Among the most damaging platitudes that have been inflicted on recent generations of youth are ones that revolve around the idea of “following your dream.”
“Love what you do and do what you love.”
“Let money follow your dreams. Don't let your dreams follow money.”
“You can do anything you set your mind to.”
These happy sounding aphorisms may seem harmless, but they can set up unrealistic expectations and prevent people from finding satisfaction in doing real jobs that involve real work. The latest edition of Prager University features a commencement address from a special guest who knows a thing or two about work.
In this year’s PragerU commencement address, Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs and CNN’s Somebody's Gotta Do It, has a surprising message for graduates: don’t follow your passion. For one thing, passion and ability are not necessarily related, so you may never find that “dream job.” Furthermore, blindly following your dreams can keep you from finding meaningful work in another, equally satisfying field. Watch the video here and learn why your passion should follow you -- not the other way around.
