Should Someone pursure career based on skill or happiness

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Thanks Niflheim, but I doubt we all can burn in that way, it depends on what you mean by it naturally? Making your life a statement, or just going your own way? I was more thinking of the pursuit of happiness in general. :) Somewhat selfish that one I admit, but from a personal point of view incredibly important.
 
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yoron said:
Thanks Niflheim, but I doubt we all can burn in that way, it depends on what you mean by it naturally? Making your life a statement, or just going your own way? I was more thinking of the pursuit of happiness in general. :) Somewhat selfish that one I admit, but from a personal point of view incredibly important.

Don't take what I said the wrong way, I was emphasizing that one should take risks and do what you want, and not play it safe your whole life.
 
To all, first and foremost, no matter what you choose as a major, if you do not have an affinity for said work your GPA will always be lacking. Humanities harder? Not by any stretch of the imagination. STEM likewise. What you personally love is where you will spend the time and effort. The rest is noise, and when you finally get to a job, do you think that you will stay at one that you do not like regardless of the money? Bottom line, decide what you do not want to do, that makes finding what you like to do easier.
 
DaleSpam said:
Generally people enjoy things that they are skilled at, so I am not sure that the distinction makes a lot of sense. That said, any given person typically has multiple skills and multiple passions. Some of those will be more marketable than others, so it is worthwhile to think about the different options available and how to make the best individual tradeoff between the various skills and attitudes that you have.

You are wrong when you say that people have multiple passions. I think that people have multiple interests and the one that they most but really most enjoy is their passion. Sorry for being so anoying.
 
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Lets get some Admin to respond to this, I would love to hear their input.
 
I don't see why 'happy' (aesthtically pleased) and 'rich' (have housing, food, and other essential commodities) are mutually exclusive.
You would be sure attract begrudgers and other difficulties though,
(well maybe not of you were also an expert in juggling as well).
 
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Well, I would say that it is better to be happy doing what you love, I do see that most people here already have a career related to science, in my case, I am the total opposite to you, I used to think that I wanted to be a journalist or a movie director or something related to art but a year ago I found out that my passion is physics, I know it is hard but whatever, also I am from Costa Rica and science is not a priority here. This sounds stupid and cliché but you should follow your heart.
 
koneko369 said:
Well, I would say that it is better to be happy doing what you love, I do see that most people here already have a career related to science, in my case, I am the total opposite to you, I used to think that I wanted to be a journalist or a movie director or something related to art but a year ago I found out that my passion is physics, I know it is hard but whatever, also I am from Costa Rica and science is not a priority here. This sounds stupid and cliché but you should follow your heart.

To koneko369,

I'm curious about what field (if any) is a priority in Costa Rica (since you mentioned that science is not).
 
DaleSpam said:
Generally people enjoy things that they are skilled at, so I am not sure that the distinction makes a lot of sense. That said, any given person typically has multiple skills and multiple passions. Some of those will be more marketable than others, so it is worthwhile to think about the different options available and how to make the best individual tradeoff between the various skills and attitudes that you have.

In an academic setting interest and ability are probably quite closely aligned. In the wider world this becomes a valid distinction. The reason is that with self-discipline and motivation people can become highly skilled in many things, not all of which would qualify as a priority when it comes to intrinsic interest. Motivation can come from a simple need to survive or an ambition to climb to to the top. Ask enough lawyers, accountants, and bankers and you'll gather sufficient evidence to convince yourself if this!
 
Crichigo said:
You are wrong when you say that people have multiple passions.
Whether you call them passions or interests, most people that I know have more than one. The few that don't are rather dysfunctional and unhappy.

In any case, if you choose to classify them as interests rather than passions the point remains that you can use any of them to form a satisfying career, not just the "top" one. Blindly pigeonholing yourself into one is a bad idea economically, professionally, and personally.
 
DaleSpam said:
Whether you call them passions or interests, most people that I know have more than one. The few that don't are rather dysfunctional and unhappy.

In any case, if you choose to classify them as interests rather than passions the point remains that you can use any of them to form a satisfying career, not just the "top" one. Blindly pigeonholing yourself into one is a bad idea economically, professionally, and personally.
The people who interview you for a job will often want to know "What is your passion"; and they mean ONE. This is used for forcing you to either be the right candidate or the wrong one. Giving more than ONE PASSION means you will be rejected since the interviewer cannot be sure that either is a true passion.
 
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symbolipoint said:
The people who interview you for a job will often want to know "What is your passion"; and they mean ONE. This is used for forcing you to either be the right candidate or the wrong one. Giving more than ONE PASSION means you will be rejected since the interviewer cannot be sure than either is a true passion.
This is a really bad interview question on several levels. If it is asked then it means that the HR department did a poor job training the hiring manager.

Among other problems, it opens up the company for hiring discrimination law suits, since people may well respond with "passions" which a company is legally prohibited from rejecting under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or other similar laws.

In any case, one potential bad interview question is not a good reason to pursue a suboptimal career. You may have the most passion for singing karaoke, but that doesn't mean that will be your best career choice.
 
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The question can also be used as a political separator so that the candidate may LIE their way into a job. The person who, among several qualified, seems to want the job the most will get the job, regardless of the job being near the candidate's passion or not. A desire itself for a type of work becomes a qualifier.