You have probably heard multiple times the advice to do what you love if you want to reach success. But is it really that simple?

Modern society and especially the business world were raised on the principle of pursuing something that you share strong feelings about.

A lot of entrepreneurs today recall growing up or learning business by watching Steve Jobs saying that he would not choose the path other than doing what he cares about.

While it is completely natural to be inspired by world-class leaders that changed the culture of the business, it is also necessary to remember that you are not Steve Jobs, that you might face other circumstances.

There are many reasons why it’s not always a good idea to think that success will magically come if you do what you love.

Read five of them below to stop worrying about being too afraid to “follow the dream.”

1. The desired profits might not be there.

“Advising someone to do what they love is a dangerous recommendation,” says Jessica Sweet, a blogger and a career coach from Brazen. “There is one rule about earning money by doing what you love: right now, nobody cares about your passions. It is all about customers and clients” what you give them and how they benefit from knowing you.”

There is the Hollywood Principle, which says that people do not care about something because you do. Sweet came up with this rule and it seems to work perfectly in modern business because if an entrepreneur forgets to look up and show why others should care about it as well.

As a result, no profits will be received from such business. Sounds about right, don’t you agree?

2. The attempts to follow the passion can be an effort to forget about the present.

Your passion for something can be a mere distraction. People often have a very narrow view of passion in many cases. Most of them perceive something that gives them even a little bit of gratification and pleasure.

“If you really wish to know where your destiny lies, look at where you apply your time,” says Cuban.

According to this thinking, people have an inappropriate understanding of passion because it can be anything that gives even a tiny bit of instant pleasure.

Can it be something that will shape you career? That’s highly unlikely because in this case, it is rather something that helps to distract you from the present. Instead, follow your effort.

3. One overriding passion is quite rare.

Career coach Emilie Wapnick, who is an author of a great lecture called “Why some of us do not have one true calling” says that people tend to have many passions.

It is extremely rare that a person follows a single passion all their life because the interests change with time. Most people are what Wapnick calls “multipotentialities.” These are the people who have a range of interests and jobs over one lifetime.



Following one overriding passion, the whole life can be detrimental to your success because you have other potentials that can be fully locked. Do not let this happen and develop all your talents.

4. Job’s recommendations were not even followed… by Jobs himself.

In a commencement speech that Jobs gave at Stanford Stadium, he said that everyone should follow their passion: “keep looking, and don’t settle.” However, this recommendation seems to be ignored by Jobs himself. As Jeffrey Young described in his biographical work Steve Jobs: The Journey Is the Reward, Steve Jobs did not even try to engage in a career that was remotely related to electronics. Instead, he went to India for a spiritual journey and worked at Atari (he handled business-related roles).

However, when his friend Steve Wozniak asked to accompany him in his new computer company, Jobs accepted his proposal on the grounds that he will be responsible for business-related staff. He was not a technology enthusiast like Wozniak was.

This story shows that Jobs did not even try to become someone involved in technology, even though he had chances before. He came to this area only when it promised to be lucrative.

5. The passion can turn into a nightmare when it becomes a full-time job

Imagine the example: a person loves reading books and considers books as their greatest passion. The person decides to engage in the field and becomes a writer in a publishing company that asks them to write a book about a positive New Year story.

Every day, the company calls the writer to update on the process and tries to speed up the process to publish it before the New Year. Examples like these occur almost with every book and revisions are also a normal part of the process.

As a result, the person may begin to hate books and writing because of short deadlines and burdens imposed by employers. Eventually, the career that looked so great may become a nightmare in a long-term.

The Bottom Line

There are some solid reasons to ignore the advice to do what you love. In some cases, it can become a nightmare while in others it simply won’t bring any profits. If you think that you are too afraid to follow your dream by hesitating, you actually might be right.

If needed, just ignore feelings about personal guilt because those hesitations might be saving your career that brings you money and security.

What thoughts cross your mind when you hear the phrase ‘Do What You Love‘? Share your opinion in the comments below!

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