A change of heart 20 years into your passion might sound like career sabotage, but a new study says otherwise. Societal platitudes may have etched into our brains that passion is forever, and that the career you choose to pursue as a budding adult in your twenties is your end-all, be-all. According to the Harvard Business Review, however, you shouldn’t worry too much about changing passions mid-career.

External validation is often a common barrier for individuals whose inner compass strays from a predetermined life-long passion. Participants in one study were asked to imagine others’ reactions to giving up on their passions, to which they anticipated harsh judgement.

Giving up as a general concept, however, was not as negatively viewed when it concerned passionless work. As it turns out, we tend to get in our heads about public perception, when in reality, third-party observers from the study saw abandoning one’s passion as merely a “stop along the way.”

Thought vs. action. The pressure subsides when you’re aware of how accepting and encouraging people actually are of a career pivot. HBR found that passion pursuers can be emboldened by that realization, taking real action towards leaving their current job for a newfound passion. Behavioral intentions change once people are reassured that leaving does not equate to failure. On the contrary, it often comes across as brave and ambitious from the outside looking in, according to the study.

An aching passion for something else isn’t the only reason you might feel like leaving your job; burnout is real, too. Simply taking a break from your passion can go a long way in re-evaluating why it mattered to you in the first place. Resting is a skill not everyone masters, especially high performers, but this guide can help.

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