Your Passion is Fake
Your Passion is Fake
“There is no greatness without a passion to be great, whether it’s the aspiration of an athlete or an artist, a scientist, a parent, or a businessperson.” - Anthony Robbins
In the entrepreneurial ecosystem we hold passionate people above all others. We exalt the passionate ones as the leaders who will change the world, who will disrupt the world, who will bring that passion to the masses and make the world a better place.
Yet, a truly passionate person is close-minded, unable to listen to others and blinded by that passion to drive only actions that feed that passion.
Which means, yes, your passion is fake.
Passion:
- Strong and barely controllable emotion.
- A state or outburst of such emotion.
Most people don’t feel true passion. They are not stuck in a state of barely controlled emotions. Yet, because we speak so strongly (perhaps passionately) about the importance of passion, entrepreneurs have a tendency to feel a need to be passionate. To fake it, and faking it, like most things, leads down a path of opaqueness, where clarity is the most necessary element of success.
“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Perhaps if passion is overkill, then enthusiasm is the answer?
No. Enthusiasm is about feeling joy for what you do. While important, is not a success factor, its not what drives purpose.
Wait, perhaps that’s the answer: Purpose.
If passion is what you do; then purpose is what you are.
“Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” - Helen Keller
Purpose: The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.
We confuse passion for purpose, because passion is visual and exciting and leads to outbursts and angry posts and beautiful lovingly designed sites. It doesn’t lead to changing the world.
Purpose does.
That reality that lives deep inside us that can’t be squelched. That thought that circulates in our brains over and over and just won’t let us go. The truth and clarity of mission, of purpose is what differentiates the Entrepreneurs from the entrepreneurs; the Great from the good, and the real from the fake.
Your passion is fake, but my purpose is unquestionable.