Pursuing Passion

 When it comes to career advice, ‘follow your passion’ or do ‘what you are interested in’, seems to be the order of the day. And while this slogan may be as popular as the sun - splashed across books and magazines, heard in speeches and pep talks and vouched for by coaches and experts, it may actually, in my opinion, not be a very sound notion.

Uncertainty and ambiguity that children, as also their parents face when it comes to making decisions about ‘choosing the most befitting and right career option’ is not an unusual phenomenon, most of us experience it. And with the current overemphasis on ‘letting children follow their dreams’ making a choice that is both appropriate and practical can at times be tricky. The solution to this probably lies in understanding what ‘interest’ really is.

Interest, as stated in the Merriam Webster dictionary is ‘a quality that attracts one’s attention and makes one want to learn more about something or to be involved in something.’ The next question then, is this ‘attraction’ or ‘liking’ necessarily inborn? Not always. Sure, some of us might be interested in mechanics or astronomy from our younger days but a great deal of us develop it when exposed to, or at times when, even by force, made to do something.

To quote real life examples, Olympians Neeraj Chopra and PR Sreejesh, during a recent episode of KBC revealed that the initial reason why they started pursing their respective sport was nowhere even close to any kind of an interest. For Neeraj Chopra it was his uncle’s decision and PR Sreejesh started playing hockey in school to get grace marks. Another reason that was common for both was losing weight. Point being, the recipe for success does not include ‘pre - existing affinity’ as a determining ingredient, majorly because interest is something that can be developed, sometimes simply by exposure to an unexplored field in the right manner and sometimes by the virtue of a consciously inculcated habit.    

This also gets me to define talent in the words of Roshan Abbas. In an interview when asked about what talent meant to him, he described it with an example. “A person follows a routine of jogging early morning every day. One morning it is raining and also he wakes up with a little bit of body ache. If, keeping aside all the difficulties, he still goes out to complete his exercising, that for Roshan Abbas (as also for me) is real talent”.

To elucidate, most people are unlikely to enjoy exercising or reading or eating salad from the very beginning. But when we consciously decide to make these healthy choices a part of our lifestyle and deliberately put in the required sincerity and effort, we, more often than not, end up acquiring a taste for them and with time they subconsciously become an integral part of our everyday life, at times even defining what we eventually become. For e.g., when one starts exercising, it is generally difficult for the initial few days. We either shirk away or need to push ourselves to do it. But subsequently when we start feeling the difference it makes, how it keeps us more energized, active and lively throughout the day, it becomes a vital part of our daily routine, filled with interest and enthusiasm; something that might even turn into a lifelong passion.

Having established, that interests change and can be developed, what now needs to be explored is the extent of bearing, a pre - existing liking or interest will or will not have on defining how happy and fulfilling a child’s career will turn out to be. I recall scenarios from 20 – 30 years ago when the mainstream career options were limited and choices made were based on the child’s caliber and scope of employability rather than just their liking for a particular field. People from that generation did not have the luxury to switch fields as per their whims and fancies. Their lives were and are still based on virtues like commitment and hard work. And as you would all agree, people from that generation have turned out to become not just thorough experts with successful careers but have also been able to maintain work life balance, leading a content and richly experienced life. I am in no way, trying to dismiss the role, appeal towards a particular field plays in determining happiness and am definitely against pushing children to pursue a fields they detest or do not understand. What I object to is the diminishing importance being given to factors like the child’s real talents, abilities and the willingness to work hard. These are traits that cannot and should not be replaced. Interest without hard work or talent will be as futile as being passionate about fitness without the willingness or ability to put in the efforts to attain it.  

There is most certainly nothing wrong in following one’s interests, but to make a career out of it without taking other factors into consideration, can be catastrophic. The problem is that this advice promises all things a person wants in life but shows no strategy on how to achieve them. It in fact is based on a lot of wrong assumptions that create a false glorified image in the young minds, much different from the real life ground realities.

Firstly, it simply assumes that our interests are limited to only one field and that will also remain as is all our life, which is generally not the case. Human Beings are dynamic and are bound to have more than one specific life interest. We evolve in every stage of our life and so do our interests. Choosing a career based on a present day passion can not only be limiting but counter - productive, as it leaves zero space for other passions to be uncovered.

Secondly, it assumes that children already know what their life - long interest will be. The influence of peers and at times parents in determining a child’s interest is a pretty common occurrence, it happens most times. Children might at one point in time feel that they are interested in a certain thing simply because their best friends or peers or parents are interested in it, only to later realize that such was not the case. Also in certain cases, children might not feel passionate about anything specifically, simply because they’ve not been exposed to the field matching their talents. Does this absence of initial interest make them unfit or incapable of building a successful career? Absolutely not!

Thirdly, it gives the impression that there is a ‘dream job’ waiting in the wings that the child will chance upon organically and with ease. This in my opinion is one of the most deluding assumptions and also the driving force behind why children these days find it hard to commit to a particular workplace. When parents and elders give children the liberty to hop from one field to another in the blink of an eye, without them putting in fair amount of effort and toil, they assuage the importance of hard work and loyalty. Children then believe that the path to success will be a convenient joy filled ride, making them averse to struggles and adjustments.

I here would like to quote the example of Mr Prakash Iyer – a corporate giant and ace leadership coach. In the beginning of his career, Mr Iyer was certain that he wanted to pursue advertising. But as luck would have it, he had to choose a job in ‘sales’ over a one in ‘advertising’ as that was the only financially viable option. It was only when he started exploring the sales field, did he realize how he is equally suitable for it and eventually developed interest in it. He then made a conscious decision to stick to the field he wasn’t very sure of knowing it fully well the hard work and adjustments that would come his way, only to lead him where he is today.

Another example that comes to my mind is Olympian Imtiaz Anees. Before becoming an equestrian, Mr Anees had tried his hand at various other sports. Owing to his royal family background, he had an early exposure to horse riding, and learnt it since the age of 4, but wasn’t very keen on taking it up as a career. So he began exploring other fields like athletics and swimming, only to realize that that even with all his passion and hard work, he couldn’t perform sufficiently well. It was only when his coach, Daina Wilson also a friend of his mother began his focused training in riding horses, did his talent and hard work align to lead him to his present day successes.

I would thus like to conclude by quoting Barkha Dutt,”You should love what you do and love it to madness.” It is perfectly normal, in fact pretty common, ending up passionate about something you consciously, without any prior interest, decided to pursue. The problem usually comes in starting with a pre - existing passion and then looking for a job without taking other important factors into consideration. Such a notion gives an illusion that one should start enjoying work from the very first day, which in most cases, does not happen.

A rather more practical advice would be to commit to learning and re – learning what energizes you and what drains you. And then dedicating to what highlights your true talents and aligning it with something that also has the possibility to spark your interest

. To sum up I would say, choosing a career based on recognizing one’s talents and substantiating it with conscious & continuous hard work would definitely be a better advice. ‘Follow your Interest’ overrates the importance of pre – existing liking in building a successful career, when in fact interest can actually be developed. Even if it something interest you all that much in the beginning, never rule out the possibility of subsequently falling madly in love with it, without giving it a fair chance. What I would like to advise parents, teachers and young children is to understand and pursue their passion with determination, hard work, discipline and enjoyment and not just because somebody else had done well in a particular field.