When many people are looking for a job, bosses often say, "Based on your interests..." What I want to ask is how should we judge our own interests?

First of all, you need to understand what "interest" is.

Interest and enjoyment are different. Enjoyment is something that everyone likes, such as delicious food, luxury homes, and travel.

Take tourism as an example. Many people will say "My hobby is traveling." Okay, then let me ask you, do you like to go out for a walk after work, stay in luxury hotels, bask in the beaches, see famous mountains and rivers, or go shopping in American outlets, or do you prefer to take a lot of photos? What about the kind of travel that allows people to appreciate photos, come back and write travel notes that can be referenced by others, or even go on an adventurous journey in search of new discoveries?

I believe that the vast majority of people will choose the former. We don't call the former interest. We call it enjoyment.

Only the latter qualifies as interest. The so-called interest means that you are willing to pay for it (rather than get it). It is to actively output rather than passively receive. It is a process of mobilizing all your intelligence, ability, and energy to the highest level while engaging in an activity, and giving positive feedback to the outside world.

Many people say that their hobby is music, but how many people actually play musical instruments and compose their own music? You know, when you play the guitar, you will grind your fingers until they hurt; composing music requires you to study music theory knowledge. Very few people can do it. They just downloaded some songs on their mobile phones and iPads, listened to them and hummed them, and thought they were interested.

And you have to know that only if an activity rises to the level of interest I mentioned earlier, can this activity bring you income - because your income means your The effort paid off. Only when you have income can you say that you are engaged in this work.

So, the best way to determine where your interests lie is to see what activities you are willing and able to provide sustained output. "Willing" and "able" are indispensable. If you don’t have the corresponding abilities, you won’t be able to engage in this hobby, let alone turn it into a job.

Example: You think your interest is music. However, you are neither capable of playing nor composing music. At this time, are you willing to devote all your spare time to learning to play and compose? If you are willing, and your ability and talent support you to continue to do so, then congratulations, you have not only acquired an interest, but also turned it into a potential job that you can "do from the heart." .

But what if you are too lazy to use your spare time to learn this or that? Do you just want to come home from get off work and lie down lazily listening to music? Sorry, this can't be called your interest, nor can you turn it into a job that you can do.

"The so-called income is a measure of the value that society places on you."

————"Gargantia of the Emerald Star"

From ZhiQ user: Little Elf

Face your true inner desires. To expand, there are roughly two dimensions to "face one's inner desires": "dare to face it" and "have the ability to face it". I once worked in finance-related jobs and met many people who claimed that they liked the financial industry (finance is a very broad industry, so I won’t go into detail here, it’s just a proxy). For them, a friend has a classic saying: No one really loves finance, they just love everything associated with finance. (The general idea is: No one really loves finance, they just like everything associated with finance.) Although this sentence is somewhat Absolutely (there are indeed people who love trading, researching financial products, and matching mergers and acquisitions...they live and breathe their job), but it highlights a phenomenon: many times what we love is not the thing itself, but what the thing can bring. Something else. But there's nothing wrong with that. If you like to work and communicate with smart people, are willing to grow up in a high-pressure environment, and are willing to observe the basic operating laws of the world through the flow of money; even if you like high income and like to travel, you will choose first-class, business-class, five-star hotels, etc. The aura that society has given to this profession will bring you the relaxation and respect. Welcome to the financial industry. The things listed above are all very "beautiful" things in nature. There is nothing shameful about liking beautiful things. Just, don’t lie to yourself. Don’t lie to yourself and say, “I love the financial industry.” Say to yourself, “What I love is working with the most awesome people.” Then you can find the job that interests you the most - just go wherever the naughtiest people are. Likewise, if your passion is money, do some math on which career will bring the most financial rewards (and figure out the short-term vs. long-term benefits). Again, there's nothing wrong with that. Later, I left my original job and started my own business, and I also had many entrepreneurial friends around me. A topic that people often talk about when chatting is "Why did you start a business?", and the answers are varied.

In this regard, another good friend of mine said something that is also very interesting. She said: An irrational decision like starting a business (because 99% of start-up companies will fail in terms of probability), there must be some dark originality. Only with driving force can it be possible. For example, some people just want to make money quickly and live happily; some people think, "Why can he get financing? I am much better than him, so I want to do it too."; some people want to "build a business that I can talk about." A dictatorial empire with the final say, without any constraints”... In fact, these people later did quite well. The driving force of "darkness" actually does not conflict with the driving force of "light". The people mentioned above all have complete personalities, sound common sense, are good to employees, and have a sense of social responsibility. Moreover, they dare to admit that they have such a dark part in their hearts. As a result, they can engage in their work from the heart. This is what is called, "dare to face it". Regarding "the ability to face things head-on", there is only one trick that is not a trick - "keep asking yourself questions to get closer to the essence of the matter." Using entrepreneurship as an example, many people often debate "whether founders should do what they are most interested in doing" or "whether entrepreneurship should solve the founder's own needs." Regarding this issue, my usual thought is: starting a business must start from your own interests, but most people fail to figure out what their fundamental interests are. The characteristics of the most powerful entrepreneurs I have met are that they love "solving the problem" itself more than "solving a specific problem." They are aware of their own characteristics, so they can do it with ease no matter which direction they start a business without being limited to a specific project. Of course, there are some people who are born to love a specific profession and do it extremely well. Of course, there are more people who claim that they like "food" or "travel", but have never made any achievements above average in these fields. Fundamentally, we still have not been able to figure out the real driving force behind it. (For example, aren’t you really lazy and greedy? ...In fact, so are more than 6 billion other people.) The last thing I want to say is that the matter of “interest” also develops dynamically. I guess Mark Zuckerberg wasn't that interested in "connecting everyone on the planet" when he was tinkering with Facebook in his Harvard dorm room. But over the next 10 years, he slowly discovered his calling. Similarly, I have also seen many entrepreneurs who are not particularly interested in that field when they start a project, but as the matter becomes more and more in-depth, they will develop great enthusiasm for their work.

This has nothing to do with human commitment