Passion (part 1): Why revealing your passion is crucial to your future success
Article One (of Three) on the fundamental importance of Passion - our most valuable internal resource
Over the last several years, I’ve spent a great deal of time in the company of many extraordinarily successful individuals and talked with them in-depth about their lives.
From gold medal-winning Olympic athletes to billionaire entrepreneurs, I wanted to find out exactly what they believe they did, to become so enormously successful in life.
And one thing that really struck me, was how each of these high-profile individuals would invariably talk about their passion for what they do, and just how important they believe ‘passion’ is, in order to become truly successful.
I remember Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful sailor in the history of the Olympic games, once telling me emphatically:
“…You absolutely have to find something that you are passionate about… If you are not passionate about it, then it’s not right for you!…”
Sir Ben Ainslie, CBE - multiple gold medal-winning Olympic sailor
There is no doubt in my mind that passion will always be a hugely important factor in why many people go on to become so extraordinarily successful in life.
In this, the first of three articles on the subject, I want to explore what we really mean by ‘passion’, the impact it can have on us, and whether we are young or already several years into our careers, how important it is for us to discover it.
Above all, I want to share why I believe that passion is not only one of the most powerful attributes that we can ever possess, but once we discover it and learn how to use it properly, then success in life becomes virtually inevitable!
So, what do we mean by ‘passion’?
First, and not surprisingly, the expression ‘finding our passion’ can, for many, seem a little confusing. It almost sounds like a goal or something to target, as though it’s external to us in a way.
Many commentators will also argue that we should, ‘Just get on with what needs to be done right now’, rather than wasting time looking for our passion, or even thinking, ‘Once I find it, then I can become successful’. Others will tell us we should just forget about passion, and that obsession is more important.
While these may be valid points of view, I think many are missing the point. For me, ‘finding our passion’ actually means something else…
Because passion is fundamentally an emotion and a very powerful one too, that remains dormant for most of the time at the very centre of our being. Passion is something that will naturally reveal itself when the time and conditions are right, and that is the point when we discover it.
Experiencing passion is almost like a natural ‘high’. We all have glimpses of what it feels like from time to time, especially when we are young, but often as adults too. It’s those magical moments when we experience that incredibly warm and uplifting feeling we get when we’re doing something we enjoy immensely, and we’re full of excitement and energy.
But here’s the most important point:
All of us have within us the potential to become truly passionate about something. Our passion is a powerful internal resource that we can all tap into, and benefit enormously from.
So when one says, ‘finding our passion’, it is really more about revealing our passion… and this can happen at any time, for any one of us.
Second, depending on how we may define what ‘success’ means for us personally, it is certainly possible for someone to enjoy a satisfactory and enjoyable life without necessarily being passionate about their work or career. For some, success may be simply to raise a family, provide a comfortable standard of living for them, and their job is just a means to that end. For some, their passion may simply be their kids (which is always great to see)!
For others, they may not necessarily be passionate about their work either, but they might have a passion for other things that they do. It could be a sport they play, travelling, a hobby, or some form of creative activity or art. They manage to balance having a job or a career that they feel ‘Okay’ about, with other activities that they do feel passionate about (which could eventually lead them on to greater things of course) and that’s all fine too.
But for those who want to attain something that goes well beyond this… for whom, establishing a successful career is of huge importance and revolves around much higher aspirations than simply to find a way to be comfortable and secure... For those who want to achieve a truly successful and rewarding life, then finding their passion for what they are doing becomes not only compelling but essential!
The importance of passion
So what is it about passion that is so important? And what can it actually do for us on a practical level?
When we feel passionate about what we are doing, it becomes our principal source of inspiration, motivation and energy.
As Oprah Winfrey once famously said; “…Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you…”
When we become passionate about our work, we naturally start feeling a real sense of enjoyment, excitement and positivity about what we are doing. We can even become intensely emotional about it too, and happy to dedicate a great deal of our time to it.
Passion helps us to focus on what is really important, how to prioritise our activities, and even guides our decision-making. And when we begin to accomplish more because of our activity, our passion gives us a real sense of satisfaction and pride, and a desire to do even more of it!
We start to feel or realise that what we are doing is our purpose. This is what we were meant to do. Our passion then helps us to align our goals instinctively with what needs to be done.
In addition to feeling good about our work, our passion is usually sustained in one of two simple ways:
We see and enjoy on a daily basis the immediate results of what we are doing.
We may be passionate about reaching a particular end goal, and the enjoyment and satisfaction we feel is derived from the progress we make each day towards achieving that goal.
And if the end goal and the steps required to reach it are particularly challenging or demanding, it is our passion that helps to build our persistence and our resilience.
Passion is also incredibly constructive and is a powerful enabler. It fuels our creativity, inspires curiosity and imagination, and nurtures our dreams. Passion empowers us and motivates us. It also stimulates our desire for self-improvement (often to the point of obsession to become better at what we do).
We also become less risk-averse and less fearful of failure. We start to think ‘outside of the box’ more. Our focus also improves.
In fact, when we have a passion for what we do, our whole attitude towards our work changes. Hard work no longer feels like ‘hard work’, it’s something that we simply enjoy doing.
And this is also very important:
People who are passionate about their work, will invariably enjoy the journey as much as the end-goal that they’re seeking to achieve - and what can be better than that?
The science and the history…
So what does science tell us about passion?
Well, surprisingly, it can be quite difficult to nail down a clear scientific definition for passion.
Neuroscience points to the brain’s dopamine system. With the right stimulation to our brain, this evokes feelings of prolonged pleasure and gratification which then contributes to the sense of passion that we feel.
Psychologists often view passion as an extension to ‘Intrinsic Motivation’ - a desire to engage in activities that are inherently rewarding and satisfying in themselves, and not necessarily due to any other incentive or external reward. Passion is then seen as the added intensity to this desire, and with it we feel an extra sense of purpose, importance, and commitment.
But whether we can adequately define passion scientifically or not, the importance, magnitude and impact of Passion historically is simply inescapable.
Think about any beautiful work of art, or a piece of music… think of any great building or structure, invention or engineering feat, or even a great business. Virtually none of these would have been possible without the passion of an individual or group of individuals first.
Passion can drive the human being to accomplish almost inhuman achievements.
So that, in a nutshell, is how we may describe what passion is. But perhaps the most exciting thing here is this:
Passion is not a privilege that is only available to a few - we all have within us the potential, the capacity and capability to feel passionate about something. It is a hugely valuable internal resource. We are born with it and we all have it. And if we can just find a way to reveal it for ourselves, then we will have real power in our hands and a world of possibilities...
And once again, there are many who will argue that once we do discover our passion and learn how to use it wisely, then success and fulfilment in life become almost inevitable.
I will leave you with the words of Ursula Burns - the former CEO of Xerox and one of the most successful business executives in US corporate history. She was also the first black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company. And this is what she once said to me when we were talking about the importance of passion:
“…I think it’s essential to explore and try lots of things, and be flexible.
You have to find that ‘something’ you may really like, that you can eventually love and become passionate about - something that you are willing to dedicate your time to and become really good at.
If you can find it, then I say, go after it!
Because (and this is one thing that I would happily bet all my money on!), I can assure you that if you are really passionate about ‘this thing’ that you are doing, and you work really, really hard at it, and you put all of your energy into it, then you will find success and you will find happiness…”
Ursula Burns - former CEO and chair of Xerox
In our next article in this series of three, we will be covering;
What impact can our passion really have on us once we reveal it, and how can it elevate the trajectory of our journey from a moderate one into a stellar one?
upcoming articles:
Article #2: The three ways passion will catapult your career skyward
Article #3: How to reveal your passion; make this your Number One goal!
