We all have read it or heard it from the greats. Find your passion before starting any business. Do what you love. Do what you’re passionate about.
I’ve been contemplating these thoughts the past weekends.
If you ask me what my passion is, I have so many things in mind. I love music; I love writing and scribbling. I love solving problems and innovating. I enjoy spending time with my family and kids.
I often ask, especially with people I just met, what makes you get up in the morning? Most of us, get up because it is an obligation. The passion for doing your obligation. That’s a little tricky because doing what you need to do requires some sense of motivation.
Mark Cuban says, “The things I ended up being really good at were the things I found myself putting effort into. A lot of people talk about passion, but that’s really not what you need to focus on. You really need to evaluate and say, ‘Okay, where am I putting in my time?'”.
“Because when you look at where you put in your time, where you put in your effort, that tends to be the things that you are good at. And if you put in enough time, you tend to get really good at it,” explains Cuban.
He is talking about self-awareness. You may be passionate about basketball, but if you’re not genetically designed to be athletic, then you’ll end up a failure.
So why am I writing this anyway?
I am writing this for the young people. You need not be overthinking about what your passion really is. When I was in my 20s, I attempted most of the hobbies in the hobby list in Wikipedia. Some I found boring, some are interesting, but I didn’t pursue, but some come back to me naturally. It is okay to fail, and if you are in your 20s, you still have forever to figure it out.
Now that I am nearing my 40s, I figured I am still passionate about a lot of things and those I still pursue. It just comes to me. Like writing, playing the piano or guitar on weekends, spending time with the kids, photography, and business. Mark Cuban is right. I just followed my effort. How do I maintain it? I just do it mindfully and just have fun.