“Follow your passion!” This is a common phrase spoken freely, read in books, heard on podcasts, and even seen on bumper stickers, hats, and shirts. With life being so short and the idea of fulfilling our dreams being so alluring, we love the idea of following our passion.
One thing I have noticed over the years is that this advice often comes from highly successful, high net-worth people. And why shouldn’t we listen to these people? They appear, after all, to have gotten where they are by only following their passion. Or did they?
Before I go any further, know that I think following your passion is a requirement if you are to live a full and optimal life. Most people never even try, give up after a while, or struggle greatly their whole life and end up frustrated and defeated.
Two problems with today’s passion-seeking movement are the lack of invested grit and the misconstrued idea that your passion must be your only commitment or source of income.
Whatever your passion is, that worthy goal is like the carrot dangling from the stick. It hangs out in front of you, motivating you, maintaining your focused, and keeping you moving in a positive direction. But every passion worth seeking follows a path loaded with struggles, pitfalls, and adversity. There is a ton of work that goes into reaching big goals.
Thomas Edison’s passion to invent the light bulb required a grueling 2,774 failed attempts before getting it right. Colonel Sander’s passion to bring his finger-licking chicken recipe to the world had to withstand 1,009 rejections before being accepted. Even you… fell down hundreds, likely thousands, of times trying to learn to walk before stringing a steady, solid stream of steps together.
The second problem today in terms of those trying to follow their passion, as well as those urging everyone else to do it, is that not everyone can rely on that passion to support their lifestyle. Your passion may simply not be enough to sustain your basic needs. So, is it just two choices? Follow your passion, and hopefully it leads to the riches you desire or the means you need to live… or forget that passion, move on, and just do work that provides money and security? How about a third choice? How about doing work you need to, even if it you don’t love it, so that you can do the work that fuels your soul on the side?
Work that we are passionate about is easier to do than work we resent, can’t stand, or dread doing. If the primary work you are doing is also the work you’ve always dreamed of, then congratulations. That… is… AWESOME! You are fortunate, blessed, and likely a bit lucky.
If you’re pursuing your passion, but running into obstacle after obstacle, rejection after rejection, or failure after failure, keep pushing on. These paths are never easy. Blood, sweat, and tears are often requirements. You keep getting knocked down, but you keep getting back up. If it were easy, everyone would do it.
If your passion simply cannot be your primary source of income or career, figure out how to do work that you must do, but allow time for the meaningful work. It will require strategy, juggling your time, and managing your schedule, but you will still get to do that work you know you MUST do. This approach can often lead to that meaningful work eventually becoming your primary work.
I want to be very clear that I am a BIG fan of the whole idea of following your passion. I believe we all are designed with different interests and varied skill-sets, and are put on this earth with a purpose. Seeking out and working to build the life we feel called to is what feeds our souls, fills our hearts, and gives us the energy and strength to get out of bed each day with excitement and passion. So, no matter what… do the work that lights you up. On whatever capacity you can… or need to.