The Birth of Passion – The Clarity of the Craftsman

Newports Law: Telling a young person to follow their passion reduces the probability that they will end up passionate.

Most of our lives we have been pushed to ‘follow our passions’. That whole ‘make your passion your pay-check mentality is embedded in every message you seem to hear surrounding your future, but Cal Newport makes a point of avoiding such a mentality. During our lecture we were directed to a speech he made for 99u where he pointed out how this mentality breeds not only a failure to seize your passion but also a tendency towards ‘chronic unhappiness’. When we ask the world what it can give us, rather than what it is that we can give the world we become disillusioned. We lose our passion.

These two mentalities Newport categorizes into the ‘passion mindset’ and the ‘craftsman mindset’. The ‘passion mindset’ seeks out pleasure from the world, but comes at the cost of frustration when it isn’t immediately found. Newport asserts the ‘craftsman mindset’ to be a more pragmatic worldview… and so do I. The world is a mixed bag at best and the human condition comes with its fair share of ups and downs. When we ask things of the world, they aren’t always given to us. We cannot control the way the world spins… however we can control ourselves. Pushing passion out into the world is a state that you yourself can captain. You directly control the actions that you take and the decisions that you make, such a process can protect us from disillusioned disappointment.

Newport pointed out how many people who love the work they do now, did not start with a passion for it, which made me realise something important: action is not born of passion, passion is born of action. There are many things I consider myself to be passionate about. I was brought up to see the world as a place filled with opportunities, I was encouraged to find joy in the pursuit of knowledge. But that joy was not preexisting. Reflecting on Newports words I realise that it was quite the opposite. In primary school and High School I was known for my drawing abilities, I was seen as talented but I never saw myself as such. I could draw the way I did because I picked up a pencil whenever I could; because I would watch older students draw and spend hours upon hours mimicking them until I could do what they did. My passion for art came from my perseverance at the craft not the other way around. Where others had given up, I had pushed on and that is what gave me my passion and drive.

Finding meaning and purpose within what we do is a fundamental part of human fulfilment and I think it is here the the craftsman mindset’s success is born. Trying to find intrinsic meaning in the world around you is a fruitless task because it is human beings who allocate meaning in the first place. I am reminded of Mark Twains work “Mans place in the Animal World” where he claimed humanity to be the only creatures capable of evil, because it is a concept we ourselves created. We give the world its values, we create and distribute worth and so looking for it in the world will leave us with nothing. Each time I picked up my pencil I was giving myself purpose, breeding passion within the actions I took.

Newports research shows that it is this perseverance with a skill that breeds passion within us, because we have given ourselves worth and direction. We have cultivated passion in our interactions with the world rather than demand that it is given to us. His research has shown me that I don’t need to fear my future, not because the craftsman mindset guarantees success, it doesn’t, but because it can guarantee a life of passion. I can work obsessively and persevere with each mundane task I will no doubt have to complete throughout my life and that process of unwavering determination will give my work meaning, whatever it may be.

This mindset builds a passion for improvement, rather than perfection. A determination to persevere, rather than to succeed. I am at a point in my life where I can shape my entire future. I am not yet who I will be and it is perseverance, not preexisting passion that will deliver me there. It is how much I give to my craft that will shape my future, not how much my craft bestows to me… and so I must look to the future not with eyes of passion but with the eyes of a craftsman.