The Passion Paradox

"Follow your passion" is one of the most well-meaning, dangerously misleading pieces of advice out there. Especially if you're multi-passionate. Especially if you're a high-achiever who wants to do meaningful work and also sleep at night. Especially if your “passion” changes depending on what you’ve recently read, binged, or brainstormed over a third cup of coffee.

And yet, this idea still sells. It’s slapped on graduation cards and LinkedIn posts like a one-size-fits-all career prescription. But here’s the inconvenient truth: trying to follow your passion is a bit like trying to chase a cloud. You don’t end up where you want. You end up tired, disoriented, and usually a little wet.

I’m not saying passion doesn’t matter. It does. But it’s not a compass. It’s not even a direction. It’s more like glitter. It sticks to what you touch, not the other way around.

So what if we flipped the script?
What if your passion could follow you?

You’re Not Lost. You’re Just Ahead of Schedule.

If you’ve ever spiraled in a “What’s my real calling?” loop, you’re not alone. There’s a special kind of fatigue that comes from trying to intellectually outmaneuver your own future. It’s the paradox of potential: when you can do a lot of things, it’s easy to think the answer lies in choosing the right one. The perfect passion. The golden egg.

But that’s a trap.

We like to believe that passion is a fixed thing—waiting to be found, named, and capitalized on. But what if passion doesn’t work like that? What if instead of being a buried treasure, it's a trail of breadcrumbs that only shows up after you start moving?

Decide by Doing, Not by Dreaming

I coach a lot of brilliant, mission-driven people. You know what gets them stuck the most? Not failure. Not fear. It’s the mental pressure to get it “right” before taking a single step. To make a passion-perfect decision without actually living any of the options.

But clarity is earned, not granted. It comes from experimentation. Curiosity. Contact with the real world.

You have to do to know.

That consulting role you swore would be soul-sucking? Turns out you love the strategy work. That nonprofit you fantasized about for years? Turns out you hate bureaucracy more than you love the mission. This is how you learn.

Experience is a truth-teller. Your brain is a very convincing fiction writer.

The Curse of the Multi-Passionate

Let’s be honest: being multi-passionate sounds cute until it’s your 3 AM brain whispering, “Should I start a podcast or open a bakery or go back to grad school?” When you love a lot of things, you can feel like committing to one means betraying the rest.

But choosing is not the same as closing. You’re not throwing your interests in the trash. You’re organizing them. Letting some of them ride shotgun while others hang out in the back seat. You can switch them out later. You probably will.

Instead of chasing all your passions equally, try focusing on what gives you vigor—not in theory, but in practice. Track what energizes you after you’ve spent time doing it. Not what excites you in the abstract. Not what looks good on someone else’s resume. Actual contact. Actual work. Actual you.

Passion Is a Byproduct, Not a Prerequisite

Think about the last time you were “in flow”—that feeling of full-bodied absorption in a task. Did it happen because you declared it your passion ahead of time? Or did it emerge because you were doing something that challenged you, matched your values, and rewarded your effort?

In other words: passion is often the outcome of mastery and meaning, not the starting point. It grows as you get better at something. As you start to care. As you see impact. As you say to yourself, “Oh. I could actually love this.”

The call is coming from inside the process.

Let It Be Messy

So if you’re stuck in passion paralysis, here’s your permission slip: you don’t need to pick the one true love of your work life right now. You don’t need to have a brand-ready answer to what your calling is. You don’t even need to be “passionate” at all times.

You just need to start moving. Do things. Reflect. Reroute. Let your lived experience tell you what matters. Let your passion catch up to you.

Because often, it does.
But only if you’re already in motion.