Struggling To Find Your Passion? Science Says That's Actually A Good Thing

You've been told that if you want to be happy, successful, and fulfilled, you should find your passion and just do that...forever. 

What this presumes, of course, is that we have a singular, defining passion and know precisely what it is. If being asked what your passion is throws you into an existential tailspin, join the club.

The belief that anything about you (passion, personality, preferences) is set in stone is what social psychologist Carol Dweck, Ph.D., calls a fixed mindset—there's no changing who you are or what you can do.

A growth mindset, on the other hand, is based on the belief that "your basic qualities are things you cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others," she writes in Mindset: Changing the Way You Think To Fulfill Your True Potential.

As I explore in my new book Unfollow Your Passion: How To Create a Life That Matters to You, our mindset plays a significant role in how we think about and pursue things we're passionate about—as well as what we give up on.

In a paper published in Psychological Science in 2018, Paul O'Keefe, Ph.D., along with Dweck and Gregory Walton, Ph.D., explored what role the two mindsets play in exploring and developing interests.

"People are often told to find their passion, as though passions and interests are pre-formed and must simply be discovered," the authors write. "This idea, however, has hidden motivational implications."

The researchers conducted five studies on college students to examine how a fixed vs. a growth mindset about passion affected participants' willingness to explore and develop their interests. 

Participants were asked to identify as either a "techy" (think math, engineering, science) or a "fuzzy" (arts and humanities) and then were given articles that matched and mismatched their interest identity. They found that a fixed mindset was associated with less interest in a topic outside of their identity; i.e., a fixed-mindset techy was less likely to entertain an interest in the humanities, whereas a growth-mindset techy might.

Worth mentioning is that those with fixed mindsets about passion believed that once they found one, it would provide "boundless" motivation, whereas those with a growth mindset knew it wouldn't always be easy. (You can probably guess who's more likely to stick with something.)

In one of the studies, the researchers showed participants a fun video about black holes, which everyone loved. Next, they were handed a difficult article on the topic, written for a scientific audience. As predicted, interest in black holes fell—but the drop-off was far more severe in those who endorsed a fixed mindset ("Guess I'm not that into astronomy after all!"). 

This research demonstrates that being dogged about passionate pursuits or believing you're "meant" to do something may actually undermine your ability to grow, evolve, and discover new and potentially fulfilling interests—or give up on them altogether. 

As the study authors put it, "Urging people to find their passion may lead them to put all their eggs in one basket but then to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry."

Does the notion that finding your One True Passion will guarantee happiness sound familiar? It should. It's a fairy tale you were told many times over.

And while the most feminist among us will surely roll their eyes at the proverbial prince riding up on a white horse, the search for The One passion isn't really all that different.

Every one of us would love to discover that we're a secret genius like Will Hunting or that chick from The Queen's Gambit, that one day, our brilliance will dawn on us, emerge without effort, and shine like the sun. 

Chances are, your genius won't reveal itself like a hole-in-one on your first day of golf. And if you believe talent, like passion, is fixed, you may not put in the time it takes to cultivate it.

In his bestselling book First Break All the Rules, Marcus Buckingham says that great managers define talent not as a fixed thing, but as a "recurring pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied"—the operative word being recurring. Your genius emerges, he says, when you cultivate your unique filter, which allows you to see the world in a way that only you can.

These days, you can't bake a great cupcake without someone telling you to open a shop. Sing a beautiful song and you'll be encouraged to audition for America's Got Talent. This pressure to turn everything you like into a paid engagement may seem like success, but it can be counterproductive.

Look no further than humorist and national treasure Fran Lebowitz, who, as incisive, witty, and brilliant as she is, says she loved writing...until she got paid for it. She hasn't published a book in decades.

Expecting boundless motivation is unrealistic—and unnecessary. Waiting for motivation to kick-start any of your efforts is like waiting for the bus: The longer you wait, the longer you have to wait. If you just start walking, you could be clear across town sooner than you think. 

And while I'd love to think that I can motivate you, or that anyone can, that may not be possible. Just ask Jeff Haden, author of The Motivation Myth, who says, "Motivation is a result, not a precondition."