In an interview I had recently, the first thing the interviewer said to me was that I have had an interesting career path so far, and I think I agree. I am currently transitioning into a Design Engineer position — a career path that did not exist just a few months ago, and yet, I would agree that choosing your career path is not easy.
Some, as kids, wanted to be lawyers, engineers and doctors, and that is what they are today. As a kid I wanted to be an engineer. When I was about to graduate from secondary school, I decided to become a Chemical Engineer. However, the University had other plans and I was admitted to study Fine and Applied Art. At this point, I was fixed on studying Architecture, so I settled for the next best thing: Urban Design.
My first job after I graduated was as an Art Director. Prior to this I had done a couple of freelance stints in Marketing, Graphics Design and Strategy. I was even the co-founder of a Design Agency at one point.
What I have learnt over the series of hats I have donned in my career is that these were all roles that had elements of what I was passionate about. But as you may already know, passion is not a recipe for choosing a career path. So the second lesson I learnt was that I had to become good at most of these things before they became a passion.
As a kid I loved drawing, and Urban Design was my way back to it. While I was in school, I got a couple of architecture-related freelance gigs, but that soon faded away as the person — a professional architect — who got me those jobs moved away, and I realised I was still a long way away from making money with this by myself. So I began to play with Photoshop, which was how I got started with Design.
The experience of stumbling into design not through a plan but through necessity and curiosity made me question the conventional advice of "follow your passion." At one point I even wondered if I had any passion. It was only later, reading Cal Newport's So Good They Can't Ignore You, that I found the language for what I had already lived.
In the book, Cal Newport writes about how it is important to set passion aside and go after something that can make you more valuable to society such that, you could make money to fund your passion. Passion comes in different forms for different people, so a general piece of advice won't cut it. It is also important to know that before a lot of people became passionate about what they do, they had to be good at it first, which is where craftsmanship and skill come into play.
Passion is loving something, while craftsmanship is being pretty good at it. You can be good at something and not love it. And you can be passionate about something and not be good at it. Everyone I know today who are passionate about what they do needed to become really good at it before they could enjoy the highest form of value that their passion could grant them. Our passion tells us the direction that could help us find fulfillment, but we live in a world where you require skills to tread that path.
Craftsmanship is not a straightforward journey either. You start by learning to do something, but it never ends there — never. As the world evolves, the factors surrounding your craft will also evolve, whether through technology, government policies, geographical or environmental factors, and more. These will usually require us to adapt, unlearn and relearn things. This does not necessarily mean we are letting go of our passion, but the way that passion is expressed changes, and we must adapt to it.
An accountant who started their career before the age of technology would have been involved in a lot of ledger writing. Today, that same accountant must be versed in the multiple software options that exist if they are to remain relevant and continue to reap the fruits of their passion. A photographer who built their career on film and darkroom work had to adapt when digital cameras arrived, then adapt again when smartphones put a camera in every pocket. The craft didn't disappear but the tools and the market shifted completely underneath them. The ones who survived weren't just the most passionate, they were the ones willing to learn Lightroom, build a social media presence, or pivot to videography. The passion stayed the same. The expression of it had to change.
In one of Jim Rohn's lectures, he mentioned how once we leave school, society will not demand that you keep learning — but in order to remain valuable, you must. If you find yourself stuck without a passion, or with a passion but no way forward, here are some things that could help:
- Focus on Value:
The important question is not about whether you have a passion or not. It is more about what you are currently good at and how it can serve others. Find a way to give value and build on that. If you have a job, find the part of the job that is connected to your passion and double down on it — it will serve as the necessary foundation to get you closer to where you want to go.
- Deliberate Practice:
Through all the roles I have taken on, designing experience has been a constant — I know that now — but I did not know that at the start. In the form of marketing, products, even art, and now design engineering is moving me into the aspect of building. Meanwhile, I have consistently tried to hone my visual skill. You also need to do the same and push your abilities past your comfort zone, actively seeking feedback to improve.
- Building Career Capital:
By gaining relevant experiences and valuable skills, you build leverage. If you keep building on that leverage, you keep going up the ladder. This eventually allows you to trade your skills for desirable traits like autonomy, creativity, and ownership in your career.
The passion mindset assumes a perfect job or career is already waiting for you to find it. But this approach requires that you understand that fulfilling work is built, not discovered. When you focus on the daily process of mastery, genuine passion, respect, and control become natural side-effects.