Since I can remember, I have always experienced things in emotional Technicolor ™. I feel feelings in the way Formula One drivers careen along a race car track – 200 mph of wind, noise and adrenaline.
Like so:
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One of the side effects of having this kind of temperament is that I always followed my passion. I lived for the moment, I embraced the now, I danced in the rain – whatever you want to call it, I was a YOLO cliché.
The problem with pursuing your passion is that what it looks like in your mind is different than what it looks like in real life.
Observe:
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It’s the same thing with careers. I needed to connect with my work and I wanted to help people. Combine that idea with this emotional intensity:
And I was pretty much destined to go into Social Work.
As it turns out, it was a good decision for me even though I feel like I’ve somehow joined a circus without realizing what I signed up for.
In my professional life, I’ve done everything from running preschool programs for “under-privileged” children; to helping young women overcome their eating disorders; to working with forensic patients with schizophrenia. I love what I do.
I also get paid quite well to do what I do and that will only increase as I finish getting my credentials. By the time I get my Masters in four years, I will easily be able to make a very comfortable salary between working with the government health region and private practice.
But this is the beginning of the story – not the end. This is backwards, isn’t it? If I’m already living the dream, what’s the problem?
There were things I needed to learn to survive “living my dream”.
Dreams matter. And because they matter, you can soar really high. You are breathless and full of wonder. You can’t wait until you can get back to working on your passion or dream project as soon as possible. Each victory and success is like the first day of spring every day: new and full of promise.
But dreams matter. Because they matter, you can crash hard. You take a big risk and invest, you open yourself up and you feel it when it goes badly. Because this is your heart, your mind, and everything in between that you’ve put on the line to make this happen. It’s personal when it’s your dream – even if it’s a business or some other money-making venture. Anyone who says otherwise is not following their dream, they’re following something else.
The fact is – there is no avoiding this fact. It’s life, it’s work, it’s business. You’ll have highs and you’ll have lows. Facing this fact and making the choice every day to pursue your dream – even when it’s super shitty – is what makes it meaningful. Here’s how:
Survival Tips for Pursuing Your Passion
1) Celebrate your victories – I can’t stress this enough. Measure your success in inches. And celebrate every single one of those friggin’ inches. It might seem too small and insignificant at the time but it’s really important. Long roads with many signposts and pit stops will keep you on track way better than twisty little path up a steep mountain with no end in sight. First one will help you when you need a cheering section and the last one is only good for sherpas.
2) You need to have a full life – not just one with your all-consuming passion. I worked with a nineteen year old girl who wanted to recover from Anorexia. She worked hard to feel whole, to overcome her fears, and to challenge her eating disorder. It was like watching someone come to life again – talking, laughing and feeling comfortable with herself. She finished the program and we sent her on her way. Within the year, she had relapsed and died from a heart attack due to complications from her eating disorder.
What saved me wasn’t becoming hard and cynical about people. It wasn’t about building walls or pretending I didn’t care. That would have been totally pointless if I’m pursuing my passion. You don’t defend yourself against your dream.
It was my friend’s stupid story about locking herself out of her car one day. It was that really great crime story I was reading at the time. It was the feeling of being out on the water, with a paddle in my hand, and nothing else but wind and sun. That’s what saved me. You need other things to get you through the hard times. Whatever that happens to be.

3) You have to get good at saying “NO”. The truth is that every “Yes” that takes away from what’s important to you compromises your well-being. It’s the death of a thousand papercuts. It’s the millionth straw that broke the camel’s back. It’s the longest walk off the shortest cliff.
You could easily draw the conclusion that I’m being dramatic but just talk to anyone that burned themselves out on a relationship, career, or hobby.
How to say no is a completely different topic that can’t be covered adequately here. What’s important is that you start thinking about where you want your boundaries to be. Kenny Nguyen talks about this in his TedTalk on the “Art of Saying No”:
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4. Keep your sense of humour – If you can’t stand back and laugh at yourself or your situation once in a while, you’re going to land yourself in the loony bin. I work at a loony bin so take it from me; there are way better things to do with your time than driving yourself crazy with the All Serious, All the Time network.
I was three days late for a job once. Yes, that’s right. Three. Days. I had been hired on as a summer student with the Government of Canada as a Research Assistant. It was my first professional-type job and it was on the other side of the country. I got the offer letter, booked my flight, and happily went about finishing up my semester.
I got a call a day before my flight from my slightly bemused supervisor asking if I was still alive as I had not shown up for the first day orientation. Or the second day…
I had misread the stupid offer letter and booked my flight for three days later after my intended start date. To say I was mortified would be a tragic understatement. In short, it turned out well and I was the only student they called back to come work for them the following summer.
Because pursuing your passion is important, sometimes it can be hard to step back and take a breath when something goes sideways. Make sure you take the time to do this!
These are just some of the things I’ve learned from following my dreams in life. They’ve helped me become a better person – and a better professional – over the years. Even though I feel pretty solid in managing my career, there’s still a lot more I will learn.
How about you? Are you following your passion?
Other Resources:
The Power of a Positive No *Reframes your ‘No’ into a positive thing
The Assertiveness Workbook *Randy Paterson is a genius
What Colour is Your Parachute? *Good ‘find your dream career’ book
Love this, Lindsey!!! Especially the part about saying “no”. That is one tip that has truly saved my life. I have learned that although helping others is important, I can help others better if I help myself first by taking good care of my physical, emotional and spiritual health, and that often means that I won’t have the time to do every little thing someone else asks me to help them with.
Hey Laurie!I’m still in the process of getting the hang of the whole “no” thing. Sometimes I say “Yes” and then I have to go back and say “no”. But I guess it’s a victory that I am saying no – even if it’s after the fact!
Great lessons! I especially like the parts about having a well-rounded life and being able to say no. Following passion is great, but there are many great parts of life and being able to find the balance between the things you really care about can actually help enhance each piece.
Hey Matt! Yes, I think having other important things in your life is what gives us the impetus to say “no” in the first place. Without those other priorities, why else would we have to be careful with our time and resources? Balance is definitely the key!
Great article and as always love your artwork! I think the one problem I’m having is not being exactly what my passion is and what to pursue. I guess it’s the Libra in me but I go back and forth with ideas all the time. I’m sure if I knew, I’m go after it with gusto.
Thanks! I know you’ll figure it out Tonya – you’re very talented and it’s only a matter of time before you know which direction you want to head in. You just have lots of options. 😉
Absolutely love this! I’m following mine, though sometimes I feel like the sputtering car rather than the formula 1 racer…just can’t get there fast enough. 🙂
I feel exactly like that too! Why does everything seem to take so much longer than it should? Good for you for following your passion – it takes a lot of guts and commitment!
This is great advice. I’m beginning to pursue my passion now, and I have such a hard time saying no to extra commitments! I like to be involved in everything, and it’s not a good thing.
Your illustrations are hilarious! This is my first time visiting your blog, and I love it.
Hey, thanks for stopping by, Alexandra!
Good for you for following your passion, it’s a big move! I think learning to say no is a skill that’s developed over time. I know I’m still trying to master this one too!
I thought for a long time that writing my passion. So I did a bunch of freelance writing while working full time as a research assistant in my old profession (biology). Then I kind of realized that it wasn’t writing itself that was may passion, it was the creativity aspect of writing that drew me. So I decided to change careers and become a software developer – I get to be creative AND make good money, haha. Win-win. 😉
Hey that’s cool you were able to make that distinction. Writing gave you an outlet for your creativity but wasn’t what you were specifically interested in. Nicely done finding your niche – that’s really cool!
Nice one Lindsey. I like it all. I have worked hard on getting better at saying no and I think I have done well with it. I am trying to pass that on to my wife. I am currently pursuing my passion, but I didn’t find that passion until after college. It took some time, but I really enjoy what I do and now I am working on pushing for passions on the other side of the work life.
Hi Grayson, Good for you for both finding and pursuing your passion! Saying no is part of pursuing your passion – I’m still working on this as well. It sounds like you’re feeling pretty solid in being able to draw your lines – maybe write a blog post? I would totally read that.
Keeping your sense of humor is definitely one of the most important tips for pursuing your passion. If it isn’t fun, then what’s the point?