I definitely agree that you have to go after your passion. Once I did that, I decided nobody was going to ruin it for me and became formidable.

Before that, I was always looking for balance. Maybe I loved the work but hated the mean incompetent manager, felt I was not particularly well suited to the work but loved my boss, loved the work but was asked to go against my conscience by reverse engineering products so they could be manufactured more cheaply.

There was always a "but" until I decided to go all-or-nothing after my passion. Now there's just occasional temporary friction. :)