If You Can't Answer These Questions About Your Passion, You're Not Passionate About It
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Do you have a passion?
I think a lot of people think they do. They might say, "Oh I'm super passionate about this." But when you dig a little deeper, you start to see that passion isn't quite the word you would use to describe what they feel or what they say.
Passion has many definitions, and I won't say that one is better than another. But I will assert that if they can't answer you when you ask the following questions...they're just not that passionate about it.
- Do you spend time actively researching it?
- Do you know the names of at least a dozen people off the top of your head who are active in the field?
- Do you know the history, why things are the way they are?
- Do you know what is expected to develop in the next 5, 10, or 20 years?
- Do you have friends in the field that you regularly connect with?
If someone doesn't know the answers to these or many other questions like these, I'm not sure they're really committed or even that passionate. You don't even need to leave home or get off the couch to answer these questions. Unacceptable.
This might sound mean, but I'm so guilty of it myself that I feel the need to be brutally honest. The other day, when I looked through some recent advances and innovations in technology, I felt so disconnected. I felt that although I had previously heard about a few things, they represented a fraction of what was going on, and I only knew of them at the most basic level of comprehension.
I'm not spending time learning about my passion, immersing myself in it.
People who are passionate about what they do, learn what they can about it. You don't need to live and breathe it everyday, but a hobby is something you check in every now and then. A passion is something you truly seek to improve in.
I was in the gym when this problem came to my mind. There were a few people complaining to each other that they weren't seeing the results they expected. And I could tell why. At that very moment, they were doing the exact opposite of what they needed to be doing to reach the goals they were discussing. If they were passionate about exercise and reaching their goals (and it's fine that they aren't), I'm sure things would be very different.
They would have found blogs about exercise and proper techniques. Magazines and books would be readily visible at their homes. And these books would be bent and wrinkled from actually reading them, not pristine from sitting as coffee table ornaments and conversations starters.
But that's still not enough.
There's always more you can do, whether that's go to conferences, watch documentaries, take classes, or just send an email to an expert in the field.
You don't need to do all of these, but if you're not doing any of these, it's probably a sign.
Take Action:
Take action is a new add-on to posts where I focus in on what you can do to act on the points discussed. It’s one thing to read about something, it’s a whole different thing to actually incorporate it into your life.
What’s one free thing that you can do today to enhance your knowledge about your passion?
- Ryan