时文双语阅读 Why

时文双语阅读 Why 'follow your passion' is bad advice为什么“追随你

的激情”是有害的

editor's note:(cnn) -- do you want to love what you do for a living? follow your passion. this piece of advice provides the foundation for modern thinking on career satisfaction. and this is a problem.

i've spent the past several years researching and writing about the different strategies we use to pursue happiness in our work. it became clear early in this process that the suggestion to "follow your passion" was flawed.

the first strike against this advice is the lack of scientific evidence. motivation and satisfaction in the workplace is a major research topic, as happy employees are better employees.

it's difficult, however, to find studies that argue the importance of matching a work environment to a pre-existing passion. most studies instead point to the importance of more general traits, like autonomy or a sense of competence (see, for example, the voluminous research literature on self-determination theory for more on such findings).

these traits are agnostic to the specific type of work performed, contradicting the idea that you must find the exact right job to be happy. see also: is happiness the secret of success?

the second strike against this advice comes from the anecdotal evidence. if you study the career paths of people who end up loving their work, you'll find that clearly identified pre-existing passions are rare.

some people do figure out early on what they want to do with their life, but most follow much more complicated paths on which passion emerges slowly over time.

just because "follow your passion" is bad advice, however, doesn't mean that you should abandon the goal of feeling passionate about your work. this reality instead emphasizes that the strategies that work are more complicated. below are three ideas that came up often in my study of how people actually end up loving what they do.

see also: is workplace boredom 'the new stress?'

passion is earned

different people are looking for different things in their work, but in general, if you study people with compelling careers, they enjoy some combination of the following traits: autonomy, respect, competence, creativity, and/or a sense of impact. in other words, if you want to feel passionate about your livelihood, don't seek the perfect job, instead seek to get more of these traits in the job you already have.

the problem, of course, is that these traits are rare and valuable. just because you really want a job that allows you to autonomously tackle respected creative projects doesn't mean that someone will hand it to you.

these rare and valuable traits require that you have rare and valuable skills to offer in return, and building these skills requires time and deliberate effort. if you're unfulfilled in your current position, therefore, start by asking how you can become more valuable.

passion is elusive

many people develop the rare and valuable skills that can lead to passion, but still end up unhappy in their work. the problem is that the traits that might lead you to love your work are more likely to be useful to you than your organization.

as you become increasingly valuable, for example, your boss might push you toward traditional promotions that come with more pay and more responsibility -- as this is what is most useful to your company -- whereas you might find more passion by leveraging your value to gain autonomy in your schedule or project selection. getting good, in other words, is not enough by itself. you have to use your ability wisely.

this pattern is common in the stories of people who end up loving their work: after they develop rare and valuable skills they then use these skills as leverage to take control of their career path, often veering far off the standard trajectory. this act of leverage requires courage, but can return great rewards.

see also: work skills for the 'conceptual age'

passion is dangerous

some argue that "follow your passion" is harmless advice. if it can help even a small number of people realize that they don't have to settle, what's the problem?

i disagree. i've watched too many of my peers fall into anxiety and chronic job-hopping due to this flawed advice. the issue is expectations. if you believe that we all have a pre-existing passion, and that matching this to a job will lead to instant workplace bliss, then reality will always pale in comparison.

work is hard. not every day is fun. building the skills that ultimately lead to a compelling career can take years of effort. if you're seeking a dream job, you'll end up disappointed, again and again.

don't set out to discover passion. instead, set out to develop it. this path might be longer and more complicated than what most upbeat career guides might preach, but it's a path much more likely to lead you somewhere worth going.

the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of cal newport.

为什么“追随你的激情”是有害的

你希望热爱你赖以谋生的职业吗？追随你的激情。这条建议是关于职业满意度的当代观念的基石。但它有问题。

编者按：cal newport 是"so good they can't ignore you: why skills trump in the quest for work you love."一书的作者。他是乔治城大学的老师。他写作了很受欢迎的意见博客study hacks，并被《华尔街日报》和《华盛顿邮报》所引用。

（cnn）你希望热爱你赖以谋生的职业吗？追随你的激情。这条建议是关于职业满意度的当代观念的基石。但它有问题。

过去的几年里，我用来研究并写作怎样在工作中获得快乐的不同策略。在这一过程中，我很早就发现“追随你的激情”这一建议是有缺陷的。

这一建议的第一个硬伤是缺乏科学依据。工作场所中的动机和满足感是一个主要的研究课题，因为快乐的员工也是更优秀的员工。

但是，研究工作场所与预先存在的激情相匹配的重要性的文章很难找到。大部分研究关注更为普遍的特征的重要性，比如自治或一种胜任感（参见卷帙浩繁的关于自我决定论的研究文献了解更多信息）。

这些特征对于特定工作的影响不确定，这与那种认为你必须找到唯一正确的工作才能快乐的观点相矛盾。

这个建议的第二个硬伤来自现实中的证据。如果你研究那些最终爱上他们的工作的人们的职业道路，就会发现那种明确认定的预先存在的激情是罕见的。

一些人的确很早就认准他们的一生要做什么，但是大部分人行走在一条曲折得多的道路上，随着时间推移，激情才逐渐显现出来。

仅仅说“追随你的激情”是有害的，并不意味着你应该放弃对工作充满激情的目标。这个事实其实强调了有效的策略比预想的要复杂得多。在我研究人们怎样最终爱上他们的工作时，下面三个想法常常浮现在我的脑海。

激情是获得的

不同的人在工作中追求不同的东西，但是如果你研究有着引人注目的职业生涯的人们，会发现一般来说，他们都看重下面列出的一些特性：自治，受到尊重，胜任，创造性，和/或影响力。换句话说，如果你想对你的工作充满激情，不要试图寻找完美工作，而应在你当前的工作中寻求获得更多上述特性。

当然，问题在于，这些特性都是稀有且昂贵的。仅仅因为你真心希望一份工作允许你自主统筹受人尊敬、充满创造性的项目，别人并不会因此把这样的工作双手奉上。

这些珍稀的特性要求你必须具备珍稀的技能作为交换，练就这些技能则需要时间和刻苦努力。如果在你当前的职位你还不够格，那么，先问问你怎么才能让自己更有价值。

激情是难以把握的

很多人练就了可以获得激情的珍稀技能，但是在工作仍然落得不快乐。问题在于可以使你热爱你的工作的那些特性可能对你更有用，而不是对你的组织。

举例来说，随着你变得越来越有价值，你的老板可能按惯例对你提升，给你更多薪水，让你承担更多责任——这一举动对你公司收益最大——但是你可能觉得利用你的价值去获得更多的工作计划和项目选择方面的自主权才更有激情。仅仅做得好，换言之，是不够的。你必须明智地运用你的能力。

在那些最终爱上他们的工作的人们的故事里，有一个共通模式：在他们练就了珍稀技能之后，他们使用这些技能控制自己的职业发展，通常比标准路线偏离出很远。这种转变的行为需要勇气，但能带来丰厚回报。

激情是危险的

一些人争论说“追随你的激情”是无害的建议。如果它能帮助即使少数人意识到他们可以不安于现状，有什么不好？

我不同意。我已经目睹太多的同事因为这个有缺陷的建议而陷于焦灼和长期跳槽的境况。问题在于期待。如果你相信我们都有一个预先存在的激情，找到符合它的工作就能获得工作中的至乐，那么现实永远相形见绌。工作是艰苦的。不可能每天都快快乐乐。获得能最终引领成功职业生涯的技能需要付出长年累月的努力。如果你在寻求一个梦幻工作，你将一次又一次的失望。不要花力气发掘激情。花力气培养它。这条道路可能比大多数职业规划所鼓吹的更加漫长和曲折，但是这条路更有希望引领你去值得去的地方。

（译者按：）这篇文章原文引起强烈的反应，推荐大家阅读原始链接下的评论。