My problem is that I am passionate about learning. In grad school, I was obsessed with math. Spent every waking hour thinking about it, often woke up in the middle of the night with the solution to a problem I was trying to solve during the day. However, once I made it to a certain threshold of math skills, I became less passionate about doing it. I wasn't the best in the world, but I knew I could solve any problem I needed to.

I think of this as learning a language. Math is kind of a language in its own right, but that is not what I am getting at. I think of it as a sort of fluency and once I get fluent in a thing, I move on to the next thing. Things I am fluent in, or at least was at one point, are math, economics, cooking, pottery, cycling, and I am sure a few others. To me this makes sense - I am not going to keep trying to get better at Spanish when I am fluent in it. I will continue to practice it, but i don't need to continue to "learn" it.

I have long believed this is true, and to me it explains why most people don't take up new hobbies as they get older. No one wants to be the worst at a thing. Personally, I love being the worst at a thing because it means I get newb gains, and I get the experience of lots of "aha" moments.

I also think this is maybe more easily observed within fields. I mentioned my obsession with math - but it wasn't all math. I thought all math had interesting elements and results, but I was only obsessed with analysis and topology. I was okay in other areas, but my mental models work exceptionally well in analysis and topology and so progress came more quickly. The rate at which I received "aha" moments was higher.

All that said, I think 99% of shit people say about being passionate is BS, to be honest. You want to know my true passion? Leisure. Within that leisure, I choose what I want to learn on a given day or over a given month.

In reality, I was lucky to find a passion for math and economics. I still find them enjoyable but I would quit my job in a heart beat if I didn't need an income.

The phrase "if you do what you love you will never work a day in your life" simply does not resonate for me. That is only true for people who like to work. As an example - I love to teach. I am excellent at it. However, when I was teaching I often dreaded it.