Let’s face it. At some point on the journey, you do require the burning passion to sell your vision to stakeholders, to navigate the complexities associated with the evolution of your idea, and to serve as the fuel that keeps you going when your loved ones deter you from the unknown route that somehow chose you.
Any chance you’ve realized that those who say “follow your passion” are usually already successful? In fact, it’s quite baffling that when most of them fully open up about their journey, you can discern that they’ve rather grown distant from their passions. You see, earlier this week, I felt blessed to have been invited to the Skoll World Forum at Oxford where I heard the stories of social entrepreneurs solving some of our world’s biggest problems. The more I listened, the better I understood that passion is only one part of the success equation. The often overlooked part? Determination. Indeed it’s passion that leads you to identify a gap in the market and work tirelessly to bridge the gap. However, it is determination that eventually enlightens you on whether there is truly a market in that gap.
As a builder, your talents will always differentiate you. In the same way you only build muscle by using it, you build your talents by growing determined enough to use them at their fullest potential. But it’s rather unfortunate that most builders fall into the trap of the passion paradox; they’re always busy but accomplish nothing of great scope. The challenge is the passion that fuels the early stages of building will eventually lead to small wins- no doubt. However, it becomes dangerous when the small wins graduate into a symbol of ultimate success- especially when you’ve been appointed to transform the lives of thousands, millions.
Now fam, bear in mind that sacrifices will be made on your evolution because no worthwhile battle in this life is fought without scars. So know that as you begin to dilute your passion with your determination, your earliest believers may slice you with their words and pierce you with their actions. The good news is the pace at which you decide to evolve is only yours to make.
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