Posted on 06/06/2016 5:41:12 AM PDT by servo1969
There are only two things I can tell you today that come with absolutely no agenda. The first is "Congratulations." The second is "Good luck." Everything else is what I like to call, "The Dirty Truth," which is just another way of saying, "It's my opinion."
And in my opinion, you have all been given some terrible advice, and that advice, is this:
Follow your passion.
Every time I watch the Oscars, I cringe when some famous movie star--trophy in hand--starts to deconstruct the secret of their success. It's always the same thing: "Don't let anyone tell you that you don't have what it takes, kid!"; and the ever popular, "Never give up on your dreams!"
Look, I understand the importance of persistence, and the value of encouragement, but who tells a stranger to never give up on their dreams, without even knowing what it is they're dreaming? How can Lady Gaga possibly know where your passion will lead you?
Have these people never seen American Idol?
Year after year, thousands of aspiring American Idols show up with great expectations, only to learn that they don't possess the skills they thought they did.
What's really amazing though, is not their lack of talent--the world is full of people who can't sing. It's their genuine shock at being rejected--the incredible realization that their passion and their ability had nothing to do with each other.
Look, if we're talking about your hobby, by all means let your passion lead you.
But when it comes to making a living, it's easy to forget the dirty truth: just because you're passionate about something doesn't mean you won't suck at it.
And just because you've earned a degree in your chosen field, doesn't mean you're gonna find your "dream job."
Dream Jobs are usually just that--dreams.
But their imaginary existence just might keep you from exploring careers that offer a legitimate chance to perform meaningful work and develop a genuine passion for the job you already have. Because here's another Dirty Truth: your happiness on the job has very little to do with the work itself.
On Dirty Jobs, I remember a very successful septic tank cleaner, a multi-millionaire, who told me the secret to his success:
"I looked around to see where everyone else was headed," he said, "And then I went the opposite way. Then I got good at my work. Then I began to prosper. And then one day, I realized I was passionate about other people's crap."
I've heard that same basic story from welders, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, HVAC professionals, hundreds of other skilled tradesmen who followed opportunity--not passion--and prospered as a result.
Consider the reality of the current job market.
Right now, millions of people with degrees and diplomas are out there competing for a relatively narrow set of opportunities that polite society calls "good careers." Meanwhile, employers are struggling to fill nearly 5.8 million jobs that nobody's trained to do. This is the skills gap, it's real, and its cause is actually very simple: when people follow their passion, they miss out on all kinds of opportunities they didn't even know existed.
When I was 16, I wanted to follow in my grandfather's footsteps. He was a skilled tradesman who could build a house without a blueprint. That was my passion, and I followed it for years. I took all the shop classes at school, I did all I could to absorb the knowledge and skill that came so easily to my granddad.
Unfortunately, the handy gene is recessive. It skipped right over me, and I struggled mightily to overcome my deficiencies. But I couldn't. I was one of those contestants on American Idol, who believed his passion was enough to ensure his success.
One day, I brought home a sconce I had made in wood-shop that looked like a paramecium. After a heavy sigh, my granddad gave me the best advice I've ever received. He told me, "Mike, you can still be a tradesman, but only if you get yourself a different kind of toolbox."
At the time, this felt contrary to everything I believed about the importance of "passion" and persistence and "staying the course." But of course, he was right. Because "staying the course" only makes sense if you're headed in a sensible direction.
And while passion is way too important to be without, it is way too fickle to follow around.
Which brings us to the final Dirty Truth. "Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you."
Congratulations, again - and good luck.
I'm Mike Rowe from mikeroweWORKS, for Prager University.
How refreshing to hear words that aren’t meaningless drivel like the first lady’s last week...worthless!!
This is superb - thanks for posting.
Took me 22 years to admit that, even though I was good and sometimes made 500 percent overnight on options, I was a degenerate and never walked away with a penny.
I’m not a trader. I’m a gambler. Thank goodness it was only on the side and not my real job.
SO content at 48 now that I accepted that but it took ONE MORE hit last year to finally wake me up.
better now than 68.
I know we’re supposed to look down on all non-math/science degrees and people who “follow their dreams” here but Mike Rowe parlayed a Communications degree and following his dreams into a pretty decent career.
Fascinating read. Some thoughts.
1. American Idol. I was always amazed at how stunned the show’s losers were. I have NEVER EVER expected fabulous, dream-like success in a dream field to fall into my lap, and I wonder what kind of person is AMAZED that he or she is not the next Taylor Swift or Frank Sinatra.
2. The septic tank story was good, but you ABSOLUTELY KNEW it would end in a crude, scatological reference that makes 14 year old boys the world over bust out in uncontrolled laughter. Cheap and unnecessary.
3. The trades. The problem with the trades is this: 90% of them don’t pay a damn thing, UNLESS you are an entrepreneur and start your own gig. I’d give my left arm to leave this scummy little cube and go into the trades, but I am not an entrepreneur (they are rare and special people) and if I went into the trades, I’d soon be reduced to eating grubs that I hunted down, naked, in the forest.
Excellent advice!
Thanks for the post.
I have several young people in my life that will benefit from reading this article.
I hope some of them payed attention, probably the first time anyone has told them the truth about REAL life!
“...a sconce I had made in wood-shop that looked like a paramecium...”
</smile>
But if you really, really,really, really,really, really,really, really,really, really, really believe, won’t it come true? That’s what they teach in school these days.
Yeah, I just googled him. Looks to me as if he has never once had a real job in his life, and certainly never a dirty one. Spent his entire life in showbiz, and unless he is one in a hundred billion, he surely spent that life “chasing his dream” and “dreaming of hitting it big.” All very ironic.
What he is ultimately saying is:
Know yourself, and to your own self be true (do not lie to yourself).
Clint Eastwood, playing Dirty Harry said it another way:
“A man has to know his limitations.”
I am good at math and science, but I am not passionate about them. I made a good living as a scientist for my career, and retired with a decent pension, partly because I learned the magic of compound interest when I was eight years old.
Now I follow my passion, writing, because I can afford to. It is nice to get paid for it, but if I had to live on what I earn as a writer, well.. it is less than minimum wage!
yes but...... American girls are trained since birth that the purpose of existence is to make a difference. They go to college and major in some current fad and then learn they are not really required, not needed, in fact shunned. They can’t follow their passion and make the dreamed of difference.
An example is to study to become an “environmentalist” only to graduate and find the only job available is to drive a small van around collecting water samples drawn for testing. McDonald’s pays better
“I looked around to see where everyone else was headed,” he said, “And then I went the opposite way.”
This is the MOST valuable bit of gems in this wisdom.
I’m thinking with a Trump Presidency, knowledge in Robotics maybe a wise move.
BTTT
Thanks for posting.
I met Mike Rowe once in Orlando Florida. I work at the Contemporary Resort as a convention concierge. He was speaking to a small business group and I was assigned to greet him and show him to the green room.
I was stationed outside the green room awaiting his arrival. He and his wife came up the escalator and I introduced myself and welcomed them to the Contemporary. I led them to the green room and as I reached for the door, he jumped in front of me and grabbed the handle.
It sort of startled me and I said “Hey that’s my job Mr. Rowe.” He looked me square in the eye and said “That’s what I do.”
What a guy, the real MaCoy both he and his beautiful wife.
I got to watch his presentation it was excellent and very funny. The attendees loved it.
Ah, reality. Such a refreshing drink once you get past the serious bite. Such a simple and elegant message for a world full of hope and change and the inequality of incomes and outcomes.
Thanks for the post. Isn’t it amazing that for every clear, unadorned message, we are buried by an avalanche of dreck?
Good sentiments, but with one caveat: the industry he applied to achieving his misguided dream was not wasted. The self-discipline and practical application he taught himself are indispensable in all endeavors.
BFL, great thread, thanks for posting.
A career path like Mike Rowe’s may not fit your definition of a real job. But he was in pro opera. Jump into that world and discover what a pressure-free life of ease it is.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.