What You Really Want How to Test-Drive Your Passion

What You Really Want How to Test-Drive Your Passion WhenI welches growing up, the world wasnt as rife with career advice as it is today. Back then, it really amounted to this Get a job So I did.Actually, I got two jobs. If making some money was good, making more was better, right?In the past few decades, we have been hit with an avalanche of career how-tos. Its an exciting development, but it can be difficult to sift throughall the information and advice.For a good while, follow your passion was the prevailing wisdom. Now, of course, the backlash is starting. See, for example, a recent New York Times articlewhich calls the concept terrible advice. According to the article, the problem with follow your passion is that many assume doing so will make life free and easy. At the very least, your passion is where your natural abilities lie, right?Not always. Even if something fascinates you (and can support you financially a double win), you rarely nail it on the first attempt. Or second. Or even the third. This isnt the tired fail better routine, but a way to bring perspective to the pursuit of happiness.It all comes down to thisSo much of your life is spent working, so how can you make your work enjoyable? How can you balance learning new things with the satisfaction of solid execution based on skills youve already mastered?Lord knows I spend most of my time working, but I enjoy pitching and developing innovative tools to make the world at least a little better than how I found it. The more I think about how passionconnects with work, the more I see the relevance of advice from Innovators Anonymous Seven Steps to Get Your Product Off the Ground, a book I coauthored with my business partner about the process of innovation.Heres some of the advice we offer in the book and how itapplies to your career1. If You Feel a Bit Knocked Off Your Feet During This Process, You Are Doing It RightIn other words, finding your passion isnt necessa rily going to be all fun and games. Some parts of the experience might really throw you off guard.That doesnt mean youre headed in the wrong direction.Sure, you might want to give yourself a time limit for just how long youre willing to struggle before you try something else, but dont take the mere existence of struggle itself as a bad sign.2. Chances Are Youll Get It Wrong in the Beginning, But Youll Be on the Path to Getting It Right Later OnYou might think one field of study is your passion, only to find out that your passion actually lies somewhere else entirely. For me, when I was running a party rental shop in the Hamptons to pay for college, I realized I was adept at leading teams, handling logistics, and keeping clients happy. This was a great precursor to my current career in digital innovation, where I interface with developers, user experience designers, clients, shareholders, creatives, and the board.3. Minimize Investment, Maximize LearningsIf you think your passion is Ancient Greek, you dont need to enroll in a PhD program to find out that it isnt. Instead, try studying the subject on your own. Same goes for teaching. So many people head straight for a degree program, but not all institutions require a teaching degree. Find a place where you can jump right into the classroomto see if its an environment you enjoy, or shadow someone who is already doing what you think you want to do.4. Learn Listen to Your DataAs you continue exploring what fascinates you and improving your skills in that area, take stock of where youre excelling and where you could use some support. Remember, you dont have to do this on your own Use your network and line up informational interviews to see whats possible. Whats the worst that could happen? You could find out that what you thought you were passionate about doesnt interest you at all. Is that so bad? Its actually a really valuable insight. So many spend their careers dreaming about what else they could be doing, but they never learn whether the grass is actually greener.5. Act Make Your MoveIf you find that Ancient Greek is really your thing, its time to start researching degree programs. Whats so good about having first taken the time to learn is that you can go into your PhD program with more motivation and clarity. (Believe me, you will need both) Same goes for teaching, programming, or whatever field interests you.If all youre left with is the knowledge that no, Greek is not for you, start this process again with a new hypothesis. What elsemight you bepassionate about? Find out if youre right.Jeannette McClennan is founder and president ofThe McClennan Group.