dageshi• 14 years ago

I think perhaps "Passion" needs to be replaced with "Obsession".

GotAnyMegadeth• 14 years ago

Can you be Obsessionate about something?

hollerith• 14 years ago

You can be obsessive about it.

vetler• 14 years ago

  1. When you work hard at something you become good at it.
  2. When you become good at doing something, you will enjoy it more.

Actually, it's quite possible to become good at something you don't enjoy, speaking from personal experience. One does not follow the other, and I'm surprised that the author states this as a fact.

anil_mamede• 14 years ago

I agree! But you won't do it forever, sooner or later you realize that you've worked in something you're not passionate about. It will result in serious consequences.

More important than passion and effort is long-term goals. I believe to be successful you must project yourself in the future. Look what you will be if you continue to walk the current path or what you will be if you change your path. The key is to choose the path that will bring you to a brighter future and stay in that path in turbulent times.

Choosing the right path is not as easy as speaking but an everyday exercice.

ims2• 14 years ago

You're right, of course. But the point he's making seems to be based on the idea that to experience mastery of a domain can be truly fulfilling even if that domain is boring. That is, the feeling of power and self actualization that comes from competence can happen even if you are doing something that is not innately enjoyable.

I draw an intuitive connection in my mind to the study [1] suggesting that people are happier with having a higher status compared to their close associates than with a higher absolute status but lagging behind the peers to whom they aspirationally compare themselves.

Would you rather be a mediocre newbie working in a dazzling, sexy field, or the best damn X in the Y field who knows all the tools and has confidence about relative competence?

[1] http://pss.sagepub.com/content/21/4/471.short

orangethirty• 14 years ago

Agreed. I used to make sandwiches for a living. Became pretty awesome doing it. Even mastering the art of the one handed mustard line acroos the tomatoes. But I never enjoyed it. Not a single minute.

ojbyrne2• 14 years ago

This seems so close to an article that appeared in the NYT a couple of weeks ago that it almost feels like plagiarism: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/jobs/follow-a-career-passi...

ims2• 14 years ago

Look at the date of Mark Cuban's post (March 18, 2012).

Cal Newport and Mark Cuban are both well known bloggers who have been making this same case for some time. No plagiarism involved.

ojbyrne2• 14 years ago

I posted in the middle of the night, and didn't do enough fact checking, so I apologize for the use of that word.

helios410• 14 years ago

Ken Robinson did a great talk about passion, that somewhat negates this blog post...it takes a lot more than just being greatly skilled at something to be passionate about it.

https://vimeo.com/21195297

zsherman• 14 years ago

Is it just me or does this logic not make sense? You put a lot of effort in -> you get good at it -> you become passionate about it. How do you choose what to put effort into? Answer: what you're passionate about.

Don't Follow Your Passion, Follow Your Effort

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