Summary: Making a career out of your passion is rarely ever a pragmatic option, but the mantra is widely repeated and accepted as good advice. Instead, discover your most professionally useful proficiencies, set goals to provide direction, garner significant resources, then you can truly pursue your passion to the fullest extent.

Body: Outside of the hospital, the nurse's union's strike was drawing some attention. A man arrives, expecting a peaceful visit with his bed-ridden father, but he is instead accosted with chants for better hours and more pay.

"Why did you become a nurse?" the man asks a particularly loud protester in passing.

"I wanted to help people, but the hospital doesn't provide us with enough to keep our heads above water!" she replied.

Surely this was a noble endeavor; dedicating one's life to the aiding of others. However, the man heard the real story behind the facade: "If you really did this to help people, you would be inside with the patients and pay no mind to your personal struggles. Did you expect to be well paid?"

"I'm not in it for the money." she claimed, as her composure faltered, perhaps in subtle acknowledgement of the clear hypocrisy.

The man showed a sly grin. “And what if you were a hospital administrator? Do you suppose you would be able to negotiate with the nurse’s union to end this strike and see to it that the patients and staff were better off?”

“I guess,” she stammered, “but…”

The man departed for the front entrance of the building.

When faced with the dilemma of how to direct one’s professional efforts, “Make your passion into a career.” is the default, feel good blue pill starting point. Financial struggle is a noble and near inevitable occurrence within this mindset. Why would anyone want to struggle to stay afloat to the point that the decision to follow your passion leads to a contradictory resentment of said passion?

Say our outspoken nurse had instead decided to go the route of hospital administration after she had honed her negotiation and organization skills. Not only could she have a much more significant impact on the overall well-being of others while employed; she would also be much better off following her retirement. Providing a comfortable living for herself would have allowed her to pursue philanthropic interests which could further accomplish her goal of helping others. Instead, she is stuck cashing Medicare checks and watching soap operas.

This is not to say that it is impossible to make a career out of a passion; rather, that it is uncommon for the pursuing of one’s passions to correlate with ideal outcomes.

You can accomplish a lot with strong passion, but you can do a hell of a lot more with a strong passion and the bankroll to back it.

Lessons Learned: Don’t get sucked into the blue pill fantasy that professionally pursuing your passion will lead to a satisfying life. Discover and strengthen your useful skills and use them to maximize your available resources (financial, social, etc.). Then, pursuing your passions can be made into a lifestyle.