Do you want to succeed? If your answer is yes like most people do, then there is one important asset you must have: passion. While you may get results in the short term without having passion, in the long term it makes the difference between achieving success and failing. Why? Because there are difficult times on your way to success. There are times when you feel like you are working for nothing, that you don’t get anything in return for all your effort. In such difficult times, only passion can keep you moving forward.
I experience it myself in writing this blog. In the first few months, I often felt like speaking to an empty room. I felt like I wrote articles nobody read. Even after blogging for three months, I got no more than six visitors a day. In that difficult time, the only thing that kept me going was passion. I love this topic. I love personal growth. Because of it, I kept blogging no matter what.
That’s why my favorite acid test of whether or not you may succeed in a particular field is this:
Are you willing to do it for free?
Are you willing to do it if nobody paid you? Are you willing to do it even if you got no reputation out of it? If your answer is yes, then there is a good chance you will succeed. That’s because by answering yes you are saying that you do it because of love and nothing else. You care about it.
When you are passionate about what you do, your passion will show up in your work. If you are blogger, it will show up in your writings. If you are a speaker, it will show up in your speeches. If you are a product designer, it will show up in the products you design. The energy and excitement are there, and they attract people to come to you. Everything else will follow.
Not only will passion lead you to achieving success, it will also lead you to a fulfilling life. You will become who you are. You will become the person you are supposed to be. That, after all, is the reason why you live on earth.
Passion is your asset. Find it, keep it, nurture it. You won’t regret your decision.
Photo by aussiegall
Comment by Shanel Yang
#1 1. August 2008, 10:54 am o'clock |
It is great to love your work so much you’d be willing to do it for free. But, it’s also important to educate yourself about how best to turn your love into a profitable living, too! After all, with greater income comes greater opportunities to share your work to even greater audiences. Then everyone wins. ; )
Comment by Avani-Mehta
#2 1. August 2008, 5:54 pm o'clock |
I agree, willing to do something for free, without any other return than the joy of “doing” is the true test of passion.
What I have found is that along with that one passion, there will be innumerable small things which I have to do and I don’t like to do. Things which I would have happily ignored had they come on their own. But because, they help me to do what I love doing, I will happily learn and do them surprisingly with enthusiasm. My passion covers all of those things and turns them into enjoyable tasks.
Comment by Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D.
#3 2. August 2008, 12:47 am o'clock |
Passion is essential to success because there will be times when passion is all that keeps you going.
I agree with Shanel also that it’s best to learn how to turn your passion into a profitable living.
Comment by ewonk
#4 2. August 2008, 2:59 am o'clock |
Now for the reverse, how to turn your profitable living into a passion!? Possible?
Where’s that article!
Comment by Marianna Paulson
#5 2. August 2008, 9:56 pm o'clock |
You mentioned some points that have rung true for me as I grow my own business, Donald. I’ve often asked myself, “is anyone out there?” and alternate with, “that’s it, I’m quitting.” Then, I apply my heart-felt energy/emotions and I’m back on track…much faster than I ever was in the past!
One of the things I sometimes hear from my clients, “I don’t know what I’m passionate about.” It’s not until after I’ve worked with them and they get clear about their goals and why those goals are important to them that they get a clear picture of their passion.
It also helps when they can see in real-time how good for their heart and body it is just by thinking/talking about their love – whether it is a person, place, thing or idea.
I love what you said about whether you’d do it even if you weren’t getting paid for it…which leads to that maxim: Do what you’re passionate about and never work a day in your life again.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#6 3. August 2008, 12:42 pm o'clock |
Shanel,
I agree. In fact, such virtuous cycle is one of my goals with this blog. So yes, we need to learn how to turn our passion into profitable living.
Avani,
That’s an interesting side of passion: they can turn the otherwise boring tasks into something we enjoy. It’s actually similar to productivity trick that uses frequent rewards to increase motivation. In this case, the passion is the reward.
Flora,
Yes, passion does make real difference in such difficult times.
Ewonk,
I believe it’s possible. We can do that by learning to love what we do. I wrote a post about it entitled Change Your Mindset to Improve Your Productivity.
Marianna,
Your comment reminds me of a quote by Thomas Edison:
This man had more than 1000 patents!
Comment by Marc and Angel Hack Life
#7 6. August 2008, 8:56 am o'clock |
Well stated! Passion is everything.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#8 6. August 2008, 9:35 am o'clock |
Marc and Angel,
Yes, passion is everything. Thanks for stopping by!
Comment by victory
#9 7. August 2008, 9:32 am o'clock |
excellent post, i guess i can say that you hit the nail dead on the head…without passion you cant be successful..heres a great ooist tht touches on that topic, as far as being an entrepreneur goes..a href=”http://www.victoryblogger.com/entrepreneur/wealth/ “>click here for post
Comment by sohel
#10 18. November 2008, 1:32 pm o'clock |
I have a big question. A person who living a poor country who face the trouble of leading his normal life with his family memeber because of insufficient earnings,how can he think about passion?Though he have high education he cannot get the job because of unemployment problem and a huge compition where many highly educated will fight for better.Please is there be any answer of this questions.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#11 19. November 2008, 8:59 pm o'clock |
Sohel,
You’re right that it’s not easy to think about passion in such situations. I’m not in there, so my answer is just a projection of what I would do if I was there.
Since the financial demand is pressing, I have no choice but to work (any kind of work) to meet the needs. But I will aim to create a room to breath. That is, I will work hard so that I can earn enough to give me chance to think about other things.
By then I will have the opportunity to think about my passion and work on it. The passion will in turn bring me to the next level in my career since we work better on things we are passionate about.
The hardest part is creating the room for breathing but I think it’s achievable.
Comment by imed
#12 16. July 2009, 12:54 am o'clock |
i like very much ure words, that’s true man. you got the key for success.
i googled success is all about passion. i fall in ure article first page, first result !
i feel ure words. nice work
Imed
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#13 16. July 2009, 5:27 am o'clock |
Thanks Imed. Best of luck to you.
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