The Consequences of The Follow Your Passion Advice to The Generation Y

When I was a little girl, numerous persons would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Every day I would deliver them a different answer; astronaut, princess, and veterinarian were some of the most popular. My family always denied the idea of me being a princess, but supported all the other realistic careers that crossed my mind. They would always say “It doesn’t matter what you choose, just make sure you love it.” Contrary to popular belief, Generation Y is not flawed, but misinformed; passion and devotion develop with time therefore "follow your passion" isn't the correct advice for growing kids.

In “Solving Gen Y’s Passion Problem,” Cal Newport justifies the real reason why my generation will always prefer to stay calmly at home, rather than going out and working hard in a job we don’t love; and it has nothing to do with us. The author introduces the topic by admitting there’s a problem: Generation Y isn’t entering the job market they way it is supposed to. He explains that older generations see us as “The Worst Generation” and believe we are selfish, lazy, and have a lack of compromise. The fact that many adults live with their parents or depend on their money, doesn’t really help to change this image.

The truth is that is not our fault; it’s the older generation’s fault. They, just like my family members, advised us to follow our passion. And we, as good girls and boys that we all are, just followed the elder’s advice. Our parents had to work hard to achieve what they possess today; since they wanted the best for us, we didn’t really have to private ourselves from any luxury. In other words, our parents unconsciously spoiled us. They educated us with the idea that being happy is all that matters, since the money wasn’t really a problem because of their hard work and probably not lovable job. So, when we hear the phrase “follow your passion” we will think of happiness, and not money. This may be the reason why so many students choose underpaid, overcrowded, or useless mayors (TEDx Talks).

The author explains that passions are developed slowly with time and the mastering of skills. Those persons who testify that they had loved their job and had a passion for it since day one, have had to be exposed to some kind of activities that allows them to get previous knowledge and minimize the time of developing an ability. After repeatedly listening to adults say “follow your passion” for so many years, the least we expect is to find a job that we love since the first day. But obviously, the first job is always far from perfect. When we, Generation Y, encounter ourselves with difficulties in our first job, we tend to think that the path chosen is not the correct one for us. At that moment, we tend to get frustrated and quit the job, instead of trying to confront the obstacles and thrive in our job.

Newport utilizes real life histories to explain how our generation expectation’s are far from reality. One of them was Steve Jobs. Even tough the MAC creator does not represent a typical entrepreneur scenario, he had an interesting message to share. He revealed his philosophy and key to happiness and success on a Stanford commencement: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do... So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

The Apple CEO has declared that we shouldn’t be looking for a job; but for a passion and someone to pay us for it. If you look into his biography, he had some jobs before Mac. Occupations that made him happy, but could not fulfill his professional dreams. He felt frustrated when all these companies didn’t allow him to add his own symbolic, elegant style in their products. In that moment, he decided to sail the entrepreneur ship and follow his passion for technology. He had to dedicate many years and overcome multiple obstacles before Apple became the popular brand and empire we know today.

We have to change the advice for the benefit of future generations. “Follow your passion” is not a good guidance, it just leaves students wondering what their real passion is. Let’s say someone loves climbing mountains; if this individual follows the advice, he will end up being a mountain guide. Maybe that person will never feel like he actually has to work, since this man enjoy climbing so much; but is he genuinely happy with being an outdoors guide? I don’t think so. Happiness in a job depends on multiple factors, not only passion. You might feel frustrated if you work 8 hours a day and your salary doesn’t fulfill the quality of life you really want.

When choosing a major, students tend to feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. This is a life defining decision; it will impact the future friends, quality of life, and, even, the place of settlement. I had always felt anxious about making this choice, that is the reason why I delayed it as much as possible. After going through uncountable amounts of choices, I finally made my decision last semester. On spring, I took an Environmental Science course that gave me an idea of what working with nature would be like. On addition, my grandparents are owners of numerous farms and plantations. Being exposed to agriculture since I was a baby, as well as the knowledge acquired last semester on the college course, I started to develop a little “passion’ that allowed me to choose a major in which I think, and hope, I will be happy: Environmental and Agricultural Engineering.

I don’t think anyone comes to this world knowing what they would like to do. Even if you found your passion years ago and you are convinced that’s the path you want to follow in your professional career, it does not guarantee that you are going to be happy. As mentioned above, happiness in a job depends on many factors, like salary. Another problem people might encounter is that the tedium of work could destroy a passion. Transforming your love for Italian food into a pizza shop will create challenges and responsibilities that could lead to large amounts of stress and a reject toward the food you once adored (Pelczar).

When I was a kid and thought about my future, I would imagine my life full of luxuries and an easy job. This current of thinking only demonstrates that I’m totally part of Generation Y; but, in my defense, when I have an interest in learning a certain ability, I would not stop working toward it until I had mastered it. I feel like this is the real essence of “follow your passion.” Find something you love and convert it into a business.