Don't follow your passion
No matter what you choose to do in life, you will always trade one set of sacrifice for another. You will always sacrifice one set of problems for another. "Many people quit their jobs to follow their passions, only to be left creating and owning a whole new job that they hate - doing everything but working on their passion in order to survive." The idea behind following your passion is an idea that sounds good at first but is in reality destructive. It makes the rest of us feel like if we are not doing the work we love or in a sense, if we are not pursuing our passion then we are wasting our time. Happiness is not predicated on just doing what you love in life, happiness is in finding the right balance in life between matters that are important in life such as your job and matters that make you enjoy life, such as your passion. If following your passion and doing what you truly love is the only way to happiness then evidently, most of humanity is wasting their time and are consequently living a miserable life.
Passion could clearly act as an initial motivator pushing you into a certain direction, but it does not necessarily mean that it has the juice needed to sustain you down this particular path. If we were to observe founders who have started reputable companies, they have certainly not started companies with the intention of changing the world but they tried to solve a particular problem they were stuck with. Google began with two Stanford Phd students working on their dissertation. YouTube started as a way to share funny video clips. These successes were not deliberate but rather stumbled upon almost by luck.
How many stories have you heard of where people have failed repeatedly and are still working a job waiting for a break-through. For every actor who has made it, many have failed to break through and are still waiting tables. This is termed survivorship bias where successes are made more visible than failures which in turn causes us to over-estimate our chances of success.
For the sake of keeping this post short: Following your passions fuels your ego and it could drive you to have a fixed mindset. The problem with fixed mindset is it obscures your vision and it stops you from pursuing other opportunities. Don't fall into the trap of "Following your passion.". Follow your passion only if it makes sense.
