One of the earliest books I summarised here on Commonplace was Cal Newport’s So Good They Can’t Ignore You. In the book, Newport opens with the argument that ‘passion is overrated’ — that is, picking a career built on what you’re passionate about is a bad idea; instead, building competence in order to earn autonomy in one’s work is what ultimately creates enjoyment. In other words, Newport argues that passion stems from mastery, not the opposite.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://commoncog.com/contra-passion-is-overrated/