Episode 27: Should You Follow Your Passion? Maybe Not. Here's Why.

Should you quit your job to follow your passion? Throw caution to the wind and pursue an artistic endeavor? Worry if your day job doesn’t totally light you up inside?

These are the questions Tracey and Cayly are addressing on this week’s episode of Curious & Curiouser, in a conversation inspired by an email from one of our listeners.

They talk about what to do if you don’t know what your passion is yet, describe their journeys to where they both are today in their own lives with regard to this topic, and explore the possibility that passion might just be overrated.

Cayly talks about why she doesn’t like the word “passion” as it relates to career paths and professional evolution, and the ladies explore different ways of thinking about these things that allow for more freedom in the choices we might make along the way.

Tracey and Cayly sincerely hope you enjoy this discussion and that you find it useful in your own lives.

As always, reviews and 5-star ratings in iTunes are appreciated, so please consider leaving us one if you are enjoying the show and haven’t done so yet. Thanks, everyone!

Highlights from this episode:

- Do Tracey and Cayly actually have things figured out? Are they where they thought they would be five years ago?

- How being naive about building a business allowed Cayly and Tracey to take the leap

- What did the beginning incarnation of Tracey’s business look like?

- Taking the leap before you’re ready and what this looked like for Cayly in the beginning

- Why Cayly doesn’t like using the word “passion” in this context of career and professional pursuits, and why quitting your job to follow your passion might be terrible advice for most of us

- Is Cayly following her passion? Is Tracey?

- What Cayly is passionate about right now and how this relates to her current profession

- Episode 24 of the podcast Q & A session (http://organicacupunctureportland.com/curious-curiouser-podcast-episode-24-divorce-leaving-mormonism-things-regret/)

- The role discomfort plays in both Tracey and Cayly’s career paths

- Body of Work:  Finding the Thread That Ties Your StoryTogether by Pamela Slim (https://www.amazon.com/Body-Work-Finding-Thread-Together/dp/1591846196) (http://pamelaslim.com/body-of-work/)

- Steve Jobs quote:  “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

- What are the through lines for Cayly and Tracey in their professional lives?

- Why it’s fine to just have a job and why passion is overrated

- Passion is Fickle, But Curiosity is Non-Negotiable on Cayly’s website (http://organicacupunctureportland.com/passion-fickle-curiosity-non-negotiable/)

- Passion can be cultivated through curiosity

- Cayly’s instagram post about not knowing what we’re doing (https://www.instagram.com/p/BZBuklml_zl/?taken-by=cayly.c)

- The importance of purpose and intention, and the power of changing your mindset

- Why we should embrace and appreciate boredom

- Brene Brown quote on scarcity:  “The opposite of scarcity is not abundance. It’s enough.” (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/27/brene-brown-people-sick-being-afraid)

- Why Cayly worked two other jobs when she first started her business

- And more!