Values > passions

Struck by Adam Grant’s tweet:

Following your passion is a luxury.
Following your values is a necessity.

Passion is a fickle magnet: it pulls you toward your current interests.
Values are a steady compass: they point you toward a future purpose.

Passion brings immediate joy.
Values provide lasting meaning.

– @AdamMGrant

I’ve always conflated passion with values. They often seem to walk together in the work that I enjoy. But it’s true, what he said. They are not the same.

I’m passionate about indie hacking. But what I truly value about it is freedom, being able to work on my own terms.

I’m passionate about writing. But what I truly value about it is a reflective, examined life.

I’m passionate about design thinking (through my consulting work). But what I truly value about it is social impact and helping others/society.

In all the three scenarios above, the former can evolve or get eliminated, but the latter had always been there.

I value freedom. I’ve been doing that even before indie hacking. I started my own business in consulting to do just that, even before there’s such a thing called “indie hacking”. Maybe it’s what I do now, but in future that might change. The flavour of the day: indie solopreneurship. Who knows what next?

I value a reflective, examined life. I meditate, I go for Zen retreats, I do weekly recaps. Writing is just part of it. Writing had always been part of it, just that I’ve never wrote this consistently for so long. Who knows what next?

I value social impact in my work. I love helping others. Before design I was working in a large non-profit organisation planning services for the social impact sector. Before joining the non-profit, I volunteered my time for charities, painting houses, spending time with elderly in nursing homes. Now I do social impact by using nocode tools to create pro bono solutions to social issues, like during COVID. The passions always changed. Who know what next?

This was pretty illuminating for me to write it out. Because so long as I follow my values, I’m safe. I’m congruent. I’m aligned. I’m happy. I don’t have to hold on so tightly to the passion of the day. I don’t have to identify too much with my current job, role, trade. As we can see, those passions change. Inevitably, they always do.

Passions change. Values stay.

Values > passions