Forget The Money - Follow Your Passion

by John Maxwell

In his book Making a Life, Making a Living, Mark Albion writes about a revealing study of businesspeople who took two very different paths after graduating from college. Here is what he says:

A study of business school graduates tracked the careers of 1,500 people from 1960 to 1980. From the beginning, the graduates were grouped into two categories. Category A consisted of people who said they wanted to make money first so that they could do what they really wanted to do later—after they had taken care of their financial concerns. Those in Category B pursued their true interest first, sure that the money would eventually follow.
What percentage fell into each category?
Of the 1,500 graduates in the survey, the money-now Category A’s comprised 83 percent, or 1,245 people. Category B risk takers made up 17 percent, or 255 graduates.
After twenty years there were 101 millionaires in the group. One came from Category A, 100 from Category B.
The study’s author, Srully Blotnick, concluded that “the overwhelming majority of people who have become wealthy have become so thanks to work they found profoundly absorbing ….their ‘luck’ arose from the accidental dedication they had to an area they enjoyed.”

When people pursue what they are truly passionate about, it makes all the difference. Passion fills them with energy and desire. It gives them the will to win. And as writer David Ambrose says, “If you have the will to win, you have achieved half of your success. If you don’t, you have achieved half of your failure.” If you want to reach your potential, find your passion.

I believe I have been fortunate because my passion has been my calling and career. Way back at Hillham, I discovered the connection between passion and potential. For almost forty years I have lived off of the energy that comes from loving what I do and doing what I love.

To most people, there’s a big difference between work and play. Work is what they have to do to earn a living so that someday they can do what they want to do. Don’t live your life that way! Choose to do what you love and make the necessary adjustments to make it work in your life. Follow the advice of Confucius, who said, “Choose work you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” The greatest job is one where you’re not sure where the line is between work and play.

(John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold, pp. 45-46)

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many” ~Mark 10:45