Passion myths

I wrote a post on the Worthwhile blog yesterday I thought I should post here as well...

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I make my living helping people figure out how to create passion-filled careers. Again and again I've seen what an amazing difference it makes when people take off the mask and start doing something that comes from the core of what lights them up.

Kevin's post reminds me of the skepticism that often accompanies talk of pursuing one's passion in one's career. There's a big fat dose of, "Bah humbug!" out there.

I think part of the trouble is a misconception of pursuing your passion as unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky dreaming. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are some passion pursuit myths.

PURSUING YOUR PASSION IS SELFISH AND SELF-INDULGENT

Wrong. Pursuing your passion is quite possibly the best thing you could ever do for your loved ones.

Imagine the difference between someone who grinds through their day in a job that sucks the life out of them, and someone who actually gets energy from the work they do. Which one would you want to be around at the end of the day? Which one is going to be a better wife, husband, parent, friend?

The positive ripple effect on your family, on your co-workers, and even just random people you encounter is substantial.

DO WHAT YOU LOVE AND THE MONEY WILL FOLLOW

Sorry folks. This is actually the Readers Digest version. The full quote is, "Do what you love, work really, really hard, be patient, be persistent, be open, work really, really hard some more, and the money will follow." Not quite as catchy, I know, but much more accurate.

When you set things in motion in the direction of your passion, things do have a way of happening. Doors open you would never have known were there. Opportunities come up you would never have imagined. But it's not a magic carpet ride. You have to get there the hard way, just like anyone else.

YOU HAVE TO BE "REALISTIC"

On the surface, I agree wholeheartedly with the idea. Yes, you do have to be realistic. But when most people encourage you to be realistic, what they really mean is, "Here's a wet towel I'd like to smother that dream with." There's such a tendency to take the pessimistic view and dress it up as "realistic."

There's nothing wrong with taking realistic stock of the situation, but the trouble with "negative realism" is that it stops there. It doesn't say, "OK, here are some ways what I want to do is challenging, now what are some possible ways around that?" We're amazingly creative, we humans, but somehow we let ourselves be pigeonholed in this tiny box of possibility. Makes no sense.

THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT'S DONE

This one just makes me want to scream. When I hear a variation on this theme, I always have to resist the urge to look at them and bleat, "Baaaaaaaah!" According to whose rules?

Pursuing your passion is inherently about creating your own path. It's about breaking out of the ruts and say, "No. Guess what? That IS the way it's done."

At the end of the day, if you want to succeed in pursuing your passion, you have to be realistic, and you have to work hard. You also have to question assumptions, and be creative in figuring out ways to make it happen. You have to ask the hard questions, and sometimes make the hard choices.

It isn't pie-in-the-sky. Making it happen is a very down to earth, nuts and bolts process where you have to have a deep awareness of both yourself and the world around you.

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Curt Rosengren

Passion Catalyst  ^SM

Career passion e-books

Comments

[Jonathan Aquino]

Amen!

[Femi Odebunmi]

Wow, this is worth archiving for reference.
It reminds me of the mindset of one of the most charismatic, loving and successful people I ever had the privilege of knowing.
I always sensed his wealth was much more than just money and possessions.
Truth is, when you are passionate about everything you do like he was, and pour all your energy into it, you can actually own the world!