by hbr.org — Jon M. Jachimowicz —It seems like we’re constantly told to pursue work that we’re passionate about. At least in the United States, this advice follows people from school and into their careers. As billionaire investor Ray Dalio advises in his book Principles, “make your passion and your work the same thing.” Doing so is said to be the path to success. This is perhaps why a recent study found that young people rank achieving their career passion as their highest priority — above making money or getting married. Finding a fulfilling job was deemed nearly three times more important than having a family by the teenage respondents. But, for many people, this simply isn’t feasible. Not every job affords the possibility of pursuing a passion. And most people care deeply about many different things — not all of which will be how they want to earn a living. A growing body of research suggests that pursuing your passion does indeed improve your well-being but that where you do it is far less critical. In fact, several studies show that doing something you are passionate about outside of work rather than in it benefits both your career and your personal life.
Why we should pursue passion outside of work
While pursuing passion at work is known to increase work engagement and job performance, it’s both unrealistic and risky to rely on work as the only means through which to do so. Some jobs don’t allow employees to focus on their interests, and the jobs that do aren’t always financially viable. In some regards, following and finding passion at work could be seen as a luxury for the privileged few — those who can afford to choose exactly the right professions. Tying work to what you are passionate about can also be harmful over the long-term. When you stake your whole self-worth on your job, you become less resilient to adverse events, such as layoffs or negative performance reviews. It can also make it harder to switch off after working hours and get the respite necessary to regain energy for the next day. Plus, it deprives us of the many benefits that come with engaging in outside activities and hobbies — for example, stress reduction, higher energy, and increased levels of creativity, all of which may boost work engagement and retention. One recent study even showed that people accrued greater benefits when their personal passions and their actual work were very different. It’s important to realize that the desire to pursue passion at work is a modern phenomenon — and one relatively unique to the United States. In other countries, particularly European ones, people more commonly find fulfillment outside of work. For example, nearly half of Germans are members of at least one after-work club, which allows them to engage in favorite activities such as sports or gardening in their personal time. In the U.S., by contrast, only few Americans have hobbies or extracurriculars that they actively pursue.
Why is this? One possibility is that being busy at work has become a status symbol in the U.S. We’re also more connected to our jobs than ever due to our smartphones. American workers seem to be competing over who can put in the most hours, which may explain why they spend more time at work than most Europeans. Another reason for our current state of overwork is financial insecurity. One in three middle-class families struggle to make ends meet, which leads to a greater focus on work. Brigid Schulte, author of Overwhelmed, described the culture of long hours and the difficulty of switching off in her book: “That’s so indicative of where we are in our culture right now, that you can actually forget what it is to have something you like to do that’s not a) tied to work and b) productive.”
Lessons for employees and managers We call on employees to rethink the pursuit of passion, remembering that they can do it at work or outside of it. We also advise managers to help their employees in this endeavor. One way to pursue your passion outside of work is to build on the lessons of “job crafting,” the notion that employees can find ways to make their roles more closely reflect what they care about, by, for example, changing their tasks or work partners. You can also craft your job to allow for more time for non-work passions. For instance, if you have some level of autonomy over your hours, you could start your day early to make more time in the evening for cultivating other interests. These extracurricular activities can be a way to develop new skills, meet new people and communities, or decompress. How do you find the right ones for you? First, ask yourself what you care about and then evaluate whether you find or do it at work. If you have a passion — or even just an interest — that you haven’t been able to pursue, that can be one starting point. Outside of work, you have the freedom to try new things out, so experiment. Remember, too, that passions can wax and wane over time, and so it’s okay to stop one activity and pick up another. It often helps to find other people who care deeply about what you’re trying so you get pulled into their passion orbit and find a sense of community. Another way to pursue non-work passions is through volunteering. Many companies already encourage their employees to do this. For example, Mars Inc. pays its associates for up to 16 hours per year to do unpaid work. This practice, more broadly, has been shown to create stronger connections between community members, foster collective pride in participants, and benefit organizations by keeping employees engaged and committed. Research also indicates that volunteering allows you to express personally meaningful values and that, the more passionate you feel towards the cause, the more benefits you’ll derive. You can look at whether your company has corporate volunteering groups or what outside opportunities are available in your area.
Managers play a crucial role in helping employees achieve all of this. Although people might want to take up a new hobby or class or participate in a club, it’s often hard to do so when work hours are long or unpredictable work and bosses expect complete dedication to the job. So leaders must step in to encourage and support workers — by scheduling more predictable time off (i.e., allowing employees to choose time protected from potential work requests), offering volunteer or extracurricular programs, or simply encouraging people to think about what gets them excited. Pursuing your passion offers a host of benefits, but only a privileged few can do this on the job. More of us should instead look for personal activities that are tied to what we care about. When we do, we will lead full lives and also bring our best selves to work.
