Following your passion does not mean: "take a job doing it". It may mean that, but it could also mean: "take a job that gets in the minimal amount of way of you doing your your passion". It could mean "get a part time job doing your passion, and a part time job doing something else". It could mean "Don't take that consuming job that takes a bunch of energy and time just because it brings in the good money" (unless it means, do it for a short time and retire to persue your passion full time...). It could mean 100 different things. The goal is to maximize the amount of time and energy you spend on the things you care about and which energize you, and which make your life full.
And a note on passion itself: As a human, expect the things you are passionate about to change with time. When I was a kid I was passionate about history and archaeology, then I discovered computers. Now I'm on and off passionate about programming, gardening, art and a million other things. Largely the computer thing is constant, but it waxes and wanes. No big deal. I am not a robot, I am not programmed to like one thing consistently forever, if this changes, I can go with it, or descend a spiral to unhappiness.
It sounds like the author's passions changed. Sounds like he changed with them. Good on him, but it shouldn't be seen as a condemnation of the idea of following passion.
I completely agree. I would go so far as to say that for many engineers, programming-at least the type they do for work-is not their first passion, but is an activity they enjoy to some degree and it pays well. Hopefully this will allow them increased time to do what they really enjoy.
Yeah, people should find a balance. Instead of looking at the one thing we are passionate about, maybe we should look at 5-10 things that we would enjoy, then go from there. I was most passionate about literature, and started off taking several literature courses in college. Then I read some career advice that said focus on what you'd like to do for the next 40 years, not just 4 years of college. I realized I would not be happy with the job opportunities as a Literature major, so I switched to Computer Science, my 3rd or 4th favorite subject. I like programming and think I made the best career choice for me.
And a note on passion itself: As a human, expect the things you are passionate about to change with time. When I was a kid I was passionate about history and archaeology, then I discovered computers. Now I'm on and off passionate about programming, gardening, art and a million other things. Largely the computer thing is constant, but it waxes and wanes. No big deal. I am not a robot, I am not programmed to like one thing consistently forever, if this changes, I can go with it, or descend a spiral to unhappiness.
It sounds like the author's passions changed. Sounds like he changed with them. Good on him, but it shouldn't be seen as a condemnation of the idea of following passion.