Should Passion Belong in Business?

I have heard this so often when it comes to old heads giving sage advice to young folks.

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“Follow your passion.” "Find something you love and then do it." "If you love what you do, you’ll never have a bad day." etc.

It sounds inspiring. It looks great on a graduation card.

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But here’s the part no one talks about:

When your livelihood depends on your passion succeeding as a business… your passion can turn against you…and you may end up hating it.

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Deadlines replace joy.

Margins replace meaning.

Customers replace creativity.

Pressure replaces play.

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When something you once loved becomes responsible for paying your mortgage, feeding your family, and covering payroll — it can quietly turn from passion into pressure.

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That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t build a business around something you care about. It means you should be clear-eyed:

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Passion is fuel.

But business runs on discipline, structure, pricing, and resilience.

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Sometimes the better path isn’t “follow your passion.”

It’s “build something sustainable — and protect your passion.”

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Curious — have you seen passion thrive in business… or burn out because of it?