Career
It’s Time to Retire the Advice “Find a Job You Love”
There is a dark side and drawbacks to this common advice.
Posted November 14, 2025 Reviewed by Tyler Woods
Steve Jobs remains one of the most revered leaders, even years after his death. One of his most famous quotes, shared at a commencement ceremony at Stanford University, was, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” The ripple effect of this message extended far beyond the graduates sitting in front of him.
Since that speech more than two decades ago, it has become widely accepted that doing work we love is not only a good thing but the right thing to do. College students are encouraged to find their calling, and career coaches regularly emphasize the importance of meaningful work.
Recent research has explained that modern society has turned the enjoyment of work into a virtue. While there can be benefits to pursuing a job you love, the growing obsession with it as the best path to success is misguided. For some, following their passion leads to fulfillment. For others, it leads to unexpected challenges and disappointment.
Here are three perspectives that help explain why:
The Dark Side of Loving Work
For those who love their work, it is not all happiness and smiles. There is a real dark side to pursuing a job you love. For example, researchers Bunderson and Thompson interviewed zookeepers, a group that often describes their work as a calling. While these zookeepers found deep meaning in what they did, they were also overworked. Many sacrificed their personal time, accepted low pay, and tolerated uncomfortable or demanding conditions because of their devotion to the animals and the mission.
This issue is not limited to zookeepers. A review of related research across many jobs and industries concluded that employers may be less likely to offer incentives or other extrinsic rewards to those who appear to love their work. Meanwhile, these work-lovers often make personal sacrifices in friendships, family life, and home responsibilities in order to give so much of themselves to their jobs.
Another downside of loving your job is developing negative assumptions about people who are motivated by reasons other than passion. The cultural emphasis on “do what you love” has led many people, including hiring managers, to see alternative motivations as less legitimate. Rationally, we know that most people work at least in part for their salary. Yet researchers have shown that many people hold a “motivation purity bias,” meaning they think less of those who openly acknowledge their extrinsic motivations based on the belief that motivation should only come from loving the work itself.
For example, in their research, Professors Derfler-Rozin and Pitesa found that job candidates who asked about pay in an interview were about 20 percent less likely to be recommended for hire, because recruiters assumed they were less passionate about the work. Not only is this unfair to the candidates, but it is also inaccurate. People can hold multiple motivations for the same things.
What We Love Changes
A former student of mine had a job she loved in her twenties, one that involved helping create and run some of the largest musical performances and festivals. Yet as she grew older, the once-in-a-lifetime concerts became less exciting. She found herself feeling jaded by the experience and craving calmer nights and weekends.
Her experience is not unique. We often assume that what we love today is what we will continue to love in the future. Yet research shows that our perception of happiness shifts as our lives change. For example, one research study found that younger people experience a significant happiness boost from extraordinary experiences. As we get older, however, ordinary experiences can generate the same lift in happiness as extraordinary ones. In other words, as YOLO loses its appeal, so might the job you loved at one point.
In addition to the possibility that what we love changes over time, turning a passion into our job can also shift how much we enjoy it. For example, one study showed that it can be difficult to sustain passion for work because using our passion day after day can leave us feeling emotionally exhausted. And as my research has shown, exhaustion limits how empowered we feel at work. As a result, many employees who begin their careers doing something they love, such as teachers and nurses, later find themselves feeling disconnected from what once inspired them.
Happiness Doesn’t Always Feel Happy
A hard truth is that happiness does not always feel happy. Psychologists describe this difference through the concepts of hedonic and eudaimonic happiness. Hedonic happiness is what most people tend to picture when they think of happiness: comfort, enjoyment, smiles, and low stress. Eudaimonic happiness, on the other hand, comes from fulfillment, growth, and doing things that matter.
Hedonic happiness often takes a hit when we begin work each day. For example, researchers Bryson and MacKerron analyzed data from 20,000 people and found that happiness dropped sharply when people started working. This drop was even larger than the dip people experienced while commuting, doing chores, managing finances, or waiting in line. Yet at the same time, we know that unemployment is one of the strongest predictors of low well-being.
In other words, work is an important source of eudaimonic happiness, even if it doesn't always lead to hedonic happiness. While work might not bring the same joy as a lazy day reading a book on the beach, it offers a different kind of fulfillment that matters for our overall well-being. The value of work is not limited to how happy we feel in the moment but also includes structure, purpose, and the broader ways it supports our lives, including the stability and financial resources we rely on for ourselves and our families. This eudaimonic happiness can come from work we love, but it can also come from work that is less joyful yet provides opportunities for growth or purpose.
In conclusion, much of my recent research has focused on the importance of treating employees with dignity and respect. While the advice to find a job you love is well-intentioned, it is not always the right path. And we should not treat those who choose alternative paths as doing something wrong. There is great honor and dignity in doing work for many reasons beyond loving your job.
