Conclusion #1: Career Passions Are Rare
职业激情很少见
In 2002, a research team led by the Canadian psychologist Robert J.Vallerand administered an extensive questionnaire to a group of 539Canadian university students. The questionnaire’s prompts were designed toanswer two important questions:Do these students have passions? And if so,what are they?
At the core of the passion hypothesis is the assumption that we all havepre-existing passions waiting to be discovered.
只有不到4%的学生认为激情可以和职业或教育扯上关系。
This experiment puts thatassumption to the test. Here’s what it found: 84 percent of the studentssurveyed were identified as having a passion.In fact, less than 4percent of the total identified passions had any relation to work or education,with the remaining 96 percent describing hobby-style interests such as sportsand art.
Conclusion #2: Passion Takes Time
激情需要时间
Amy Wrzesniewski, a professor of organizational behavior at YaleUniversity, has made a career studying how people think about their work.
Her breakthrough paper, published in the Journal of Research in Personalitywhile she was still a graduate student, explores the distinction between a job,a career, and a calling.
A job, in Wrzesniewski’s formulation, is a way topay the bills, a career is a path toward increasingly better work, and a callingis work that’s an important part of your life and a vital part of your identity.
Wrzesniewski surveyed employees from a variety of occupations, fromdoctors to computer programmers to clerical workers, and found that mostpeople strongly identify their work with one of these three categories.
最幸福的人不是在职场总追随自己激情的人，而是那些花了很长时间在其职业上变得卓越的人。
InWrzesniewski’s research, the happiest, most passionate employees are notthose who followed their passion into a position, but instead those who havebeen around long enough to become good at what they do. On reflection, thismakes sense. If you have many years’ experience, then you’ve had time toget better at what you do and develop a feeling of efficacy. It also gives youtime to develop strong relationships with your coworkers and to see manyexamples of your work benefiting others.
Conclusion #3: Passion Is a Side Effect of Mastery
激情是掌握的副作用
SDT（Self-Determination Theory）tells us that motivation, in the workplace or elsewhere, requires thatyou fulfill three basic psychological needs—factors described as the“nutriments” required to feel intrinsically motivated for your work:
对工作有控制权
Autonomy: the feeling that you have control over your day, and that
your actions are important
Autonomy [ɔː'tɒnəmɪ]n.自治，自治权
擅长自己所做
Competence: the feeling that you are good at what you do
Competence['kɒmpɪt(ə)ns]n.能力，胜任；
与他人有联系
Relatedness: the feeling of connection to other people
Relatedness[rɪ'letɪdnɪs] n.关联性；关系
The last need is the least surprising: If you feel close to people at work,you’re going to enjoy work more.
It’s the first two needs that prove moreinteresting. It’s clear, for example, that autonomy and competence are related.
当你做的更好，你不仅能体会到成就感，也能体会到掌控感。
In most jobs, as you become better at what you do, not only do you get thesense of accomplishment that comes from being good, but you’re typicallyalso rewarded with more control over your responsibilities.
These results helpexplain Amy Wrzesniewski’s findings: Perhaps one reason that moreexperienced assistants enjoyed their work was because it takes time to buildthe competence and autonomy that generates this enjoyment.
In other words, working right trumps finding the right work.
总之就是，做好工作比找好工作更重要。
