I like Jonathan Mead's suggestion that "good ideas" can threaten your passions. This is a problem I encounter frequently. It's arguably my biggest problem.

Being a computer programmer, opportunities come along to join this-or-that start-up and to forgo wages for stock options. Sometimes, even, the start-ups will be in a field that I think is really interesting, like video game design. And that becomes really tough because the project just seems like a "good idea." "Common sense" seems to drive me to want to take the projects. Guilt takes over as I think about how, "people would kill to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

But riffing on the same point as Mead's, I often end up doing things that I think are really smart choices, but end up not enjoying them. Afterward, I feel satisfied that I accomplished something, but regretful that I didn't spend my time doing something that made my heart sing.

Even in mundane areas, I encounter this trap. I often jump at the opportunity to watch an "interesting" movie with a cool premise and great actors, only to be disappointed in its lack of watchability.

It's the journey, not the destination, that matters.