Not a day seems to go by without hearing someone talk about their passion and how the mysteries of life magically dissipate once its power is unleashed. We’re often told that if we simply pursue our passion and do what we love as a career, we’ll never have to work a day in our life. And let’s not forget Oprah who added fuel to the fire by popularizing the phrase “do what you love and the money will follow.” In theory, pursuing your passion as a career should be easy, effortless, and create a monetary nirvana where income flows and happiness prevails. Reality, however, demonstrates that few who follow such advice will ever reach their desired destination.
Consider the countless examples of those who quit their day jobs to pursue passion-related opportunities (cupcakes anyone?) only to end up emotionally, spiritually, and financially drained. Inevitably, this setback squashes one’s willingness to take future risks, a return to the 8-5 grind, and an unfettered bitterness directed towards those who led them down their ill-fated passion path. It seems like a dirty trick. We’re told to chase the carrot. In fact, we’re encouraged to do so. And then, before we know it, we’re miles down the rabbit hole with nothing to show for our efforts but mountains of debt that may take decades to repay.
Nowhere is the fallacy of the “if you build it, they will come” mantra more evident than in the passion-turned-career world. Life is complex enough on its own — throw in the harsh realities of capitalism and this happy-go-lucky rhetoric reveals itself as a blatant disservice to those who lack clarity on the additional elements needed to bring their anticipated utopia to fruition. A significant part of the problem stems from the word passion itself and our collective understanding of what it means. Whereas, the belief is that one’s passion aligns with who we are and what we should pursue, Webster’s Dictionary defines passion as “a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something; a strong feeling (such as anger) that causes you to act in a dangerous way; a strong sexual or romantic feeling for someone.”
Notice anything? In each definition, the word feeling is present. Feelings can work both to your benefit and to your detriment due to the infiltration of emotion. By its literal definition, passion often clouds judgment instead of enhancing it. Now, before the hate mail starts rolling in at the mere thought of throwing water on your fire, note that this discussion is not centered on whether or not passion is important. It is focused on cultivating a sustainable career… not engaging in a hobby.
Creating a flourishing existence that inevitably provides a strong sense of fulfillment, contribution, and monetary reward is absolutely possible. To massively increase the odds of this happening, keep the following in mind:
1) Recognize that activities you enjoy often have nothing to do with how you’re naturally wired to excel.
Within your DNA lies a singular blueprint that guides you towards your unique talents and an over-arching theme that encompasses your abilities (e.g. communication, healing, entertaining). Frequently, people confuse what they’re passionate about with the true Gifts they’ve been given.
For example, I love to sing (especially in the car… when I’m alone) and, when I do, I’m passionate about it. When my favorite song of the moment is played on the radio, I’ll sing along with it at the top of my lungs. While I may enjoy the sound of my own voice, if the car window is open and others unwillingly end up with a front row seat to my performance, the look I get makes it very clear they could live without the noise pollution I’m creating. Attempting to create a singing career is highly unlikely unless there is a sudden demand for the wistful lullabies of Tiny Tim.
You are wired to excel in very specific and powerful ways. Delineating between what you believe your passion is and what your Gifts unequivocally are is the key to cultivating a career that empowers you to do what you love, what you’re good at, and what people will pay you for.
2) Understand that having passion isn’t enough.
There is a monumental difference between enjoying a particular activity and turning it into a thriving enterprise or career. For example, perhaps you love gardening. Every year, your tomatoes are the talk of the town. They taste incredible, they’re perfect in color, and all you have to do to grow vine after vine of your prized delicacies is sprinkle a bit of magic into the soil, add water, and voila… perfection is realized. But are you really going to buy a large parcel of land and invest the time, energy and resources required to build a full-flung tomato farm that provides significant income? Odds are good the answer is no. Even if you did, selling jars of tomatoes to your neighbors takes little skill once word gets out about how amazing they are.
Hiring, managing, and firing employees, sourcing and operating machinery, negotiating terms, buying products and raw materials, setting up distribution, marketing your little red delights AND attaining profitability is a much different animal. Few have the knowledge and ability needed to get to that level… and, far fewer have the desire to do so.
3) Identify the three crucial pieces missing from life’s most important equation.
The notion that the secret of life can be found simply by identifying one’s passion has been perpetuated far too long. Most people are left with more questions than answers after identifying what they love to do because three crucial elements are absent from the conversation.
- The first missing piece is identifying your Gifts. As previously discussed, your Gifts have chosen you — they are not that which you have chosen. Your Gifts are very different than your passion.
- The second missing piece is identifying the Vehicle you will use to share your Gifts with the world. For example, if your Gift is Healing, the Vehicle you might choose to share your Gift could be massage. If Communication is your Gift, your Vehicle might be writing and/or speaking. Some argue that the terms Vehicle and passion are interchangeable. If it’s a question of semantics, use whichever word you prefer. The key is to start with one Vehicle and expand to additional Vehicles as you attain mastery, notoriety, and market penetration with the first Vehicle selected.
- The final, and perhaps most important, missing piece is identifying the People you are most compelled to serve. Identifying your Gifts and the Vehicle you will use to share your Gifts is meaningless unless you know to whom you will direct your efforts. Reflect on your life experiences, attributes, beliefs and interests to begin your exploration of who they are. Examples include: children, people who suffer from cancer, business owners who need marketing help, or seniors who are interested in physical fitness. The more you are able to focus like a sniper, the easier it will be for you to have massive impact.
It is the combination of these three elements — your Gifts, Vehicle, and People — that comprise your WHAT and provide the necessary foundation for affecting not only those who share this lifetime with you, but also those of lifetimes to come. In the end, you are the solution to someone else’s problem. They’re waiting for you now.
Amazing!!! So on point. I wish everyone knew this before taking the leap, but I guess they will inevitably find out. Thanks for putting this out there. You have helped me not have to learn another lesson the hard way.
I wish that it was as simple as follow your passion and the money will follow and for a lucky few it can work. However, one can be highly passionate about things in which they have no tallent ( I love to sing but even my dog complains) There must also be a market and you must put in the time (the 10,000 hour rule) to develop the expertise required by your passion to become successful. Long ago I was a highly successful photojournalist and that had been and still is my deepest passion but an impinged nerve in my spine ended my career. I still have the passion but reality does not always respect your passion.
My ultimate goal as an entrepreneur is to generate “flow” in what I do. That is peak performance
while doing what I love and loving what I do. It is true that three things are necessary for success
…desire, know how, and a vehicle.
Steve, you have great concepts.
Steve – Good article…and true. I appreciate your insight.
identifying the People you are most compelled to serve is right on the money.
Thanks for the comments.
Keith
I think you misunderstand what PASSION really is. Just because you like singing in the car and indulge in it whenever the opportunity arises, does not make it a passion. It is something you like doing. You are, however, absolutely right when you say that “passion” without talent (or gift) can be a recipe for disaster. There is one other thing that the personal growth gurus (believe in it and you will get it) don’t tell you and that is for “belief” to become a reality you need “intensity”, a personal characteristic that few of us possess. High performance athletes, for example, have a natural intensity to go along with their talent.
There are probably three personal character ingredients that you need to possess in order to truly be “the best you can be”. Really know what it is you want, and the earlier in life you discover this the better. You then need the gift or talent necessary to achieve what it is that you really want. (I may want to be a concert pianist but if I don’t have the musical talent required I will never become a concert pianist) And then, the deep belief, coupled with intensity, to take you where you want to go. It is important to understand however, that you do not need to know the “how”. The “law of attraction” does, somehow, seem to work mysteriously when you really know what you want and possess the basic talents to get it. Feelings, emotions and desires are strong motivators but we should never let these innate human qualities trump our reason. One final thing: get a mentor. You can’t do it on your own.
In your article, I chose to emphasize on the word “intensity”. I couldn’t agree more! When a person is passionate and talented, all he needs intensity to realize exceptional accomplishments. He/she needs to be able to handle pressure; endure pain and keep his alertness at the peak level especially at the critical moments. My advise to my son is always to remember, in a race, the winning horse wins by just a “nose”… Whomever is capable of making the final push determines the outcome.
Absolutely on point, Steve. I can’t tell you how many folks have come to me as “wantrepreneurs” (as coined I believe by Mark Cuban) and unaware of what it was going to take to go from having a hobby that makes a little money to a fully realized business. Thanks for keeping it real without killing the dream!
I agree with you. In Access Consciousness they talk about the definition of passion prior to 1946 which has to do with being nailed to a cross (that’s not exact it’s my recollection). Needless to say I’d rather not follow my passion if that’s what I have to look forward to. To me it’s finding your natural gifts and capitalizing on them. Does that mean you have to hate what you do for a living? No. Find your gifts and a place to use them where you can be of service to others. By doing that you will be much happier no matter where you work. Thanks Steve for a very good article and very good topic.
HaHa! I can see where you probably created an uprising! It’s true that people flounder and struggle when they try to turn their “passions” into a money making enterprise. There are plenty of vultures circling to pick their last penny by offering false hope. “Just follow my formula exactly and you’ll be rich like me!” Yet, they are getting rich by offering false hope.
Thank you for articulating what’s been irking many. Every time I hear the “Law of Attraction” or “the Universe will listen and deliver” I want to scream “It’s not magic!!!”
I do believe you need passion. You need passion to keep you going when you hit walls or speed bumps. You need passion when that big contract falls apart, or when your competition starts undermining your integrity and stealing your loyal clients by sowing seeds of doubt in their minds. You need passion when your Chinese manufacturer suddenly starts selling your creation to the highest bidder. You need passion when greedy, jealous people attack your product, your purpose and you as a person.
It also takes passion to stay in a job day after day, when your coworkers steal your pens (or worse, your ideas), back-stab, position, take credit for your work, throw you under the bus to save themselves. You need passion when your boss picks on your tardiness a few times per month, rather than your performance through the toughest challenges and your ability to retain those all-important clients. No, being 5 – 10 minutes late a few times per month means you don’t deserve a raise.
I think you need “passion” or “intensity” to thrive at anything you choose to do. It’s what gives you resilience. Most people aren’t resilient. They do what they need to do and live for vacations, weekends and down-time. They need to rationalize this way of living or they’d be miserable.
So YES, don’t go into business unless you are passionate enough about creating this business to weather all the bizarre pitfalls and challenges that WILL try to take you out. On the other hand, if you have a decent job, how about finding some passion around parts of that job and transforming those who work around you through your intensity, dedication and self-less acts of brilliance?
Excellent article Steve. A refreshing new thinking on ‘do what you love doing’. Unless you have the uncanny ability to assess that your passion would be appreciated by people and then have the grit and determination to convert it into a money making enterprise. A real eye opener. i am sure God would reward you for sharing this for benefit of all
I think there is some merit to what you are saying. One must have the skills or talent to support their “passion.” I also agree with the comment that one must have focus and intensity to persist in their goals.
I have had the experience of working in positions that used my skills but I had absolutely no passion toward. I made very good money, traveled, owned my home all by 28 years old. Then one day I thought to myself: Is this all there is? Do I just keep doing this in another color and logo? I was finding myself in the dangerous position of committing my life in a particular direction just because I was successful at it leaving behind the passion and experience I had as a child performing. So, I resigned. I changed my life. It has not been easy to say the least but I just can’t imagine what living in my head would be like if I hadn’t made that change. Personal comfort means nothing if you can’t live in your own head.
I have not yet achieved the level of work I see for myself and I’m not yet as comfortable as I was but this quest has taught me gratitude and certainty and I have a belief in myself I’m not sure I would have cultivated on my more stable comfortable path. It’s a trade off. It isn’t for everyone. It’s very challenging.
I do agree that the concept of following one’s passion as become a rather flippant notion when in truth it does require quite a bit of soul searching and truth talking to one’s self. It was not a decision I made lightly and I did set a financial goal for myself that I had to hit before committing to making the changes in direction.
This is a very good discussion. Thank you for putting it out there.