Just about everyone you meet nowadays tells you that you need passion about your career, and that passion is everything.
This is complete and utter nonsense.
By definition passion means you have strong emotions about something.
Think of American Idol auditions, the really emotional ones who spout how good they are and how singing is their passion are usually the worst singers aren’t they.
As a friend put it – you might be passionate about movies but it doesn’t mean that you have the first clue how to make one.
You need, knowledge and experience to make anything happen.
Having been through the startup experience I would use different descriptors.
Curiosity is important - you aren’t going to solve problems unless you can work out what the problems are in the first place.
Enthusiasm – means to have an interest in something (which doesn’t have to be passionate)
Persistence – means continuing even when all extrinsic motivations have disappeared and it seems easier to just quit than keep going.
Flexibility – means keeping your eye on the goal, but adjusting the course you take to get there. When your idea of reality doesn’t match the market, you need to change your idea of reality.
Resilience – means the ability to get back up after you’ve been knocked down.
Obsessiveness isn’t a bad trait either as obsessive people can really get into all the details of something and find new ways of doing things, or find out what is not working.
Passion doesn’t last long and it isn’t really that useful – so don’t be like an American Idol contestant who woke up one day and decided they were the talent the world was truly waiting for. Act with purpose instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment