WEBVTT - Why it’s smart to follow your passion

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to not discount that common graduation advice

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<v Speaker 1>to follow your passion. In many cases, this can be

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<v Speaker 1>a wise career move. We've recently emerged from graduation season.

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<v Speaker 1>Commencement speakers everywhere urge the gown and mortarboard set to

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<v Speaker 1>follow their passions. Other people give this as advice to

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<v Speaker 1>a Few years ago, I helped design a survey for

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<v Speaker 1>alarms approaching major reunions at my alma mater. Sure enough,

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<v Speaker 1>that follow your passion chestnut was the most common advice

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<v Speaker 1>people shared. It's easy to laugh at this cliche, but

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<v Speaker 1>what I think is more interesting is the deeper reason

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<v Speaker 1>why follow your passion might be smart. Some luck, like

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<v Speaker 1>in the lottery, is random, but more commonly, success is

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<v Speaker 1>a numbers game. This means it is closely connected with

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<v Speaker 1>what we find intrinsically motivating for reasons related to how

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<v Speaker 1>we spend our time. As I watch my kids grow,

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<v Speaker 1>I have been fascinated by the various ways they choose

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<v Speaker 1>to spend the hours that they aren't at school or activities.

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<v Speaker 1>My eldest loves movies, but not just the plots. He

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<v Speaker 1>has become a diligent student of box office Mojo, a

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<v Speaker 1>website that posts daily revenue figures for major theater releases.

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<v Speaker 1>He studies the patterns and trends. He doesn't always love

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<v Speaker 1>his math homework, but he makes sure to tell me

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<v Speaker 1>when a movie's gross drops by just fifty in its

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<v Speaker 1>second weekend compared to an expected decline. My nine year

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<v Speaker 1>old has no interest in box office projections, but he's

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<v Speaker 1>spent hours constructing various cardboard contraptions from his Nintendo Labo kit.

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<v Speaker 1>I have to her ring him to practice the piano,

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<v Speaker 1>but he willingly built a cardboard piano, hooked it up

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<v Speaker 1>to a switch, and played electronic tunes. I know I

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<v Speaker 1>had my own obsessions as a child. My parents cleaned

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<v Speaker 1>out their home in advance of a move to the

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<v Speaker 1>East Coast, and my mother sent me one of my

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<v Speaker 1>old notebooks from when I was ten. I had filled

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<v Speaker 1>copious pages with a description of a stormy night. It

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't a good description, but judging by length a loan,

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<v Speaker 1>I was willing to spend hours writing something that wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>for school. Now back to that numbers game. As I've

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<v Speaker 1>interviewed people about their careers over the years. The theme

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<v Speaker 1>of persistence keeps coming up. People try a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>stuff a lot starting out. You don't know what will work,

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<v Speaker 1>but it makes logical sense that activity generates feedback and

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<v Speaker 1>other activity. You can pay attention to what works. You

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<v Speaker 1>can do your best to season the opportunities that arise.

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<v Speaker 1>I've seen this in my life. People sometimes ask me

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<v Speaker 1>how I became a time management expert, putting that in quotes,

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<v Speaker 1>this is not something you major in during college. And

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<v Speaker 1>I did not think, Hey, I'd like to be a

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<v Speaker 1>time management expert as I wrote that twelve page description

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<v Speaker 1>of a rain storm. But I knew I loved writing,

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<v Speaker 1>and I knew I was willing to write a lot

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<v Speaker 1>about anything, articles, blog posts, books that never got published,

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<v Speaker 1>books that got published but few people read. Incredibly problematic

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<v Speaker 1>book proposals, followed by slightly less problematic book proposals, and then,

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<v Speaker 1>in the fall of two thousand eight, an editor at

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<v Speaker 1>Penguin read a book review I wrote and asked if

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<v Speaker 1>I'd like to meet and discuss book ideas. My book

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<v Speaker 1>proposal of the moment became the raw material for a

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<v Speaker 1>book that came out called a hundred sixty eight hours.

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<v Speaker 1>You have more time than you think. And there was

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<v Speaker 1>nothing magical about that book review that my editor spotted.

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<v Speaker 1>Versus hundreds of other articles I've written, no one has

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<v Speaker 1>any idea what will work. You put a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>stuff out into the universe. Knowing that fairy godmothers are lazy,

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<v Speaker 1>you need to give them as many chances as possible

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<v Speaker 1>to work their magic. Putting stuff out into the world

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<v Speaker 1>sounds like a lot of work, and it is which

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<v Speaker 1>brings us back to the topic of passion. People won't

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<v Speaker 1>spend gobs of their own free time pursuing something they

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<v Speaker 1>don't enjoy for its own sake. They'll spend some time, sure,

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<v Speaker 1>but not the sheer volume of time necessary for luck

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<v Speaker 1>to happen. So that's why I follow your passion can

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<v Speaker 1>be wise advice, but it's not just wise advice for graduates. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>I know that taking big risks can be harder when

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<v Speaker 1>you're a grown up with kids and a mortgage and

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<v Speaker 1>all that. Still, I think it behooves everyone to spend

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<v Speaker 1>time thinking about what he or she finds intrinsically motivating.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't have to quit your day job, but you

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<v Speaker 1>can think about how you could spend more time practicing

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<v Speaker 1>this craft. How can you start putting more stuff out

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<v Speaker 1>into the universe. Talk to two people about your passion

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<v Speaker 1>and nothing might happen. Talk to a hundred people and

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<v Speaker 1>something will happen. We don't know what, but something. If

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<v Speaker 1>you can then run with it, even as a hobby

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<v Speaker 1>or side hustle, then that is the secret of success.

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<v Speaker 1>So why not spend some time today thinking about what

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<v Speaker 1>your passion might be. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast pod that's b the number four, then Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>p o D. You can also shoot me an email

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<v Speaker 1>at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com

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<v Speaker 1>that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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