Welcome to our second episode of Career Advice: Love it or Leave It, a series of posts that review advice commonly shared by successful  business executives.

In theory, I agree with this advice. If you have a career calling or passion project that can pay the bills, by all means go for it!

But when it comes to corporate work, I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to say many business professionals don’t feel a deep passion about they do on a daily basis. They don’t “love” their work.

So does this mean they should do something different?

Advice like “follow your passion or do what you love” creates an idealized way of working that can make people who work in corporate feel poorly about what they do for a living. Like they settled for less than they should have, and instead need to find their true calling.

However, just because you don’t have a passion for corporate work doesn’t mean you can’t have a meaningful and fulfilling career in business.

Here’s the thing: many of us don’t know what “follow your passion” means for us. And it’s not because we haven’t thought about it, it’s because we just don’t have it. We don’t have a career calling we feel passionately about. And that is okay!

It’s alright to have different motivations for work. For me, it’s enough to simply enjoy my work. And that means…

• Gaining a sense of satisfaction out of my job.
• Feeing proud of my contributions.
• Being inspired to bring my best and make an impact.
• Connecting with likeable, good people.
• Becoming better – a better marketer, a better leader, a better human.
• Earning rewards and recognition – accelerating a path to financial freedom.

And while I wouldn’t say I loved my marketing career, or felt a deep passion about it, it did deliver on all of the above.

Rather than taking advice to follow your passion, I encourage you to enjoy your journey. 

Make the most out of your corporate career and keep your options open. Even if your corporate career doesn’t embody “living your passion”, it can provide much more than you may think. 

And who knows, maybe your journey will lead you to discover something you’re passionate about! Or maybe not. And that’s okay.

So are you going to love it? Or are you going to leave it?

What do you think? Do you think it’s best to follow your passion for work? Do you believe you should love your job or is enough to just like it? Please share in the comments!

Check out more Love it or Leave it episodes here.

>>> Have you received advice that you’re unsure about? Share it with me –– I would love to feature it in a future Love it or Leave it episode! <<<