Career Passion Development

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang’s best career advice: “Passion isn’t enough, you’ve got to endure.” I believe "Follow your passion” is the most overhyped career advice on earth If someone’s telling you to “just follow your passion,” they’re probably already living in abundance! Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Passion usually follows mastery, not the other way around. Get good first. Then the prestige, pay, confidence, and interesting problems make you… passionate. A better playbook that I followed: Pick something you can be great at. One clear lane, real demand. Go deep for a decade. Reps > inspiration. Grit beats vibes. Measure progress, not feelings. Hard day ≠ wrong path. Work is hard, expect injustice, friction, and boredom. Earn the right to edit. Mastery buys you optionality: interesting projects, better teams, better life. Early on, balance is a tradeoff. Most meaningful careers require a season of asymmetric effort. Later, mastery lets you buy back balance, time, control, boundaries. Do your passions on weekends Don’t ask: “Do I love this today?” Ask: “Can I become great at this, and is it worth being great at?” That’s how you build a career you’re proud of and yes, one you might just become passionate about. What do you think?

Almost every time I speak with juniors or college students, I get asked the same question: “I’m not sure what field I want to work in. How do I decide what to do?” It’s a completely normal feeling — and honestly, I’ve been there too. When I first entered college, I had no clue what specialization to take or what career path to pursue. But here’s the truth: You don’t need to have it all figured out right away. What you need is a plan to explore and narrow it down. Here’s what I tell anyone who asks: 📍 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 — 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 List a few things you genuinely enjoy or find intriguing — like writing, data analysis, designing, or public speaking. Don’t worry about how they translate into a career just yet Action Step: Write down your interests without worrying about how they translate into a career. The point is to recognize your natural inclinations. 📍 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁-𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 Try out your interests through short-term activities like joining a club, taking a beginner’s course, or volunteering for a project. Give it 2–4 weeks and see if you enjoy the process Action Step: Try something for 2–4 weeks and assess: Did you enjoy the process? Did it feel meaningful? 📍 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝘁 Reach out to people working in fields you’re curious about. Ask about their day-to-day work, the skills they use, and what they enjoy or dislike about their roles Action Step: Message 3 professionals on LinkedIn and politely ask for a 15-minute chat. Most people are willing to help if you’re genuinely curious and respectful of their time. 📍 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀 Identify the skills you want to develop rather than getting stuck on job titles. Whether it’s data analysis, storytelling, or management, skills are transferable and will shape your career regardless of the role Action Step: Pick one skill you’re curious about and spend an hour a week learning or practicing it. 📍 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁 Your first choice doesn’t have to be your final choice. Reflect every few months to see if you’re still enjoying your current path. It’s okay to change directions as you learn more Action Step: Set a reminder to reflect every 3 months: Are you still enjoying your current path? If not, what’s next? The Bottom Line: You don’t have to know your exact career path at 20. Just focus on exploring, learning, and building foundational skills — the clarity will follow. To everyone feeling overwhelmed — take it one step at a time. And remember, not having it all figured out is okay — it’s part of the journey. What’s one career option you’re currently exploring? Share below — I’d love to hear your thoughts!👇 #CareerAdvice #CollegeTips #FindingYourPath #SkillBuilding #CareerExploration #EarlyCareerInsights

I never set out to build a career in AI. As a kid, I was covered in paint splatters and glued to craft projects. I thought I’d grow up to be an artist. There’s a story behind why I never pursued art professionally (maybe I’ll share that one day). Then, in middle school, I discovered the PC Logo tool 🐢 (IYKYK): making crazy patterns with LT and RT commands, felt just as magical as painting. That creative spark led me to notice something else: I was inherently drawn to physics and math, balancing equations and unraveling logical puzzles- while chemistry and biology never held my attention. My brain craved analytical challenges, and every time I debugged a code or solved a tricky math problems, I felt that same thrill I once got from painting. One of my mentors put it perfectly: “Your superpower lies in what sets you apart. With limited time that all of us have, channel your energy into what makes you unique.” For me, that meant leaning into my love for math and computational thinking, and the joy of discovering how machines learn. Here’s how those pieces came together, and how they might help you find your own path: → Embrace your first sparks. Remember the activities that lit you up, whether that was painting watercolor landscapes or guiding a Logo turtle to draw circles. → Notice your natural inclinations. Which subjects or tasks pull you in? For me, physics equations and algorithmic puzzles were irresistible; biology diagrams, not so much. → Celebrate small wins. Every time you solve a problem, automate a task, or complete a creative project, you build confidence, and momentum. → Lean into what makes you unique. Your blend of strengths, like creativity plus analytics, or storytelling plus data, can become your superpower. → Keep experimenting. Passion often emerges at the intersection of unexpected interests. Try new tools, challenge yourself, and pay attention to where you lose track of time. Your journey won’t look like anyone else’s- and THAT'S the point. Whether you’re mixing paints or writing your first lines of code, those early curiosities can point you toward work you love. ❤️

Finding your career passion isn't like finding a magic answer key... It's more like exploring a map, figuring out what excites you, and understanding what you're good at. Here's how to get started: 1.⁠ ⁠What matters most? Think about your values. Do you care about making a difference, being creative, or earning a lot of money? Your values will lead you toward careers that fit what you believe in. 2.⁠ ⁠What gets you excited? What do you love doing in your free time? What are you curious about? Pay attention to things that make you excited and curious! 3.⁠ ⁠What are you good at? What are your natural skills? Think about your past experiences - what have you learned? Don’t be afraid to explore your skills, even if they seem unrelated to your current job. 4.⁠ ⁠Try new things! Volunteer, take a class, or shadow someone in a field that interests you. The more you explore, the better you'll understand what you love. 5.⁠ ⁠It's a journey, not a finish line: Finding your career passion isn't about getting to a specific destination. It's about learning and growing along the way. It's okay to change your mind and explore new opportunities! Remember, your career passion might not be one single job. It could be a combination of things you enjoy and are good at. Ask yourself: What do I love? What am I good at? What kind of impact do I want to make? The answers will help you find a career that truly excites you!

"Just follow your passion" is career advice that needs a reality check. While passion matters, success requires more: skills, demand, and practical strategy. The truth? Most successful people didn't start with a burning passion—they developed it through mastery. Instead of chasing pre-existing passions, try this actionable approach: Step 1. Skills Audit: List your natural abilities and acquired skills. What problems can you solve? Step 2. Market Research: Identify where your skills meet real demand. What will people pay for? Step 3. Interest Exploration: Find areas you're curious about, not just passionate about. Curiosity sustains learning. Step 4. Strategic Testing: Take small projects in your target area. Let competence build confidence. Step 5. Value Creation: Focus on becoming irreplaceable in your field. Rare skills command premium rewards. The formula is NOT "passion = money" but "skills + market need + consistent growth = passion & prosperity." Absolute career satisfaction comes from being excellent at something the world needs. Build your passion through deliberate skill development, not wishful thinking. What do you think? Have you experienced this passion paradox? Share your story below. Coaching can help; let's chat. | Joshua Miller #CareerAdvice #ProfessionalGrowth #Executivecoaching

This resume got me a Lecturer role at UNSW Business School. Here’s exactly how I structured it 👇 📄 Tell your story I’m a big believer that your resume should tell your story, not just list your jobs. 😄 Clear headshot I use the same photo across all platforms so there's instant recognition. 🧭 A compelling About Me section This is a statement of my core career ambition (or “long game” as I like to call it). I tweak it slightly depending on the role (for this one, I added a line about my passion for teaching). 🧩 Grouped experience around themes, not chronology I don’t just list jobs in order. I cluster experiences to align with my “long game”, making my trajectory easier to follow. ✍️ Narrative-based experience descriptions No bullet-point dumps. I write short narratives that show how I’ve delivered value and how that value carries forward into future roles. 💬 Value-aligned language Every word is intentional and is picked to maximise understanding. The goal is to show what I bring next, not what I’ve done randomly. 🏦 Strategic signal selection I did four internships at uni. I showcased J.P. Morgan because it sends the strongest signal. 🔗 Tangible proof I link directly to my initiatives. If you’ve done the work, showcase it! 🙋 Volunteering matters I include volunteering to highlight transferable skills and long-term commitment. 🎨 Thoughtful design You don’t need to be a designer, but you do need to care. Your resume should look like someone wants to read it. (Canva all the way! They have so many great templates you can use) 📚 Role-specific tailoring For this resume, I leaned into my teaching experience. Every application deserves its own unique angle for the role you’re going for. 💬 Want me to review your resume? DM me! I’d love to share my thoughts and give a few pointers. — I coach Professionals and Executives in their 20s & 30s to advance their careers. Follow Benjamin MacNevin, CFA to advance yours too! — 📌 If you enjoyed this content, you might like my free newsletter which hundreds of Professionals and Executives in their 20s & 30s read every morning for practical career advice. Subscribe to: https://lnkd.in/gZFJEFSE

I’ve coached thousands of job seekers who felt lost and overwhelmed. Here are the 10 steps we start with to find the right path: 1. Your #1 Priority Clarity should be the first thing you invest in. It makes career success SO much easier (at every stage). When you have clarity, you can invest 100% of your energy into that goal. So before you start applying to jobs or grad school? Find your path. 2. The Myth Of “Passion” People think passion is a lightning bolt that suddenly hits you. One day you wake up knowing what you're supposed to do. That's BS. Passion stems from action. It's the result of trying new things. If you want to find your path? You need to act. 3. Map Out Your Ideal Lifestyle Career happiness doesn't come from a job title. It stems from the ability to meet your lifestyle needs: – Target salary – Ideal living situation – Surrounded by people you love – Work that fills your cup Start by defining all of these things. 4. Label Your Energy Next, grab a piece of paper. Make two columns: 1. Energy Creators 2. Energy Drainers Now list out every single activity, task, and project you've worked on. Label each as a creator or drainer. Your career path should be filled with energy creators. 5. Clarify Your Strengths Success is easier when your path plays to natural strengths. I recommend the High 5 Test. It's a 15 minute quiz that will define your top strengths. It'll tell you what each means and how to harness it. Talent: A natural way of thinking, feeling, behaving × Investment: Time spent practicing, developing your skills, or building a knowledge base = Strength: The ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance 6. Find People Doing "Cool" Stuff Now you've created clarity around your strengths, energy, and ideal lifestyle. Next, I want you to find people already living that life. Who has a job you admire? What jobs have seemed “cool” to you in the past? Make a list of 30+ contacts. 7. Reach Out & Learn Make a daily habit of reaching out to one person. Be honest about your situation and desire for clarity. Then make sure to build up their achievements and mention why you admire them. Here's the email template I used when I was on this journey: The Winning Template: Subject: Quick Question  Hi [Name], My name is [Your Name] and I came across your information on LinkedIn while I was looking for people who transitioned into [Industry/Field] from a non-traditional background. Your background is really impressive! I saw you do different fields and [Industry/Field] really piqued my interest. If you have a few minutes, I’d love to hear more about your journey and how you landed in your role today. I know that’s a big ask so no worries if it’s too much. I totally understand. Either way, hope you have a great rest of the week!  

RESUME REDFLAG: Trying to look impressive instead of being specific. I reviewed 20+ resumes last week. Half of them started like this: "Experienced, hardworking, passionate professional with a strong track record of delivering results in fast-paced environments." This is the resume equivalent of a fog machine. It fills the room. But you still can’t see anything. FIX IT NOW: Replace your fog with facts. Use a Highlights section. Show the real scope of what you’ve done. Like this: Environment Artist – Highlights • 5+ years across mobile + PC. • Shipped "Mobile Tactics" (mobile RTS) and contributed to "NotEVERQuest Online" (PC MMO). • Built modular kits, trim sheets, and optimized LODs in Unreal/Unity. See the difference? The first summary is FLUFF. The other is SOLID BRICK. If your resume isn’t opening doors, it’s not because of keywords. It’s because you’re not giving studios a reason to trust you. Make your resume more honest. More specific. More YOU.

I'm not brave. Even though many people think I am. An impression that arises because of my decision to quit law after almost a decade to help others build their LinkedIn personal brand + run the So This Is My Why Podcast). The path seems strange. Why would a lawyer suddenly do.... branding & podcasting? Isn't it risky? I suppose... it is. But it also isn't. Because you see, I'm not the kind of person who leaps blindly. I like to research, plan, test drive, talk to people, plan & research even more before I pull the plug. The bias to action, the lessons learned from experiment and community built along the way is what ultimately helped me take the leap. A leap that felt natural. Almost 100% risk free. And which I still do not regret. So to those wondering how they can jump from a 9-5 job to building the career of 'their dreams', here's my humble 2 cents: 1️⃣ 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 It's not enough for you to say, 'I've always loved art as a child.' Go further. What does that 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯? Do you want to become a full-time artist? Is there anyone whose career you wish to emulate? You need a North Star to head towards (but be open to circumstances changing). 2️⃣ 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐨 Build a portfolio that fits the kind of career that 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞. It's like Amazon's famous working backwards method (which I learned while still in corporate): When developing a new product, the team imagines how the product is ready to shop & drafts a press release announcing its availability. It becomes a useful gut-check on the product's viability & helps Amazon stay customer centric. So. If you want to do more than 'pursue your passion' but make it an actual career, you too need to be customer centric. And that starts with building the 'right' kind of portfolio. 3️⃣ 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲 Not too sure what you really want to do / whether it's commercially viable? Having a 9-5 job means you get to test drive without worrying about being on the streets. If announcing on LinkedIn that you are offering X services generates 10 leads and 2 conversions... surely that's a sign? 😉 4️⃣ 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭-𝐞𝐠𝐠 Most people tend to save 6 months' worth before taking the leap, but everyone's circumstances are different. You decide what's best for you. 5️⃣ 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲, 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 Make sure people around you know what you intend to do & get advice from those who've done it before. 6️⃣ 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐩 And at some point, you've got to take the risk. You never know. You might never fail. But soar instead. 😉 💌 Want a sneak peek into my life as an entrepreneur & tips on how to build your personal brand? Check out the weekly STIMY newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/gvgqYKGu

The Secret to Career Passion: What I Learnt from Getting It Wrong (and Right) — Inspired by the Hedgehog Concept Have you ever found yourself chasing one idea after another, hoping that this would be the thing that lights you up, only to feel stuck or restless again? I’ve been there more times than I can count. Early in my career, I tried following what I thought was passion — jumping into projects that sounded exciting, chasing trends, or doing what others said I should love. But each time, the excitement faded. It wasn’t until I came across Jim Collins’ Hedgehog Concept that things began to click. In his book Good to Great, Collins uses the hedgehog concept as a metaphor based on an ancient Greek parable: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." The idea is that foxes are clever and try many tactics and tricks, but they lack focus. Hedgehogs, on the other hand, do one thing extremely well — they roll into a ball of spikes and protect themselves. For me, reading this was a turning point. I realised that while the concept was designed for companies going from good to great, I could apply the same thinking to my own career and personal passion. I was acting like a fox — dabbling in different areas, trying many tactics, but without clear focus. What I needed was to find my one big thing. The Turning Points in My Journey I can point to key moments in my life where I got closer to true passion: -- When I stopped doing what looked good on paper and focused on what energised me: For me, that was creating, writing, and teaching — not just managing. -- When I accepted that mastery takes time: Early on, I wanted quick wins. But I learnt that the more I invested in developing deep expertise, the more confident and passionate I became. -- When I saw my work help others: Passion really took off when I started receiving feedback from people who said, “You made this clearer,” or “This changed how I think.” The Hedgehog Concept Explained Jim Collins describes three circles that, when they overlap, create a powerful career sweet spot: -- What are you deeply passionate about? -- What can you be the best in the world at? -- What drives your economic engine (or creates sustained value)? The intersection of these three circles is where long-term success and fulfilment live. Why Passion Follows Mastery and Service We often expect passion to lead, but it’s the result of getting good at something meaningful and seeing its positive impact. The more focused you become, the more momentum you build. My Closing Thought I didn’t find passion by waiting for it. I built it — piece by piece — by aligning curiosity, skill-building, and contribution. By applying the same focus that great companies use to go from good to great, I’ve found my path — and you can too. Start by mapping your own circles, and you might be closer than you think. #CareerMoment