Passion over Perks— What to choose?

6 min readMar 15, 2022

Passion or Perks — this is one of the never-ending internal discussion that we all have to go through at some stage in our lives. On one side, we probably hear parents, relatives, or even well-wishers at work telling us to be realistic in life and opt for a job or a position that pays well. But on the other side, there is an internal noise that keeps telling us all the time to “Follow your passion”. This makes us confused and anxious whether we should follow our passion blindly or choose a career that we don’t even like just because the job itself seems promising for our future.

In some rare cases, what if our passion turns out to be our profession and becomes rewarding too. This very stage in life needs a lot of hard work and patient listening to the inner self. But, even so, following our desires can leave a sense of well-being and happiness in everything we do. While there is no doubt that this is a question of opportunity, following one’s passion seems more appealing to most. However, how to draw a line between when it’s unproductive to pursue a career you’re passionate about and a different (financially better) route?

Here are 5 reasons why one should follow his/her passion over money.

1. Feel Good Factor

We are born once, unless our belief system tells us otherwise. If we think that we’re given one life, then spend it to the fullest and the way you decide. We all should be answerable to no one but to our own selves and our internal happiness should matter the most.

There is nothing worse than having to wake up every morning during the week to mindlessly go to work that we don’t like and we don’t care about or that we feel isn’t adding any value to ourselves. However, if we choose to follow our passion, we can begin to truly enjoy what we do. While the monetary reward may be smaller, the internal rewards will make up for it. It’s truly not an emotional statement. Let’s give it a try and see how peaceful and fulfilled we become.

2. Stimulates Creativity

Being forced to do something is one of the most draining experiences in one’s life. While there are times in every profession where we may feel the work pressure is killing us but when we are passionate about what we do, we can move past the dull days as we know the next will likely bring something new and interesting.

Our creative process will get a huge boost when we start following our passion. We become more inclined to come up with creative ideas when we like what we do. This will not only add more interest to our life, but it will make us better at what we do and will likely lead us moving up the ladder in the long run.

3. Work Isn’t a Burden

When we value money over pursuing our passion, we will find ourselves in an endless cycle of misery. Work will not feel like a journey or adventure, but more of a taxing nuisance on our minds. This, of course, leads to stress and anxiety in the long run which results in multiple health issues.

Every day going to work with this mindset, we start hating our jobs more and more. While many people feel that they must work hard to retire and have money to enjoy themselves, what’s the point of enjoying in our later years when we spent some of our best years being miserable? Instead, let’s follow our passion and see how much work just seems to flow instead of us having to force things to happen.

4. Going Above & Beyond

Certain obligations at work will require us to go above and beyond the call of duty. In certain industries, there are times when we are expected to devote more time and energy. If we are passionate about our jobs, it becomes much easier to put in the extra hours if we like what we do.

These extra hours or working on weekends won’t bother us as there is a connection that we have established which we call “ownership” which makes us feel good and earns the right kind of attention from our seniors and coworkers.

5. Fulfilment

If we ask the average person today what they want out of life, the majority will tell us that they want to be happy. If we dig deeper into what they mean, they’ll tell that they want to feel good and comfortable and be at ease. On the surface, that sounds innocent enough, but the reality is that this pursuit of happiness is actually the cause of much of our misery. The notion that pleasure and contentment are the solution to all of life’s problems, and that once we acquire these states we have everything we need, is misguided at best and dangerous at worst. There is more to life than happiness.

Terri Guillemets once said: “Follow your passion, and success will follow you”. There are few feelings better than achieving a level of success we set out for ourselves as we follow our passion. When we finally reach the pinnacle, it is that much more enjoyable knowing we got there doing something we love and something we feel that adds value to ourselves.

The Bottom Line

In the world we live in, it’s necessary to make money, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be our top priority when choosing our careers. Ultimately, we will do better and work our way up faster at a job you genuinely care about, so instead of following the money, follow the passion and give career a boost.

So, should we try and settle for a promising career without much passion, or should we risk it for a job that we love and fulfils us? Well, there is no simple YES or NO answer to this question, and there are many important factors to consider before deciding between a job for money vs. passion.

About the Author

Muhammad Sajwani is the Founder and Managing Director of Evolve HR which aims at transforming, enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan, Evolve HR thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders. As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.