The long-term effects could be profound. Over the course of your life, a fixed mindset might lead you to continue searching for the “perfect” job that immediately lights and maintains your interest, while you neglect all the other possibilities potentially in front of you if only you put the work in to cultivate those passions. By leading us to focus on narrow interests, the fixed mindset might also prevent us from seeing connections between disciplines – so that you lack the cross-pollination that leads to greater creativity.
Nurture that seed
O’Keefe’s results broadly align with some of Chen’s own research on “implicit theories” of passion. She found that the majority of people are “fit theorists” – like the people with the fixed mindset, they think that passion comes from finding the right career and the right workplace; only around 30% are “develop theorists”, who think that passion grows over time.
Chen points out that both can lead to professional fulfilment – a “fit theorist” might find their right job straightaway. But if you keep moving from workplace to workplace without much passion, it could be worth considering whether your mindset is preventing you from cultivating the interest and enthusiasm that could make your job so much more rewarding. Focusing on your work’s value to society, following inspiring mentors and making a special effort to develop your own expertise are all ways that might help to make work feel more meaningful, igniting a sense of passion, she says.
Given these findings, O’Keefe thinks we should move beyond the idea of “finding your passion” – as if there is one secret, perfect job you just need to discover, and that you would know that immediately. “Almost every commencement speech says, ‘find your passion’ or ‘do what you love’,” he says. “But the audience might not understand that if you don’t like something at first, it can take time for these things to develop… It’s not really this thing that just magically happens.”
With the right mindset, however, a small seed of interest could one day grow into the kind of passion that energises the whole of your life.
David Robson is the author of The Intelligence Trap, which examines our most common thinking errors and how to escape them. He is @d_a_robson on Twitter.
