"Follow your passion" is bad advice — here is what to do instead
Steve Jobs's 2005 line about passion sounds like a compass, but the research on skill capital points somewhere else
A column from the AdviceGuru Editors
Ask the Contrarian
Conventional wisdom that quietly fails — and what actually works instead.
This column covers bad conventional advice on money, career, dating, health, and productivity; where common wisdom breaks down; what the research actually says vs. what people repeat. Every piece is written and edited by the AdviceGuru Editors, under the editorial standards you can read here.
Recent pieces in this column
Why the eighty-hour workweek is a status signal, not a strategy
Long hours produce real output in narrow windows. Outside those windows, they mostly perform something — and there's a tell
"Networking" is a bad word for a good thing — here is how to actually do it
Networking isn't collecting contacts — it's giving first, and the research on why is older than LinkedIn
Why "always be looking for the next role" is worse advice than it sounds
The compounding math of staying put, the case for a second act, and the narrow window when job-hopping actually pays
"Cut out lattes to save $1M" is a lie — here is the number that actually works
The famous coffee-cutting math falls apart under scrutiny — here is where the real money hides, and the percentage that actually moves the needle
The 50-30-20 budget rule is fine for some people and terrible for others
The 50/30/20 rule works beautifully for a specific kind of budget — and quietly wrecks two others most people never hear about
"Buy the dip" is bad retail advice — and here is why
The phrase sounds smart and works for institutions with mandates and cash floors — for you, with $10K and a job, it quietly loses money
Why "put yourself out there" is terrible advice for adult friendship
The advice was built for a world with dorms and cubicles — here's what to do instead when you're 34 and want a real friend
The lie of "your twenties are for friends, your thirties are for family"
The frame that your social life has an expiration date is doing quiet damage to millions of adults — and the research doesn't back it up