"Urging people to find their passion may lead them to put all their eggs in one basket but then to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry."

Your passion isn’t out there, waiting to be discovered. It’s not a mysterious force that will—when found—remove all obstacles from your path. In fact, psychologists argue in a new study that the pithy mantra “find your passion” may be a dangerous distraction.

IOW, "be methodical about being flexible".

IMPLICIT THEORIES OF INTEREST (Pdf)

Abstract

People are often told to find their passion as though passions and interests are pre-formed and must simply be discovered. This idea, however, has hidden motivational implications. Five studies examined implicit theories of interest—the idea that personal interests are relatively fixed (fixed theory) or developed (growth theory). Whether assessed or experimentally induced, a fixed theory was more likely to dampen interest in areas outside people’s existing interests (Studies 1–3). Those endorsing a fixed theory were also more likely to anticipate boundless motivation when passions were found, not anticipating possible difficulties (Study 4). Moreover, when engaging in a new interest became difficult, interest flagged significantly more for people induced to hold a fixed than a growth theory of interest (Study 5). Urging people to find their passion may lead them to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry.

Discussion about some studies

After watching a popular science video about black holes, most students were fascinated. Then they read a challenging scientific article about the same topic, which caused students’ interest to drop. This drop, however, was greater for students in the fixed-theory condition than the growth-theory condition. Moreover, among students who found the article difficult to understand, those in the fixed-theory condition expressed less interest in the topic than those in the growth-theory condition. Study 4 found that students with a stronger fixed theory were less likely to anticipate difficulties in pursuing passions. Study 5 found that inducing a fixed theory led students to discount a newfound interest more definitively upon exposure to challenging content. Difficulty may have signaled that it was not their interest after all. Taken together, those endorsing a growth theory may have more realistic beliefs about the pursuit of interests, which may help them sustain engagement as material becomes more complex and challenging.