Avoid Emotional Attachment When Searching For A Job You Love

One of the ideals we often strive toward is to find a way to turn our passion into a career. The Harvard Business Review explains why sometimes, that isn’t the best route to take.

We’ve talked a lot about doing what you love, and everyone knows the risks that come with that. For example, taking something you love and doing as a career can make it seem to much like “work”, and suck all the fun out of it. Moreover, sometimes you’re just not good at what you love to do (though we’ve addressed that situation too). However, sometimes the real problem is that you’re just too emotionally attached:

I recently heard Charlaine Harris, author of the wildly popular vampire series that spawned the TV show True Blood, talk about this issue too. The best writers, Harris said, don’t fall in love with their characters, or their words. They don’t mind being edited; in fact, they’re open to any suggestion that makes them better. Writers who get too close to their work and take criticism too personally never improve. Similarly, businesspeople need to look carefully at whether passion for their work is clouding their judgment. When you care deeply about a pet project, for example, it’s hard to make a rational decision about whether it should live or die.

All this, of course, doesn’t mean you can’t find a job you love. It just means you can’t always take your life’s passion and turn it into a career. If you can, of course, you’re very lucky — but this is one more reason to not stress so much about finding a job in one specific field and more about finding one that you like to do (or, for that matter, learning to love the job you already have). Hit the link to read more. Photo by Mike Baird.

Don’t Do What You Love [Harvard Business Review via Hacker News]