Find Your Talent, Not Your Passion: My Take on Reality vs. Romance
In the gospel of career advice, “follow your passion” is the New Testament. Yet, here I am, the bearer of less sexy tidings: “Find your talent.” Yes, it lacks the romance of the former, sounding more like advice you’d get from a Soviet-era career counselor than a modern-day Instagram influencer. But here’s the real deal — identifying your talent and leveraging it might just be the most actionable and beneficial career advice you’ll ever get.
Passion is sexy; it’s the lover that makes promises by moonlight and disappears by morning light. We all have that friend who is always in the throes of a new passion, jumping from one to the next like a bee in a wildflower meadow. Last month it was pottery, this month it’s vegan cooking, and next month, who knows, maybe back to corporate law? Passion is fickle, often unrequited, and worst of all, it’s a terrible predictor of career success. Passion whispers sweet nothings about fulfillment but often leaves you at the job market altar.
Now, let’s talk about talent. Talent is that less glamorous friend who shows up on time, helps you move, and sticks around to clean up after the party. Talent is reliable. It’s that innate or cultivated capability to do something well, whether you love it or not. And here’s the kicker: talent often paves the way to developing passion. That’s right, the big secret is that passion often follows proficiency. Nothing is as satisfying as being good at something.
Consider this: the world is not particularly interested in what you love; the world pays for what you can do well. The market is brutally honest — it has a preference for skill and efficacy over enthusiasm. The starving artist might be passionate, but the thriving artist is both passionate and talented — and let’s not kid ourselves, probably knows a thing or two about marketing.
So how do you find your talent? Look back at your achievements, the tasks you found easy while others struggled, or the projects where you outpaced your peers. This isn’t about what you wish you were good at, but what you are actually good at. There’s a market waiting for that skill, and often, it’s a larger and more lucrative one than the market for what excites you momentarily.
Does this mean you should ignore your passions?
Absolutely not.
Infuse your talents with your passions where you can. Let your passions fuel your drive, but let your talents guide your career path. It’s like marriage — passion keeps it exciting, but compatibility and commitment make it last. You want a career that’s both enduring and enjoyable.
In conclusion, while finding your passion sounds like a lovely quest, in the practical world, discovering and honing your talent is what will pay the bills and potentially lead to lasting satisfaction. So, don the work gloves and start digging — not for the elusive treasure of passion, but for the solid gold of talent that you’ve been standing on all along. Because when passion fades, as it often does, talent will ensure you’re not left in the career cold. And who knows? In the heat of your talent, you might just rekindle an old passion or discover a new one, beautifully blending dreams with reality.
Hi, I’m Brian, the author of Talk Tech To Me. In my book, I take on the stress and strain of complex technology concepts and simplifies them for the modern recruiter.
