Passion Won't Make you Money or Get you a Job
Is the universe trying to tell me something?
You know when the universe is screaming out to tell you something and you know because everywhere you look, you’re reading or hearing the same words repeated over and over. That was this week and, in particular, the reason that nobody gives a s*** about your passion or if you’re passionate (unless you’re in an intimate situation, in which case, that’s perfectly appropriate).
First off, it was one of our members,
and her Note here on Substack, in which she said:“Passionate” doesn’t convey a tangible value or expertise. Let me show you an example.
Patricia is “passionate” about women in tech.
That means everything and nothing. It may mean that I like to chat with women in tech (me), I think being a woman in tech is the best thing in the world (I don’t), or I’ve helped hundreds of women get the career in tech they want and deserve (me). And it can mean many other things, too.
Moreover, "passionate" is often perceived as a hobby or something done as a form of volunteering.
Then, another Substacker
, in her post Day 12/30: Why Your "Passion Project" Is Keeping You Broke, wrote this:
While Patricia’s point is that passion can undermine expertise and intellect, I would suggest, to Ana’s point, that it also doesn’t convey to customers how that benefits THEM. Simply because you have an overwhelming urge or belief in what you’re doing, that doesn’t matter to your buyer who wants to understand what’s it got to do with them and their own problems/frustrations or desire.
I encourage you to consider not only how you can wipe any form of the word passion out of your vocabulary, but also in how you can reframe your business in terms of your expertise and how that contributes to solving an issue for your customer.
How can you turn your years of experience, whether lived or work into a solid proposition with your customer at its core?
I’ll leave you with another quote from Ana in summary:
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This doesn’t mean though you should not do things with or out of passion. But I believe everyone got the point here.
Brilliant take on this piece 🤗
Excellent take on my note and Ana's post. I coach ambitious women in tech, and when we review their CVs or LinkedIn profiles, "passionate" often comes up in their statements at the top. That's a waste of space because, as you said, people want to know what problems you have solved and how you can help them, not really about your passions (other than maybe when you're volunteering).
The reality is we all care about ourselves: our problems, our feelings, and our thoughts. We need to align with those for our customers and employers if we want to get deals or a job.