The Importance of Passion

On many occasions in the past, I have written about the importance of passion when it comes to choosing a career. Make no mistake about it, pragmatic issues such as the job market, future employment prospects, average income, etc. are critically important.  i think some people make the mistake of “following their dreams” to the point of making highly unrealistic choices with their employment future.  You may love basketball and really want to be a professional basketball player, but if you are uncoordinated and 5’2″, it’s time to look elsewhere.

On the other hand, it is important to find a job in which you do have some level of passion.  Yesterday, I wrote about a lawsuit in which a woman was fired because she was “irresistibly attractive.”  Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the Iowa court’s ruling that the firing was legal, if you find that type of case to be interesting, you may really like practicing employment law.  I know that I did.

When deciding upon a future career as a lawyer, I often come back to the same suggestions.  After considering the pragmatic issues mentioned above (including whether you believe you would make a good lawyer), ask yourself if you have a passion for the career.  The law has so many different practice areas, and many people use a law school degree for something other than being a lawyer.  In addition, it is very possible that your particular interests in the legal field may change over time – mine certainly did.  But at some level ask yourself the following question:  “Does the law interest me, and does the idea of law school and being a lawyer seem exciting to me?”  The answer to that question is an important starting point in making the decision of whether or not to consider going to law school.

The advice above is simple.  But that doesn’t make it any less significant – take a moment and really think about your own personal feelings, because there truly is no right or wrong answer to the question of whether you want to go to law school.  As always, if you have questions on these issues, please feel free to email me at mark@scoreitup.com.