One of the Most Important Things to Be Passionate About

One of the cardinal principles in Cal Newport’s book So Good They Can’t Ignore You is that following your passion is bad advice. Instead, he posits, one should develop and cultivate a specific skill set and then see how that skill set fits into a career. Over time, career satisfaction will come from utilizing that set of skills and doing good work.

The prompt “What are you passionate about?” then takes on a different meaning.

I’ve followed the timeless advice of finding one’s passion, but I’ve come to realize by looking back on all of my experiences in life, that real contentment from work comes from being useful.

Sure, there are those who do follow a passion and can skillfully mold that into a vibrant and satisfying career, but others (like me. maybe?) need to look a bit more inward and try to uncover their strengths.

Being useful

That one resonating desire to be useful is the common thread regarding true accomplishment with any job I’ve had. This can also be extended to favors for friends, being an integral part of the family, and helping and being courteous to strangers.

When there are opportunities to run over the one in front of you just to get ahead, do something immoral, especially when no one’s looking, or accomplish a task for the sole purpose of self-preservation, the reward feels a bit tainted. It doesn’t count.

But when goals are met with mutual benefit and a sense of community, we can then rest assured that we did work worth doing.

I’m a big believer in paying it forward; being a part of something much bigger than myself. We live in communities made up of people with many skills, strengths, and weaknesses. We also will all face adversity, sickness, and random right hooks. We will all, at some point, need a hand. We will all need help one day and rely on others.

Not all of us have large family units that cast huge safety nets of money, home, or mental and emotional support. Some of us will need our fellow human beings to lift us up, support us for a time, and guide us when a fork in the road is met.

Having the universal mindset of being useful is one of the most important passions one can work toward.