We’ve all heard it before. You should “follow your passion” if you want to be happy and successful in life it is such common advice, and it’s so often espoused by wise and extraordinarily successful people, there must be something to it – Right?
Whether you’re considering starting a small business or changing career paths, it is important that passion is factored into the equation. While characteristics such as strong values, talent, ambition, intellect, discipline, persistence, and luck all contribute to business and career success, following your passion can often make the biggest difference of all.
But let us first define the true meaning of success. Success is usually thought of as making large sums of wealth or achieving a certain level of fame, but true success that satisfies is not all about money. Success is better defined as an achievement of a desired aim or purpose. For most people, success means being proud of their achievements. If you decide to follow your passion, there is a greater likelihood that money and traditional success will follow, because the time and effort invested in the venture come with enthusiasm and zeal.
When enthusiasm and passion are present, people tend to be more resilient. People who are passionate about what they do, tend to be people who have more positive outlooks. In a world where you’ll face competition in anything you pursue, your passion for that which you pursue can often be the X factor you need to succeed.
Three Icons who followed their passion and succeeded are Steve Jobs, one of the most successful companies in the world is Apple. Steve Jobs believed in the power of passion and once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, Zuckerberg suggests "following your happiness" when at a crossroads, using the logic that even if you do not end up making a fortune, you will at least be doing what you love and Warren Buffett who is probably one of the greatest investors of all time often explains the importance of finding what it is that brings true meaning and what makes each day important.
So if following your passion is the key to success, happiness and fulfilment, if following your passion creates a strong competitive advantage, why wouldn’t you follow your passion?
Well, it isn’t so simple.
“Follow your passion” Nice, heart-warming advice, in fact it’s great advice — if you happen to have a passion that is very clear and obvious but when you don’t know what your passion is, hearing that following your passion is the key to fulfilment and all that’s good in life can be debilitating.
There’s also a big “one passion” fallacy that can be read into the follow your passion advice. Most people will be passionate about lots of things over the course of a life well lived. It’s normal to care about many different things. It’s less common to have one solitary, blinding passion for your entire life. For me personally, over the past 10 years my passions would include a long list of things like parenting, studying, travelling, entrepreneurship, iced-coffee, stock market, volunteer work…
Could any of these been the passion? Who knows, but probably not, not in the way Steve Jobs explains it.
Perhaps “follow a passion” is a better way to put it.
By choosing a passion, entrepreneurship, and following that, while not expecting it to be my everything, I’ve been happy and successful instead of frustratingly waiting for my One True Passion to come along.
Simple advice is attractive, but life is more complicated than the three words of “Follow your Passion” can convey.
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