Episode 574: Why Passion Won't Lead to Success

Summary

Episode Overview

Title: Why Passion Won't Lead to Success
Podcast: Habits and Hustle
Host: Jennifer Cohen
Episode: 574
Date: July 24, 2026

In this candid and thought-provoking episode, Jennifer Cohen dispels the popular notion that “following your passion” is the key to success. Instead, she advocates for the value of following one’s effort—pouring energy into areas where consistent work leads to growth, mastery, and ultimately, the freedom to pursue passions on one's own terms. The conversation explores the difference between passion and proficiency, the risk of turning hobbies into work, and the importance of leaning into strengths as a career strategy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Myth of "Follow Your Passion"

• Jennifer Cohen opens the episode challenging the widespread advice to “follow your passion,” questioning whether passion is a reliable foundation for career success.
  • She highlights how well-meaning advice from successful individuals can mislead people into conflating passion and professional fulfillment.
  • Quote:
    • “I think what we should be doing is following our effort. Because wherever our effort is, is where we build reps. And the more reps we have in something, the more time we put into something, the better we get at that thing. And that is where we really kind of find our success.” (A, 02:10)

The Pressure to Make Passion Your Paycheck

• Cohen points out that modern culture puts immense pressure on everyone to make their career something they absolutely love, but this isn’t realistic or even necessary for fulfillment.
  • She references a previous podcast with Professor Scott Galloway ("Prof G") who noted many of the world’s wealthiest people didn’t get rich by following passion projects, but by working in industries or opportunities others might find unglamorous.
  • Quote:
    • “If you really talk to the people who are the most successful people in the world... they made their money in metal, in the mines, in doing things that aren't very sexy, that aren't the jobs, the sexy entrepreneurial hashtag Y. Things that are Googled a bazillion times.” (A, 03:31)

Separating Work and Hobby

• The conversation delves into why turning hobbies into careers can often backfire, resulting in burnout and loss of enjoyment.
  • Guest (B) shares:
    • “If your hobby is your work, there can be the case where, like, you end up not liking your hobby anymore because it becomes work... you kind of like ruin that pleasure for yourself.” (B, 06:36)
• Cohen reflects on personal experience:
  • “When I was hardcore in the fitness business... the one thing I loved the most in life was exercise and fitness and movement. And when I was doing it as my career, it became so too much for me where I was like, I’m over this.” (A, 07:04)

The Power of Effort and Strengths

• Cohen emphasizes the importance of focusing on what you are naturally good at—which tends to align with where one expends the most effort.
  • Memorable Moment:
    • “A lot of times, we actually naturally gravitate to the things that we're better at, that we're good at... that effort is very, very much usually in line with where your strengths lie anyway. And if we do that and we follow that, success will follow.” (A, 04:42)
  • The discussion concludes with the idea that pursuing what you’re skilled at can provide material freedom to enjoy your passions outside of work time.
    • “Doing what you're good at can absolutely get you what you want. And not like, just because you love fishing and just because you love video games. That's your passion... Leave that as your hobby and your passion. That's okay. And I promise you, you'll be able to do those things more if you lean into what you're actually good at too, for the other stuff.” (A, 08:57)

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Notable Quotes

• “We are giving people a false sense of reality when we just say these very overarching Pollyannic lines like, just follow what you love and that will be enough. No, it will not. Not always. It can. But I think a better strategy is to follow where your effort is.” (A, 04:15)
• “The award ceremony speech phenomenon is what I used to call it... this crazy famous actor telling you to, like, chase your dreams... that's where we get all these, like, sort of starving musician and artists that come to LA and have this, you know, delusion that everyone can make it. And listen, if you can't live without chasing your passion, okay, fine. But I think a lot of people can also...” (B, 05:58)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:10 - Jennifer outlines why “follow your effort” is a superior career strategy
• 03:31 - Referencing Scott Galloway’s comments about where real wealth is created
• 07:04 - Jennifer’s personal story of burnout from turning a passion into a career
• 08:57 - Reflections on the value of keeping some passions as hobbies

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Conclusion

This episode of Habits and Hustle offers a counter-narrative to “follow your passion” by emphasizing the importance of focused effort, self-awareness, and playing to personal strengths. Through candid stories and practical advice, Jennifer Cohen reframes success as the product of discipline and aptitude—not just unbridled passion—reminding listeners that it’s okay to keep some hobbies “just for you.”

Transcript

[A]

Hi, guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits and Hustle. Crush it. Before we get into today's episode, I want to take a moment to talk about something that changed how I think about skincare, and that's Peak. Because here's what nobody tells you. You could spend a fortune on serums and creams and still look tired. And then you start to actually wonder maybe your skin is just done. But the real reason is that your cells are dehydrated and inflamed underneath. So nothing you put on top is actually going to. You're just treating the surface when the problem is way deeper. And that's why I love Peak's radiant skin duo. You take the sun goddess Matcha in the morning to detox, calm inflammation and turn your glow back on from the inside. And then their BT fountain beauty electrolytes throughout the day. This is luxury hydration with cermicides and hyaluronic acid that actually repairs your skin barrier at the cellular level so your skin just drinks it up. They both come in these sachets, making it super simple to add into your daily routine and just add it into your water. They taste great and you know exactly the right amount every time. There's no measuring, no thinking about it. And for someone who's running around all the time, that's a lot. So I'm telling you, it is fantastic. Right now, peak is offering 20% off for life plus free gifts. So you have to go to www.peaklife.com Jennifer SD to grab the radiant skin duo. The link is in the show notes. But once Again, to get 20% off, you must go to www.p I q u e l I f e.com Jennifer SD to grab the radio Skin Duo now. Okay, you guys, this is a topic I really wanted to dive into today, which is this idea of following your passion. You know, I think a lot of times successful people tell other people that they should be following their passion when really, in my opinion, I think what we should be doing is following our effort. Because wherever our effort is, is where we build reps. And the more reps we have in something, the more time we put into something, the better we get at that thing. And that is where we really kind of find our success. You know, I don't know where the lines got blurred, where it became this idea that, that we have to have our job and our career, be what we're the most passionate about. You know, I love watching documentaries, let's say on Netflix, but I'm not making a living doing that because otherwise I'd be broke, right. I wouldn't make any money doing that. Right. But if I did something that I was good at and made money for that, I can then use that to pursue my hobbies, which is my passions. Like, I don't think the two have to necessarily be connected. If they are, then great. But a lot of times it's not. And I think there's a lot of pressure on people, and I think to have to do that because it's so much in the conversation, it's so much in the zeitgeist. But, you know, the funny thing is I did speak about this. I had a podcast with this guy named. Well, I'm sure you guys may have listened to it with Professor Galloway, Prof. G. And he. He's so accurate when he talks about this part because he says that, you know, if you really talk to the people who are the most successful people in the world, the multi billionaires, multimillionaires, they made their money in metal, in the mines, in doing things that aren't very sexy, that aren't the jobs, the sexy entrepreneurial hashtag Y. Things that are Googled a bazillion times. It's places where they made a lot of money, but it gave them the opportunity with that money, right, to do all these other things that they love to do. And I think that happens with. In real life, I think that happens. I think that we are giving people a sense, a false sense of reality when we just say these very overarching Pollyannic lines like, just follow what you love and that will be enough. No, it will not. Not always. It can. But I think a better strategy is to follow where your effort is and see where you're putting in the time. And wherever that is, you will get stronger and better at it. And that should be what you end up doing. And like I said, a lot of times, like, we sometimes actually naturally gravitate to the things that we're better at, that we're good at. I did that with my life and my career, my entire life. And I zigzagged everywhere, right? I was in fitness, I was in music, I was in sports, I was in media training. But the one through line that I had with everything was that I leaned on the things I was good at. And it took me in a lot of different directions, but I found, eventually found my way and it evolved over time and. And I believe that's what people should do. So when they are following their effort, they will notice and you will notice that that effort is very, very much usually in line with where your strengths lie anyway. And if we do that and we follow that, success will follow.

[B]

I love that. I think it's really important. I was gonna bring it up on the execution idea episode of the exact opposite thing that we were talking about with really mundane businesses that just crush and do really well and have great execution, like car washes and like, those kind of things like, that people would consider boring and maybe not someone's passion, but they allow that person to go travel, to go do all these things that they want to do to provide for their family, create generational wealth. It's like, insane. It's the award ceremony speech phenomenon is what I used to call it back in the day, where it's like everyone that's this crazy famous actor telling you to, like, chase your dreams and then they just get all. That's where we get all these, like, sort of starving musician and artists that come to LA and have this, you know, delusion that everyone can make it. And listen, if you can't live without chasing your passion, okay, fine. But I think a lot of people can also. The other thing that happens is if your hobby is your work, there can be the case where, like, you end up not liking your hobby anymore because it becomes work, it becomes not enjoyable, so you kind of like ruin that pleasure for yourself.

[A]

So that's a good point. No, I was going to say happens

[B]

to me all the time.

[A]

It happened to me so many. So when I was hardcore in the fitness business, like, I was, like, really doing a lot of personal training and I was doing that hour after hour because I went into that, you know, I quit all these other career paths and then I followed fitness. And then what happened was I got burnt out and I ended up not liking it anymore because I made my passion and my hobby my actual career. I was really tired of it. I got super burned out and I ended up leaving it for a bunch of years and went into media training because I just, like, didn't want to work out anymore. Like, the one thing I loved the most in life was exercise and fitness and movement. And when I was doing it as my career, it became so too much for me where I was like, I'm over this. I am like, you know, peace out. I'm going to do something different. And I did that for many years. But then I got back into the health and fitness space. I reintroduced it to my life in a different way. Not the way I was. I thought my passion was right. I thought, because I love to work out, that if I just work out with people, that's what I should be doing. But really I took that idea and I rejigged it. And I loved the business of fitness and figure out a way to work within. In the. The confines of fitness and health and all that other things and wellness, but in a different way. That was something I was suited for, where I kept on like, leaning into, because that was where I was naturally. I naturally gravitated to the different businesses that I could build within the fitness business and not do it as the daily workout situation. So I just feel like I'm a big believer in chasing what you want, but I'm also a big believer in chasing what you're good at because that will follow what you want. They're very connected, what you're good at and what you want. They're very closely tied.

[B]

Yeah. Doing what you're good at can help you get what you want.

[A]

Doing what you're good at can absolutely get you with what you want. And not like, just because you love fishing and just because you love video games. That's your passion. You love swimming, whatever it is, leave that as your hobby and your passion. That's okay. And I promise you, you'll be able to do those things more if you lean into what you're actually good at too. For the other stuff.

[B]

I like that. That was great. It's good.

[A]

Bye. Thank you. Thank you.