Mike Rowe says, "Don't follow your passion"

[krupa]

 

I have to agree with him, here.

[RandallT]

He needs to post in the Dan Plan thread.

[krupa]

1 minute ago, RandallT said:

He needs to post in the Dan Plan thread.

Doesn't apply to Dan; he was never passionate about golf.

[RandallT]

1 minute ago, krupa said:

Doesn't apply to Dan; he was never passionate about golf.

Love the vid, by the way. Prager University has some good stuff, in general. Obviously from a right-leaning perspective, but an effective presentation of their principles in most cases. 

[billchao]

I remember seeing Mike Rowe on a program somewhere a few years ago saying this and I agree with him. Most people aren't lucky enough to be doing what they love for a decent living, but there's really nothing stopping us from loving what we do.

He went on to say stuff like the academic world tends to promote academics so you end up with a lot of university graduates competing for limited jobs while lots of trade jobs are left unfilled. He said his high school guidance counselor never once mentioned the possibility of trade school to him.

I tell a lot of kids who aren't sure of what they want to do after high school to explore trade schools.

[nevets88]

Transcript if you're not able to video it. 

https://www.prageru.com/file/8810/download?token=AGWxK5kn

Those Prager U YT videos sound interesting. Will give some of them a viewing. 

Passion can be a dangerous thing. I lost count of co-workers and friends who worked so hard they worked themselves into a hospital stay from the stress, 70-80 hour weeks. 

[jamo]

I just wish a lot of the trade schools (and "universities" like Prager) weren't so smarmy. 

Slightly off topic, but if you've got "a curious mind and a short attention span," Mike Rowe's podcast is a great listen: http://mikerowe.com/podcast/

[natureboy]

1 hour ago, krupa said:

 

I have to agree with him, here.

Good find. Well done video. Valuable perspective.

I've heard sort of the same thing about how traditionally matched couples are often just as happy or happier than 'love match' couples because of the ability to choose to be happy / choose to love.

While I totally agree that this video's perspective is worth considering, it really comes down to a personal choice. If you are self-aware that you lack talent, but participating in the field that you love is worthwhile enough to you who am I to say you should stop and do something more 'practical'. Unless the expected lack of success will limit other choices in life that are equally important to you. But full consideration of the options, tradeoffs, and realities expressed in the video are critical before you have made a well-formed choice vs.'following a dream'.

1 hour ago, RandallT said:

Obviously from a right-leaning perspective

Perhaps in other videos. That vid right there is just good ol' pragmatism.

27 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

Passion can be a dangerous thing. I lost count of co-workers and friends who worked so hard they worked themselves into a hospital stay from the stress, 70-80 hour weeks. 

That sounds more like competitive drive than passion. The whole 'idea' of following your passion is that the activity itself is such a reward in itself that spending almost all you time doing it energizes you rather than draining you. Your example sounds more like people who are not energized / fulfilled by their crazy hours at the job and lack a balancing fulfilling outlet away from the non-passionate job.

[No Mulligans]

I was lucky enough in high school to not be as talented at playing guitar as a couple other student/friends. 

Being so talented at guitar didn't turn out so well for them. 

 

[mchepp]

Quote

who followed opportunity—not passion— and prospered as a result. 

Love this.

[boogielicious]

14 hours ago, krupa said:

 

I have to agree with him, here.

The Judge said it better. 

 

[nevets88]

16 hours ago, krupa said:

Doesn't apply to Dan; he was never passionate about golf.

In fairness, he had no idea what he was getting into, just picked it out of the blue rather than golf getting its hooks into him. 

[Rainmaker]

What he said is kind of obvious, I think . .and really only applies to jobs that require excessive levels of talent . .which is, of course, what most people are passionate about.  Dreaming of being a pro musician or a pro golfer or an famous actor or a pro race car driver isn't going to make it so.  Those are highly competitive fields where only a small percentage of the most talented people make it.  Sure, they work hard . .but hard work alone is not enough.    

For example, I don't buy his statement that he was never going to be any good at construction even though he loved it.  That just doesn't make sense and I'll bet $$ it's not completely true.  I bet he partly fabricated that to make a better point for his story. 

I say . .if your passion is construction . .follow it!  If your passion is being an auto mechanic . .follow it!  If your passion is for something that only a very small percentage of the world's most talented people get paid well to do . .think it over!

   

[natureboy]

1 hour ago, Rainmaker said:

For example, I don't buy his statement that he was never going to be any good at construction even though he loved it.  That just doesn't make sense and I'll bet $$ it's not completely true.  I bet he partly fabricated that to make a better point for his story.    

Maybe the caveat would be that he hoped to be as successful and as masterful a craftsman as his grandfather. For that he may have lacked talent. And if his dream was to be 'that guy' rather than just do anything in construction he may have lacked some necessary talent / manual skill in contrast to a top of field guy like a Norm Abrams.

[Rainmaker]

4 hours ago, natureboy said:

Maybe the caveat would be that he hoped to be as successful and as masterful a craftsman as his grandfather. For that he may have lacked talent. And if his dream was to be 'that guy' rather than just do anything in construction he may have lacked some necessary talent / manual skill in contrast to a top of field guy like a Norm Abrams.

I'm not an expert in carpentry or anything - but Norm Abram is an actor.  Just like Mike Rowe, lol.  Both of those guys have exactly the type of job he recommends against pursuing.  Yes, Abram is a an excellent carpenter, but there are fairly many of those, relative to famous actors. 

So if you want to be a master carpenter . .I say go for it.  I see no reason why you can't be an excellent carpenter if you apply yourself.  But if you want to have your own carpentry show . . .well . .I hope you like carpentry because the odds are that's it for you, lol.

 

edit . .I bet what happened to Mike Rowe is that he realized he really *wasn't* passionate about carpentry even though he admired his grandfather and always thought he wanted to be a carpenter.  If true, that would be ironic . .that would be following your passion,lol.  Not that I disagree that most people on Idol tryouts should just give it up.  It was WC Fields that said "If at first you don't succeed, try again.  If you fail again, give up.  No sense being a damn fool about it". 

Edited June 11, 2016 by Rainmaker

[natureboy]

On 6/10/2016 at 10:45 PM, Rainmaker said:

I'm not an expert in carpentry or anything - but Norm Abram is an actor.  Just like Mike Rowe, lol.  Both of those guys have exactly the type of job he recommends against pursuing.  Yes, Abram is a an excellent carpenter, but there are fairly many of those, relative to famous actors. 

So if you want to be a master carpenter . .I say go for it.  I see no reason why you can't be an excellent carpenter if you apply yourself.  But if you want to have your own carpentry show . . .well . .I hope you like carpentry because the odds are that's it for you, lol.

edit . .I bet what happened to Mike Rowe is that he realized he really *wasn't* passionate about carpentry even though he admired his grandfather and always thought he wanted to be a carpenter.  If true, that would be ironic . .that would be following your passion,lol.  Not that I disagree that most people on Idol tryouts should just give it up.  It was WC Fields that said "If at first you don't succeed, try again.  If you fail again, give up.  No sense being a damn fool about it". 

Abram is not an 'actor' he is a carpenter (former independent general contractor) who appears on TV and is became a host of his own show. The latter followed on the former. Possibly Abram is more skilled at telling 'the story' of a renovation more than he is at actually doing the work compared to other highly skilled carpenters, but his knowledge of the craft was essential to his success on tv. IMO he also looks pretty involved in and competent at the details.

As far as being an excellent carpenter if you apply yourself, I'm not as sure. A good carpenter, a competent one sure. Achieving 'excellence' in a reasonable period of time may depend on your definition of 'excellent'. IMO there are real innate abilities involved in being excellent at even some of these seemingly 'simple' skills. Attention to or appreciation of the right kind of details is one. There are plenty of well experienced and 'passionate' handymen whose work defaults more to the 'kludge' side of things than 'craftsman'. If you want to accumulate experience to compensate for a relative lack of whatever innate skills are needed it may take you much longer to get there. Passion can help fuel the journey, but you may still lag in 'success' others in the field who established a reputation for consistent excellence earlier.

A lot of the people on 'Idol' don't seem to have a clue about the training and skill development that many celebrity singers have had (although IMO some genres require significantly less singing / musical skill). I think many are more fixated on the 'dream' of being a rich, stylish celebrity than striving to be good singers.

Rowe was passionate enough to devote a lot of his early time to shop classes, but he may have been choosing the lesser of two evils in terms of what motivated him education-wise. I like the WC Fields quote.

[stealthhwk]

I find this very interesting and inspiring. Im kind of jammed up. I have a great job with a very successful company. It is a great way to provide for my family. The pay and health benefits are fantastic and it has pretty good job security. BUT my career plan hasnt panned out. I was supposed to be in management flying a desk by now but my particular company punishes supervisors rather than rewarding them so I have kept my 15 years of-seniority which is practically worthless and stuck it out in the entry level position. But the older I get, the more the outdoor weather extremes are taking a toll on my body and overall health. None of the other departments I could transfer to make any sense. So now it seems Im left with a daunting choice. Keep my sure thing til it kills or cripples me, or find a new career before its too late. The Mike Rowe video makes a lot of sense to me and its given me a new lens to look through.

[natureboy]

On 6/10/2016 at 6:22 AM, boogielicious said:

The Judge said it better. 

 

Completely different messages IMO.

Obviously, the line in Caddyshack is satire, but as delivered was a classist type sentiment shared by many around the world implying the 'Noonans' of the world should not aim to or are not capable of rising above their station. It's intent is demeaning. It's a 'stay out' message.

Rowe is just saying that there's more than one way to have a comfortable, satisfying life & that many find success and meaning in 'mundane' jobs others may overlook in their desire for prestige. He would likely point out you can have a very satisfying life as a sandhog. His message is an invitation.