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Why ‘Do What You Love’
Is Terrible Advice
Excerpt from fortune.com written by Frank Talarico Jr.
People always seem to give [...] the same piece of advice: “Do what you love.” I have been a business leader for nearly 20 years, and I have yet to meet anyone who achieved success and happiness following that advice. It doesn’t matter if you do what you love. In fact, if you wake up tomorrow to a job that “doesn’t feel like work,” you’re going to wake up in another 20 years and wonder how you could have possibly wasted the most productive years of your life.
Don’t do what you love. Love the outcome of what you do.
Love the advances you are making in your field, and the contributions you make to your community, mankind, and (if that’s your thing) your own pocket. Love the feeling that your hard work—and it should feel like hard work—is making a difference to people who need it. Yes, your personal passion needs to be part of the equation, but go deeper than your own fulfilment.
Where do your passions and the betterment of the world intersect?That is a question that I believe this generation will answer. And for that, I am jealous. When I was growing up, the generation before me said I could shape the future. [..] in the case of newly minted graduates, it’s really true. This generation is tasked with reshaping the complexion of this planet we all live on. The possibilities are limitless.
Fortunately for you, we are entering a phase in American history that is unprecedented, one in which doing good for the world is becoming good business.
We saw it recently when 30 top corporate executives from major American businesses issued an open letter asking the president to remain in the Paris climate agreement. These companies and more—as well as some cities—then pledged to remain committed to carbon reduction goals even after the U.S. officially pulled out.
That’s what business looks like now. It’s doing well by doing good and working hard. [...],In today’s world, you no longer have to choose between doing good and doing well. The future is so clearly in need of innovative solutions for global problems that giving back is simply good business. [...]
Don’t do what you love. Love the effect of everything you do.
