Don’t feel guilty about stability and security
I’m sure we’re all familiar with the phrase, “If you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life”. And I’m also sure all through our childhood and teenage years we dreamed of our career as something we held a fiery passion for and loved doing – being an artist, a veterinarian, a lawyer who exonerates people, a politician changing society for the better. In fact, it’s easy to look at people who work a 9 to 5 in an office cubicle and feel sad for them because their career seems to hold no passion or drive. But although I held these same sentiments and my own vast dreams, I’ve come to realize that is not necessarily how a career will pan out, no matter how passionate you may be about something. And I’ve also come to realize that doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.
Now, that’s not to say that some people won’t successfully follow their true passion, or that it’s a bad thing. There are some jobs that require some passion! If you’re going into social work, politics or the arts, it’s expected you care about the work you’re doing, or you probably won’t be very good at it. Additionally, it’s fantastic if you can make your passion into a career! That really would be the ideal world for everyone. But there are also many reasons why this might be the best option, and those are entirely valid too.
For one, there just might not be a great market for your dream career. If jobs are going to be hard to find, especially jobs with good pay, it can deter someone from following that path. The obvious example of this is the arts, which has a reputation for being a relatively unstable career. And while some people care more about doing what they love, it’s also perfectly reasonable to want some stability in pay and employment, especially in a relatively unstable economy.
Besides the logistics of employment, something you’re passionate about may translate into a very draining career. Helping victims of crime, working in social work, acting as a political advocate and other such fields can be emotionally exhausting. Many people in our generation care heavily about these issues, and would likely love to help, but not everyone would be able to work with these kinds of topics everyday. Consequently, this means we should appreciate those who do that work even more – but it’s unrealistic to expect everyone who cares to do so.
With these reasons in mind, there’s another argument for why not being passionate about your career isn’t a bad thing: many passions can be pursued outside of a full-time job. You might have to go to that 9 to 5 office job, but once you’re home, you can let creativity flow onto a canvas as much as you want. You can also keep up with political and social issues through reading and watching the news. Beyond that, you can even volunteer in your free time to support organizations you’re passionate about. With this in mind, you can think about your career as providing you with the resources to be able to follow your passions otherwise.
So while it’s never a bad thing to build a career out of your passion, it’s also not sad or pathetic to have a career that simply pays the bills and doesn’t drain you. Careers can serve multiple purposes, and many of us need to get out of the mindset that we have to follow our one true passion in life. Take myself – I’m pursuing certificates in public policy and political science for fun, but one in data science for practicality (and a major in econ for both). I’ve come to accept that I may have a career right out of college that was never one of my dreams. But I’ve learned that there are other ways I can pursue my interests without it being my entire job. But whether your career is passionate or passionless (or somewhere in-between), do whatever feels right for yourself and your goals, and don’t let anyone else’s opinion sway your own.