The right way to follow your passion. By Brad Stulberg.

Passion can be a gift or a curse.

1 Passion can be an energizing, fulfilling force, the stuff upon which businesses are built, works of art
are created and Olympic medals are won. However, if you’re not careful, passion can become an equally
destructive curse, leading to suffering and distress. Understanding how this happens — and how you
can prevent it — is integral to mental well-being and living productively with passion.

2 We don’t celebrate stories of passion gone awry, but look closely and they’re all around. It usually
goes something like this: You start an activity and develop a love for it, so you do it more often. Over
time you improve and begin to experience positive results. You receive praise, recognition and rewards.
Subtly, maybe without even realizing it, you start to become more passionate about the external
validation you gain from doing the activity than the activity itself.

3 Psychologists distinguish between these two sides of passion, what they call harmonious passion
versus obsessive passion. In harmonious passion, you are absorbed in an activity because you love how
the activity itself makes you feel. A harmoniously passionate writer writes because he or she loves the
craft. In obsessive passion, you are hooked on an activity because of external rewards and recognition.
An obsessively passionate writer writes because he or she wants to boast about published stories and
attain best-seller status.

4 Research shows that obsessive passion is associated with burnout, anxiety, depression and unethical
conduct. One reason for this is that people who are obsessively passionate tie their self-worth to
outcomes that are often outside their control. Being passionate about — or, perhaps better put, a slave
to — the achievement of an external result that you cannot control creates a volatile and fragile sense
of self. The consequences are often disastrous.

5 Jeff Skilling, of Enron, and Elizabeth Holmes, of Theranos, oversaw two of the biggest corporate
frauds in recent American history. Before the scandal-ridden downfalls of their companies, both were
widely celebrated for their passion and obsessive drive, something Ms. Holmes said was a most
important asset. Alex Rodriguez and Lance Armstrong, two of the most notorious cheaters in sports,
were also two of the most passionate competitors. When asked by Forbes for his top three pieces of
career advice, No. 1 on Rodriguez’s list was “find your passion.” What all of these individuals have in
common is that their passions went awry because of an incessant focus on results, results, results. When
the results weren’t meeting their exceedingly high expectations, they turned to unethical behavior to
close the gap.

6 Even if you experience legitimate success, as each of these entrepreneurs and sports heroes initially
did, if the success is the outcome of obsessive passion — fueled by a longing for external results,
recognition and rewards — trouble lies ahead. That’s because people typically crave more. More
money. More fame. More medals. More followers. Once you become passionate about external
validation, dopamine, the neurochemical associated with striving and addiction, floods your system and
makes it nearly impossible for you to feel content. You get sucked into a vicious cycle of striving, your
well-being at the whims of your most recent result. Long before psychologists defined obsessive
passion, the Buddha called this suffering.

7 Unless you have the perfect genetics, vast mental training or years of spiritual guidance, completely
disregarding external results isn’t realistic. Every athlete gets a jolt from winning. Every writer feels
good when books sell. Every salesperson loves closing a deal. Even Facebook and Twitter users get a
slight tingle upon receiving a new friend, follower or “like.” The key is to recognize these emotions
when they arise and to keep them at bay, to prevent them from becoming the predominant forces
underlying your passion.
8 When you sit down to write, sit down to write, not to sell books. When you show up to work, show
up to make a meaningful contribution, not to get promoted or earn bonuses. When you train and
compete, do so to get better, to master your body, not to win awards or improve in the rankings. When
you love — be it a partner or a child — do so to nurture a special relationship between yourself and the
object of your affection, not because you want to chronicle your relationship on social media for all to
see. In other words, your passion should not come from the outside. It should come from within.

9 This kind of passion, the harmonious kind, is associated with health, happiness and overall life
satisfaction. Harmonious passion doesn’t happen automatically, especially in today’s hyper-connected,
comparison-oriented culture. Rather, it requires viewing passion as an ongoing practice, as a force that
must be handled with care.

10 A few linchpins of this practice can be particularly helpful:

● Don’t judge yourself against others. Judge yourself against prior versions of yourself and the
effort you are exerting in the present moment.

● Practice the 24-hour rule. After a big achievement or a tough failure, give yourself 24 hours to
celebrate the success or grieve the defeat, but then get back to work. Doing the work has a special
way of putting both success and failure in their respective places.

● Focus on process over outcomes. Evaluate yourself not on whether you accomplish an external
end-goal but rather on how well you execute the process of going for it. Results make up only a
small fraction of life. The vast majority of life is the process.

● Embrace acute failure for chronic gains. If you take the long view and focus on a lifetime of
progress instead of point-in-time results, then failure shifts from being something terrible to a
source of rich information and an opportunity to grow.

● Regularly reflect on your overarching purpose. Thinking about why you got started with your
passion in the first place helps keep intrinsic motivation at the forefront of your pursuit.

11 Put simply: Passion can be a gift or a curse. The good news is that the form it takes is largely up to
you.

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Tenor
Relative status: Is of inequality because the author chooses the topic of discussion and leaves no
room for the reader to disagree.
Social distance: Social distance in the text is near maximum. The writer uses personalization to draw
attention to the reader, but he never addresses the audience directly. The overall language of this text
is formal with some instances of informality such as the presence of
Contractions throughout the whole text such as “you’re” in p.1, “weren’t” in p.5 and “isn’t” in p.7
Informal language such as “hooked on” in p.3
Terms of address: “Jeff Skilling, Elizabeth Holmes, Alex Rodriguez, Lance Armstrong” in p.5
Elliptical language:
p.7 “Unless you have”
p.9 “is associated with”
p.6 “That’s because people typically crave more. More money. More fame. More medals. More
followers”
.The writer uses personalization, informal language, terms of address and elliptical language to
deliberately attempt to make himself appear closer to the readers, perhaps to persuade them in favor of
what he is saying

Personalization: The writer doesn’t draw attention to himself. Instead he draws attention to the
readers by the use of the personal pronoun “you” throughout the whole text. He also uses the pronoun
“we” in p.3 to create a feeling of solidarity between him and the readers, and also to position the
audience as agreeing, making it difficult for them to disagree. He also uses directives in p.8 “sit down
to write” and in p.11 when he gives advice “Don’t judge yourself”, “Practice the 24-hour rule”, etc.

Standing: The author builds a strong standing and shows his expertise and authority on the subject by
introducing external sources to back up what he is saying. As seen in paragraph 3 (psychologists), p.4
(research), in p.5 he uses two different business people and athletes to prove his point. He also makes
strong statements such as “passion can become an equally destructive curse, leading to suffering and
distress” in p.1, “obsessive passion is associated with burnout, anxiety, depression and unethical
conduct.” in p.4
He comes across as being in a position to tell other people what to do, as seen in p.10 where he gives
the readers advice on how to pursue their passion in a healthy way.

Stance: The writer is certain that what he is saying is true and sustains his point of view with external
sources, leaving no room for the reader to disagree with him. Instead, he tries to spark conversation
and make the reader re-think about the topic.

Attitude: His attitude is negative towards what he calls “obsessive passion” and positive towards
“harmonious passion”.
Lexical choices:
Towards obsessive passion: curse (p.1), slave to, burnout, anxiety and depression (p.4), awry (p2, p5),
hooked on (p.3).
Towards harmonious passion: health, happiness, satisfaction (p.9), gift (p.11)
Asserted attitudes:
“Passion can be a gift or a curse”
p.6 “Even if you experience legitimate success (...) if the success is the outcome of obsessive passion
(...) trouble lies ahead.”
Assumed attitudes: p.7 Every athlete gets a jolt from winning. Every writer feels good when books
sell. Every salesperson loves closing a deal. Even Facebook and Twitter users get a slight tingle upon
receiving a new friend, follower or “like.”
Triggered attitudes: Passion can have a negative or positive impact on ourselves but it is up to us to
decide how it will affect us.

Modality
Epistemic modality: maybe (p.2), perhaps (p.4)
Deontic modality: can (3 times p.1, p.10, p.11), cannot (p.4), should not, should (p.8), must (p.9)
Sentences
Topic sentences:
p.4 “Research shows that obsessive passion is associated with burnout, anxiety, depression and
unethical conduct”
p.7 “Unless you have the perfect genetics, vast mental training or years of spiritual guidance,
completely disregarding external results isn’t realistic”
Bullet points - todos tienen topic sentence.

Context modulator:
p.6 “Once you become passionate about external validation, dopamine, the neurochemical associated
with striving and addiction, floods your system and makes it nearly impossible for you to feel
content.”
p.9 “Harmonious passion doesn’t happen automatically, especially in today’s hyper-connected,
comparison-oriented culture”

Transitional:
p.2 “Subtly, maybe without even realizing it, you start to become more passionate about the external
validation you gain from doing the activity than the activity itself.”
p.7 “The key is to recognize these emotions when they arise and to keep them at bay, to prevent them
from becoming the predominant forces underlying your passion.”

Definitions and collocations

Awry: away from the usual or expected course; amiss. Not in the correct position, especially not
straight or tidy.

Hooked on: if you are hooked on something, you find it so attractive or interesting that you want to
do it as much as possible. If you are hooked on drugs, you cannot stop taking them

Boast: Talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one's achievements, possessions, or
abilities.
Collocations:
Reporting verb followed by prep: about of.
(with object) You can boast a spirit, a business, a flavor, a location, features.

Attain: to achieve something, especially after a lot of work.

Collocations:
Nouns: success, proficiency, enlightenment.
Noun phrases: your goals, the highest level of achievement, the age/ rank of.
Adjectives: easy, difficult, hard to attain.

Burnout: Physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress.

Collocations:
Adj: emotional, physical, personal, mental
Verbs: suffer from, cope with, collapse from, be prone/predisposed to.

Volatile: Liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse.
Collocations:
Nouns: time, situations, conditions, prices, businesses, events, danger, movements, life, world.
Fueled by: Sustain or inflame (an intense feeling).
Collocations:
Nouns: by fear,

Strive: to try very hard to do something or to make something happen, especially for a long time or
against difficulties.
Collocations:
Adverbs: to strive hard, mightily, desperately, earnestly | always, constantly, continually striving.
Prepositional phrases: after striving after artistic beauty | against man striving against the elements |
for The school constantly strives for excellence in its teaching. | towards companies that strive
towards bigger profits

Whim: a sudden feeling that you must have or must do something. This word often suggests that what
someone wants is not important.
Collocations:
You can be at someone’s whim - Prisoners were executed at the captain’s whim.
You can be on a whim - On a whim, she decided to move to Paris.

Jolt: a sudden strong feeling that does not last long, especially one of surprise or fear.
Collocations:
Prep: A jolt of surprise/happiness/awe/apprehension/alarm.
Verbs: feel, cause, get, react with, (sth) sends a jolt of, give.

At bay: to prevent something serious, dangerous, or unpleasant from affecting you.

Chronicle: Record (a series of events) in a factual and detailed way.

Collocations:
Nouns: an experience, life, events, trips, adventures, news.

Linchpin: a person or thing that is essential to a group, organization, system, or plan.

Collocations:
Prep: The linchpin to maintaining worker safety and efficiency is preplanning.
Nurses are the linchpin of the National Health Service.

Exert: to use influence, authority, or power in order to affect or achieve something.

Collocations:
Nouns: influence, pressure, control, effort, force.

Acute: (of an unpleasant or unwelcome situation or phenomenon) present or experienced to a severe

or intense degree.
(of a disease or its symptoms) severe but of short duration. Often contrasted with chronic.
Nouns: problem, shortage, crisis, situations, pressures.

Chronic: (of a problem) long-lasting and very difficult to resolve.

(of an illness) persisting for a long time or constantly recurring.
Nouns: shortage, need, problem, deficit, change, illness, unemployment, condition, incompetence,
fever, fatigue.
Sucked into: Involve (someone) in something without their choosing

Forefront: the most noticeable or important position.

Verbs: remain at/in, come into/ to, bring sb/sth, thrust sb/sth into/to the forefront.
Prepositions: at/ in the forefront (of).
Phrases: at/in/to the forefront of sb’s mind

Activities
1) Explain the difference between harmonious and obsessive passion.
2) Explain how syntax is manipulated in p.7. Account for its effectiveness.
3) Identify the rhetorical devices used in “Passion can be a gift or a curse”. Account for their
effectiveness.
4) Account for the meanings at work in:
p.3 “hooked on”
p.4 “volatile”

1) The author presents two kinds of passion: harmonious and obsessive. The author explains that people
who have a harmonious passion feel pleasure and joy while performing a certain activity, regardless of
the results or rewards that it may bring. Their passion makes them feel content and satisfied. However,
those who have an obsessive passion only focus on external validation and recompenses, instead of how
the activity itself makes them feel. Obsessive passion leads these individuals to experience feelings of
depression and anxiety, since their self-worth is measured only in terms of external results, which they
have no control over.

2) The author uses anaphora. Through the repetition of the parallel openers “every” the writer creates
an accumulative effect to emphasize that all of us are subject to the incessant need for external
validation. We are taught to celebrate recognition and praise. But it is up to us to avoid being dependent
on these feelings.

3) The rhetorical device used is antithesis. The author uses parallelism to stress contrast between the
antonyms “gift” and “curse”. With this contrast the writer conveys the idea that passion can be a two-
sided force. To some people it may bring joy and pleasure, giving purpose and fulfillment to their lives.
While at the other end of the spectrum, others may experience it as a daunting challenge that they will
never accomplish, causing feelings of misery and distress.
*Daunting: Seeming difficult to deal with in prospect; intimidating.

4) Connotative meaning is at work in the term “hooked on”. Uncomplimentary associations are
clustered around this item, evoking the notions of addiction, dependency and obsession. The author
uses this term to emphasize that obsessive passionate people are so devoted and absorbed by their
passion and external validation that their behaviour can be compared to that of drug abuse. Affective
meaning is also involved in “hooked on”, since it gives the reader the hint that the writer is against
obsessive passion. The feelings evoked are those of disapproval and rejection.

Connotative meaning is at work in the term “volatile”. Uncomplimentary associations are clustered
around it, evoking the notions of instability, change and unpredictability. The author uses this term to
emphasize that measuring self-worth on external rewards and opinions is harmful to people’s
confidence. People should not be dependent on external opinions that may vary and change, because
this diminishes their confidence and self-worth. Reflected meaning is also at work since this item is
primarily used to talk about substances.