Passion, money and chaos

Posted: January 11th, 2010 | Filed under: insights | Tags: personal mastery | No Comments »

I am massive advocate of finding your purpose in life – the one thing that is unique to you and which is your lasting legacy to the world.  Bring that passion into every aspect of your life and live your purpose.  That’s what I tell everyone: family, friends, coaching clients and everyone who reads my blog.  Passion is the fuel of achieving your purpose.  But being passionate without being realistic; then that’s road to penury and chaos.

Sounds harsh?

Example 1.  Watching some chefs on television the other day, their passion for great cooking was so evident.  However it was clear (even without Gordon Ramsey pointing it out) that this passion was not enough.  These chefs weren’t being realistic about the impact that they were having on their co-workers.  Frankly many in their brigades just didn’t like working with them; so limiting their potential.  Or, they were too focused on the food and not thinking enough about the whole experience for their diners; poor service was keeping the customers away.  Again, limiting their potential.  They were getting increasingly frustrated that they weren’t fulfilling the potential they knew they had, and so their behaviour became more ineffective in a downward spiral.  Chaos.

Example 2.  “But the money is SO good” even though I will hate every day of it.  Or, the “Second Life Plan” otherwise known as “I hate this job but when X happens…”  And X never happens.  Actually it’s usually Z, and you lose your job.  Penury.

Chase your passion not money but always be realistic about where you are and how you are doing.

If you are chasing money, you are simply someone who is “doing this job because it pays” or “I’ll bear with this for a bit because they’re bound to recognise my efforts”, and a whole host of other situations you will recognise.  Chase money, and not your passion, and you put an automatic ceiling on what you can earn and the opportunities that will come your way.  Why?  Because you will only ever be someone who can fill a role – and there are plenty of people who can do that.  You won’t be someone who brings their passion to their work, and so who is unique, who shines through, and so who has a value far in excess of most others.

Live your passion every day, love what you are doing.  But if you have no heed of how effective you are being and what your real impact is on the people and the environment around you; that’s where chaos lies.  That’s where co-workers find you impossible to work with, where you delude yourself about how much impact you are making, where you think you’re worth X but they would struggle to pay you Y.  Frustration, unfulfilled dreams, and generally thrashing around to ‘make things work’; simply because you’re not being realistic about how effectively you are bringing that passion to life.

If you are lucky enough to have worked out what it is – follow your passion; always believe that you will find a way to express that passion to the fullest of your potential and make your mark on the world.  But, be absolutely realistic about where you are now; and how you need to BE, and what you need to DO to fulfil your passion.  Do that, and you avoid the chaos.

A personal example:

PASSION
I am absolutely passionate about the transforming power of creativity, and view it as my purpose in life to enrich the world by empowering its creativity.

REALITY
I am not making the impact I could on the world because I am not in regular enough work to bring it to work every day, and my reach beyond work to a broader universe could be far larger.

CHAOS
I wasted months last year just chasing income, trying to find work that I was qualified for; rather than work out strategies and tactics to get the work that only I, uniquely, could do and that people would value enough to pay for even in these difficult times.  I’m avoiding that chaos by focusing on how I add more value than others, and how I can spread my impact (e.g. this post).

Always be passionate, always be realistic, and only create chaos to create something better.

Still chasing money and hoping?