The Zen of Success – Passion
Let me start by saying, there are a lot of jobs and careers that you do for money, careers which offer both money, plus the promise of advancement, and callings, which are those things you just emhave/em to do. Americans have on average 12 different jobs and four different careers over their lifetimes and the very successful among us, in most measurements have fewer, as I believe it’s because they’ve have both discovered their individual callings or their empassions, /emand just as important, stick to them, and experience shows there is a great financial advantage to that path. The best way for you to find your passion, is start by asking yourself, “What is it people say I do well, and what am I doing with my time?”
In addition, there’s a question that for many generations everyone seems to struggle with at some point in their life, and that is, “Is it better to be a Renaissance man or woman and be emgood/em at a lot of different things or to be laser-focused and really emgreat/em at one specific thing?”
To be honest, the “jack of all trades” question is something I’ve struggled with for a long time because I think like most of us I love the idea of being a generalist, really enjoying the act of creativity, and it helps that I happen to pick new things up quickly, and during the past several years, I’ve taken up entrepreneurship, blogging, always enjoyed music, sports, learning a smattering of languages and understanding cultures and making friends the world over.
Understand that jumping from one thing to the next or becoming moderately talented at a lot of different things is really exciting, because it keeps the brain stimulated, and makes for interesting conversation and a very adventurous life, but the problem is that what makes for an interesting life doesn’t necessarily always make for a lucrative, or even successful career.
strongWhy Focus is So Important in Work/strong
If you’re drawn to doing a lot of different things like I am, it’s probably because you enjoy the rush you feel when learning and trying something new, and understanding that the ‘a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle” rel=”nofollow”Pareto principle/a’ applies here, especially if you might be able to learn 80% of a skill in 20% of the time it would take to master it, and trust me, that such a quick progress is both addictive and fun.
In your work, however, jumping from one job or career to the next doesn’t necessarily pay off, as you unfortunately will most certainly end up competing with people who have focused on developing one thing for much longer than you have, and those people will eventually become really emgreat/em at doing that one thing.
Now you will lose in a highly competitive marketplace if you’re only emgood/em at that one thing, and the things you’re also emgood /emat, but not emgreat, /emalthough interesting to talk about, probably won’t help you land jobs or customers.
That’s why the focus that results from your passion is so important in your work, and by focusing on doing one thing, you not only give yourself a shot at putting in the effort to become amazingly great at something, but you also make it easier for potential customers or employers to see you as “the one who’s really great at that thing you do.”
