Chase Your Values, Not Your Passions

I spent most of my second half of university stressing about what I would do after. I had no passion or interest in any specific field in particular, and while I got good grades in school, I wasn’t sure how to apply that in the real world. Most professional and graduate schools had specific prerequisites and requirements that I should have started planning out since first year. Since I was never dead set on a specific path, my university transcript consisted of a random assortment of elective courses I took purely because I thought they sounded interesting. On top of that, all of my volunteering and research experience was discombobulated and not focused on any specific topic or field. I felt directionless, unmotivated and lost.

I’ve spent the majority of my life hearing vague, yet encouraging statements like “follow your dreams” and “do what makes you happy”, and “chase your passions”. While I did have fleeting career goals as a child (archaeologist, paleontologist, biology teacher), these changed as I changed, and I never stuck to one. As I neared the end of my university experience, I still wasn’t sure what I felt passionate about. When I thought about the things that made me feel excited, I couldn’t think of how that would fit into a tangible career, especially one relating to my undergraduate major. I felt an increasing fear that I would end up settling into a career I hated, and would be left living an unhappy life.

Hoping to figure out what would make me happy, I took an elective course in positive psychology during my last semester of university. Positive psychology is a subfield within psychology that focuses on human well-being and the conditions that allow us to thrive. Essentially, we spent the whole time learning about how humans can achieve happiness. Throughout this course, we examined the concept of happiness through various cultural lenses Learning about the differences between Eastern and Western frameworks helped me re-examine what happiness means to me.

Eastern and Western ideologies on happiness differ from each other, likely due to the different histories and traditions that formed them. Generally speaking, Western ideologies emphasize individualism, while Eastern ideologies focus on collectivism. Individualism emphasizes a sense of independence. Within this ideology, there’s a need for uniqueness, and a desire to be an individual and achieve things on your own. Oftentimes, goals are self centered, and there’s an emphasis on pursuing what is enjoyable for yourself. Within this mindset, success comes from achieving your own personal goals. Collectivism, on the other hand, emphasizes a sense of dependence. Within this ideology, people are able to draw their sense of self from the group they belong to; they find meaning and identity in their role within a group, subjugating personal goals and eliciting satisfaction from group success. Ultimately, these are still generalizations, and people from all cultures may differ individually when it comes to their pursuit of happiness.

Growing up and viewing success through a Western framework, I thought that I would be happy if I was able to pursue a career that I was the most passionate about, something that I found to be genuinely exciting. When I couldn’t figure out what my passion was, I felt stuck. However, this class helped me realize that there are other paths to happiness. Inspired by collectivist concepts, I reflected on the roles I play in the larger communities that I belong to and wondered if focusing on larger group goals could help me pinpoint what my own personal goals were.

Around this time, the assistant dean of my program addressed my class cohort and told us to “chase your values, not your passions”. This statement, and the concepts of happiness that I learned in my positive psychology class, really resonated with me. I felt my mindset shifting on how I was going to deal with my post-grad uncertainty as a result. I started to reflect on what my values were, what kind of work I wanted to do for the communities that I belong to, and what kind of impact I wanted to leave. When I started to think of my post-grad path, I thought less about what I felt excitement or passion about, and more about what I thought was valuable to me. With this mindset, I felt less scared that I would end up unhappy. I knew if I followed my values, I would be able to find a career that felt meaningful and fulfilling to me.

I am proud to say that I will be starting a graduate program this fall that will allow me to research health experiences in understudied populations, including communities that I belong to. This allows me to give back to my community, and also gives me some more time to figure out what I want to do. While this certainly isn’t what I once dreamed of as a child, this work feels fulfilling and meaningful to me. I’m taking opportunities as they come and trying to focus on chasing my values, rather than my passions. ♦