Should your career be based on passion or duty? I know you want to do what you love but you also may also owe it to yourself to pay off those student loans. It is a question we all must face at some point in our lives. But how do you make this tough decision? When questioning whether or not you should pursue a career based on passion or duty, you are bombarded by emotions and feelings. While everyone is different there are steps to follow that will help you work towards achieving your goal of finding a career with passion or duty.
Passion.
If you find yourself asking whether your career should be based on passion or duty, then you’re probably starting out in life. The good news is that you have a lot of options available to you at this stage. If you’re already firmly established in a career that’s duty-based, the options may be more limited, but they do exist if the job you currently have is not fulfilling your needs or desires.
Passion will come when various factors align with your values and vision for your own life and for the world around you.
When it comes to long-term fulfillment and happiness in one’s career, what matters most is finding something that feels worthwhile and meaningful. This doesn’t necessarily mean doing something for which you’re passionate; it does mean doing something that aligns with your values and vision for your own life and for the world around you. Passion will come when these factors are all present in concert with each other—and when they aren’t, it can sometimes feel like work (which is why many people choose duty-based careers).
Passion-based careers tend to offer more flexibility than duty-based careers do; there’s no guarantee of such flexibility in any job (though), so if this is important to you, make sure it’s an option before taking on a particular role or responsibility. That being said, switching careers frequently isn’t usually recommended, as it can be difficult to establish yourself within a field without some level of consistency and stability over time. If this sounds too limiting for your tastes though—or if there are multiple things about which you’re passionate—it may benefit both yourself and others if your career were to change over time as well.
Duty.
Duty is a strong motivating factor for many people, and there are countless examples of the good that comes from duty. Duty isn’t always pleasant or exciting but it can be rewarding. After all, the people who invent new medical treatments probably aren’t following their passion—they’re doing their duty to help improve the lives of others.
Duty isn’t always pleasant or exciting but it can be rewarding.
You also have an obligation to do what’s best for your employer, even if it may not be your personal favorite thing to do on a day-to-day basis. Your employer has expectations when they hire someone (which they call “job requirements”). If you don’t fulfill those job requirements then they’ll find someone else who will—duty is important!
If you’re young and still figuring out what path you want to take in life then duty should definitely play a role here too. You might think “I’m just going to go with whatever feels right at the moment”, but let’s face facts: society doesn’t work like that. It would be chaos if everyone did whatever felt right on any given day! So while pursuing your passion may yield long term benefits someday down the line, choosing duty over passion will put you on a more secure path today.
Find the right balance
It’s up to you to find the right balance between passion and duty, but it’s a good idea to have at least some of both.
The answer to the question of whether you should base your career on passion or duty really depends on what you’re aspiring to. For example, if you want a job that’s secure and a good fit for your lifestyle but has little likelihood of fostering happiness, you’ll probably want something that’s more duty-based. On the other hand, if you’d rather have a career that’s fulfilling and engaging despite not being particularly lucrative, it would be wise for you to think about jobs that aren’t as duty-based.
In the end…
Unfortunately, there is no magic ingredient—or answers—to choose passion versus duty. Part of the question is answered by your circumstance: Who are you? What are your circumstances? What are you in control of? Where is it taking you – where do you want to go? I suppose it boils down to just one question: Are you willing to sacrifice your own personal happiness for external rewards, wealth, praise and recognition… or are you not?
Lifereference 