Don’t follow your passion, please

Because when people don’t have the skills the passion demands, there is often no one to tell them that

I have nothing against people addicted to self-help. Until recently, self-help was mostly a harmless pastime that offered the balm of hope to people who would habitually compare themselves to their peers and feel miserable. This is classic neo-liberal subjectivity — you do an unprovoked self-appraisal, come up short on your own expectations, and conclude that unless you do better, your (super-inflated) super ego will fire you.

‘Doing better’ means demanding more from the inner employee that works for You Inc. Beyond a point, however, the inner employee rebels against the rising burden of expectations. He switches from one kind of self-help (boosting productivity, time management, etc) to another that’s more pernicious. These days the second kind is spreading like Omicron. Its primary symptom is that people drop whatever they are doing to ‘follow their passion’.

Of course, people who’ve spent all their lives in dead-end jobs have every right to seek the joy of self-fulfilment. But there is now a veritable deluge of books, videos, and webinars that brainwash people into ‘following their passion’. This could be deadly, because when people don’t have the skills the ‘passion’ demands, there is often no one to tell them that. End result: I have to compromise on my values and press the bell icon.