THE IMPORTANCE OF
PASSION

Man's desires are limited by his perceptions; none can desire what he has not perceived.

—William Blake, Poet, Painter, and Printmaker (1757–1827)

Follow your joy.

—Joseph Campbell, Mythologist, Writer, and Lecturer (1904–1987)

Just go out there and have fun...If you're having fun, the money will come.

—Willie Mays, Baseball Player, (1931–)

Many of my clients and students get stuck in their career path because they can't figure out what it is they want to do. They think that if they can just figure out what “it” is, then they can get started. So they take tests—lots of tests—to try to find the answer.

If that's where you find yourself, consider reversing the order. Jump into an industry and see how it feels. Are you engaged? Do you feel a kinship with others in the field? Do you get excited about participating in its tasks and events? Are you satisfied at the end of the working day that you've done something useful? Do you look forward to going to work the next day and learning something new? Then keep pursuing it.

Tests are fine, as is reading about something in which you're interested. But while you can read about how to make an apple pie or watch someone else make it over and over again, you need to experience making it yourself to know what it's really like. To use swimming as an analogy, you can look at the water as long as you like, but you have to jump in to feel it. Fortunately, unlike jumping into a pool, when you jump into an industry and it doesn't work out, you won't drown. Besides, just as important as discovering what you do want to do is learning what you don't want to do. Better to try something and find it wasn't for you than to look back years later with regret. (“I always wanted to try being a _____________. I wish I had. Now I'll never know.”) What you think you really want to do may not be the right career path for you. As Garth Brooks sings, “Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”

Don't get paralyzed into inaction either because you're not sure what you want to do or because you're afraid to go after what you think you've always wanted to do. Stop overthinking. From my perspective, well into my sixth (or is it seventh?) career, we have little idea of what—or how many—careers we're going to have. Get in the game and be open to what may come.