Do you have a passion or a dream, is there something you wanted so badly that you want to do it every day and never ever let go?

I DON'T

Whynot to follow your passion

The truth is, many people don't have a dream to follow or a passion they want to do every day. You might want to travel or live abroad. And I'm not here that you should't, but to live your life as a nomad, is not everybody's dream, even if they like to travel.
Most people want to earn money and live well, and have a happy and stable live, where they can sometimes do their hobbies and passions on their free time.

Follow your passion is a discouragement

I even see that young people get discouraged and confused, because they here the phrase follow your passion so many times. They don't know where they want to go, and what they want to do, they don't have a greatest passion. There is an overload of decision to be made, so much to choose from, to have 1 passion, is not the standard anymore. I have had discussions with with young people that were disillusioned, as they thought they can become whatever they wanted, as long as they put their mind to it, if they do not give up. They felt it as a burden that they could not choose what it is they never want to give-up. I told them a simple truth: just go out and do what you are good at.

Stop saying follow your passion!

Instead of following your passion, young people should be encouraged to do what they are good at. Whatever a person is good at, they will enjoy and get energy from, and hence want to do more. We should stop trying to encourage our children and new work-force to do better in what they are bad at, that they need to improve in so many areas. Instead focus on their strengths and develop those further. As an older generation in the work force, I like to see the young people excel in what they are good at, and encourage them to learn even more about it, either by giving them the opportunity to go to courses, or having a afternoon to come up with new ideas, or work on a project they proposed themselves.

Why do we keep saying it?

The reason people say it, because they did follow their passion and succeeded. Only a very view in society make it by following their dream, and we tend to look up to the view that did. On one hand it is ok to aspire, but more often it makes us unhappy, to see others have what we don't have, and the only way to get their we think is to do the same. But the truth is that many will fail, not because they are bad at it, but it also requires luck, timing and the economy to be right.
On the other hand we have people that did not follow their dream and say that they should have. They usually feel entrapped in what they are doing. They might ended up doing work that draws energy from them. They might not be appreciated where they are, saying that they should have followed their dream is not the answer, its an scape-goat.

What do we actually mean with follow your dream?

I believe that follow your dream, is a metaphor for saying, go and do what gives you fulfilment, do what makes you feel valued. And that is exactly what the younger generation is also looking for. This is why they listen to these phrases, this is why it resonates with them. Unfortunately, they are often unable to transfer it into action, as they are unable to choose. Especially the 18- 25 year olds, who are entering the work force, want to mean something to society, which seems like a paradox, as they are brought up in a social media world with a lot of fake material around them. But meaning something to society in a company also feels like a paradox to them.

What should we do?

This new generation wants to feel useful, they want to feel like they matter, immediately when they enter a company. And this is what we should recognise as the older working force!
We need to make them feel valued. We need to let them be a bit cocky, as they think they know a lot. And you know what, they actually do, about stuff we did not grow up with! We need to face the fact that we need this generation to build society, that we need this generation for its empathy, need this generation for the new ideas.

What should we say instead?

Next time you see a young person struggle with where they want to go in the work force, don't say "follow your passion".
Instead, ask them what they are good at and gives them energy and tell them to build on that.
In addition tell them that they are valued, actually tell everybody that they are valued. Isn't this what we are all looking for?

More in this series:

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Follow your dream, never give up, live your passion...... Is that really the best thing?