“يقول الرسول ﷺ “إن الله يحب إذا عمل أحدكم عملاً أن يتقنه
Good evening everyone, it’s Noussayba Elouedghiri Idrissi speaking on behalf of my esteemed teammates here tonight to present to you our humble take on the motion; We, on this side of the house, believe that one must follow their hearts instead of settling for a stable future.
Wouldn’t it be incredible if we could all find a career that truly excites us? Imagine starting each workday eager and engaged, instead of stressed or bored. Yet, as much as we crave fulfillment, the reality is that many of us immediately turn to practical concerns—like financial stability and job security—when considering career choices.
While these are undeniably important, the idea that a stable career should come at the cost of our happiness and personal growth is increasingly being questioned, which brings us here; debating which has the upper hand between money and passion.
Choosing a career that reflects our true passions and values could be the key to both personal satisfaction and success.
Take Bill Gates or Walt Disney for example, people you must have heard about; Gates dropped out of Harvard to pursue his passion for computers, driven by the belief that software could change the world—despite the uncertainty and risk involved. Similarly, Walt Disney faced numerous failures and rejections while chasing his dream of creating a world of imagination and storytelling. Both men were motivated by their visions, not the financial rewards, and their relentless pursuit of what they loved transformed them into icons. In the end, their success wasn’t just about getting rich or stable—it was about following their passion and staying true to their unique visions, ultimately reshaping industries and inspiring generations.
And the list goes on and on; Mark Zucherburg, Brandon Stanton, Jim Koch, Al “Bubba” Baker, Chris Michel, et cetera.
However, there’s a catch. “Follow your heart” they say, and then you end up mastering the art of ‘buying now, crying later’ at the checkout. Inspiring, don’t you think? Yes, yes it’s not easy and yes you might have to do ten times the work than someone who chooses a cash-centric job, will they be as happy as you though, in the long term? Studies show they won’t, not if they don’t find passion within their “forced” field of work, which circles us back to the star word of the day “Passion”.
There’s a strong psychological connection between our work and our sense of self, meaning our hearts, our desires, our dreams and so on, and aligning a career with our core passions and values is believed to lead to a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
In fact, many people around me seem to make career decisions based on external factors: societal expectations, peer pressure, or the opinions of others, which all push to “the secure stable future”-ish life rather than from a place of personal alignment with their true selves. This external influence often leads to disengagement and dissatisfaction, as people find themselves in careers that don’t truly reflect who they are and what they want, or even what they need. We get so wrapped up in ‘doing the grown-up thing,’ chasing bills, that we forget to chase our dreams. We end up completely ignoring our little hearts and it’s quite rude if you ask me.
Do we really have enough time in this life to choose secure? To pick stable and monotone? NO we DON’T. It’s true that the phrase “follow your heart” has been oversimplified by many self-proclaimed experts, the reality is that pursuing what you truly love is far from easy. It involves a level of vulnerability and heartache—you’re not just putting in hard work, but you’re also exposing something deeply personal to the world. The emotional attachment to your passion makes it all the more challenging because it’s not just a job; it’s a part of who you are. And God, why wouldn’t you put yourself out there? Why wouldn’t you show the world what you’ve got? If everyone ignored their passion and simply stuck to the conventional path of skill-building and stability, the world would lack the creativity, innovation, and excitement that makes it interesting.
Your approach might be more straightforward and follow a clear formula, but that doesn’t make it without its own challenges. A main component of that same formula is “Passion”, it actually drives individuals to put in the time and effort needed to reach mastery. Take, for example, someone who practices a guitar riff for hours, repeating it over and over until they get it perfect. While anyone can follow the steps to improve, few people would push through that level of dedication unless they already had a genuine love for playing the guitar. The same idea applies to someone pursuing excellence in any field. The initial drive to improve often comes from a deep, intrinsic interest in the subject matter. Without that spark of passion, the commitment to practice and perfect the craft would likely fall flat. Passion doesn’t just make the journey more enjoyable—it’s the very thing that sustains you through the hard work required to achieve “perfection”.
A close case of mine is that of my sister, whom I’ve seen thrive in this sense up close and I’ve just asked her a few days ago in this context, where she ended up saying that she chose Medicine as it was the only thing she pictured herself doing in the future (She luckily managed to get admitted in the faculty of medicine in, otherwise it would’ve been disastrous). She’s in the middle of a very interesting and fulfilling path to her dream career, she says. And she claims to have found along the way that loving what you do can indeed make work feel like it is not work. You learn more easily and you enjoy everything you do, even the tougher moments like finding yourself surrounded by huge amounts of things to learn for an exam. She discovered that she was able to push through it more easily with her love for the field. She even said she thinks she would have learned how to cook, and stay home if it hadn’t worked out, and that she couldn’t imagine another scenario as she strongly believed that it was her fate to study medicine—She didn’t even apply for any other university back in the day, that is just how much she loved her choice.
We’re not suggesting that you shouldn’t aim to build a career that provides financial security and stability for your future at all, reason and devotion should go hand in hand after all, so please don’t take my sister’s radical decision as an immediate role model per say. Rather, what we’re emphasizing is this: Let your fervor for the work you do be your driving force, rather than just the zeal for profit. A career fueled by passion is one you won’t easily walk away from, even when the going gets tough as it encourages discipline. In contrast, when financial gain becomes the primary motivator, your commitment can wane as soon as the money doesn’t flow as expected. Passion gives you the resilience to stay focused and dedicated, regardless of external circumstances.
Passion makes you focused.