Passion – The Myth that blocks your Success!

Let’s start this article with a story.

Once there lived a boy from a small town somewhere in Chicago, IL with a glittering dream in his eyes to conquer the silver screens of Hollywood. His fate was similar to others around him as finance was the major obstacle in his way. No matter what, his finances were not ready to support his dream. The boy decided to take up a job in a mall of a cleaner. Slowly and steadily he learned the art of cleaning so well that he became a foreman within 6 months with a rise in his income and few extra bucks as a tip.

Gradually, he started walking towards his dream – to become an actor. Daily he read about movies and acting, saw films, and spoke to people who had an excellent knowledge of the subject. One day he decides to get a portfolio done and starts distributing it among the agencies. Few called, few ignored. Auditions came on his way piled up with struggle. Some rejected him and some told him that they will call back and never called.

And finally, it happened – happened after 2 years but it happened. A small casting agency decided to cast him as a sidekick. His looks and skills were the reason to get him the job. It matched with the requirement of the character. And then the journey began. Months of struggle paid off and dreams were materializing. Work kept him busy and finally, a day came when he was regarded as the victor of silver screens. His interviews were published and he was the new inspiration among youths. One of his interviews said “If you are passionate about something you will get it” and the world followed his words for their dreams.

The rest of the story is about his journey after his first role which was smooth.

Here I would not like to name this person but you can tag any face to him. People like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Michael Jordan, Obama, and many others dedicate their success to their passion. Any face that inspires you will go well with the story.

Now the reason to mention this story? – To reflect the other side of the coin. Basically to see where we stand. A mirror that tells us that we don’t deserve this success. The ultimate fact that says – Heck Yeah! We struggle more, we are equally passionate but still, success is not with us.

Remember the other side of the coin – the failure side – is always demotivating and that too on a huge scale. When our protagonist was talking about success at that time many people who were more talented and passionate than he was were rejected. Great ideas went without funding and honest people like honest trees were cut off easily. Brilliant students without any network were facing loss and people with good control over the right network got a chance to walk on the path of their dreams. To put this blankly – Things were becoming easy for the people who were not in need and tough for the people who were already struggling.

And the fact of life erupted in front of our face laughing at us, mocking at us, and asking us – Where is the passion that gives you success?

Passion, in reality, is an overrated term. We are always inspired by the success of others and take their definition of passion as ours. For many, it works but for most of them, it doesn’t. It a harsh reality that out of 100 application if only one will be funded then remaining 99 has to go home empty-handed. If only one team has to win the cup then the other has to lose – no matter what’s the intensity of the passion. If passion works then everything has to fall in places but nothing does in reality.

We turn to books and videos to find motivation and passion. Books that sell passion are sold in millions quantity but still, nothing works.

It’s a harsh truth of life – passion won’t feed you. How often will you find a person who gave up everything just to become something? Do you think they lack passion? No! They have more than any of us, and still, their tip of tongue won’t taste success.

We are raised with the knowledge that passion is an excellent tool to get you success. Well OK! It is an awesome tool to move you few extra inches compared to others but success? Naah! Just because a college dropout makes a most successful social networking site and brags about passion doesn’t mean that you will be next in the league.

More the intensity of the passion more the chances of you not accepting the failure. Imagine you go for an audition just to waste your time and get rejected. You come back and get back to life. But imagine you going for an audition with high-intensity passion and get rejected – what’s next?

Every rejection breaks you more and passion won’t allow you to go down. Your mind will reach a stage where it will be wise to give up and your passion will force you to push you for the next audition. Your present life will be passing from your hand like sand in the closed fist but you will still keep on going because you are passionate. And one day when you decide to give up, when you decide to accept the fact, when you realize it’s fine to lose, it will be too late. Passion won’t get you back the lost days and time.

To survive one needs – Air, Water, Food, and Proper Sleep. Either of the things goes missing and consider your death is near. In case if air goes missing you will survive max for 5 mins, a week or two in case of water, and some extra in case of food and sleep. Each one has its value to add success to the breath that you take. Everything contributes a small percentage but it’s unwise to say that you only need air to survive or maybe only water.

Passion is on a similar scale. If you think that’s the only thing that makes you successful then you are on a wrong track. It might give you the courage to go the extra mile but again it comes with its limitations. You will need many other factors to get you at the peak. Few internal and some external. A few alone and some cumulative. Few are wise to move towards your dream and the rest are unwise to see your dream going. The sooner you accept this the better the chances of you moving in the right direction.

This blog is an outcome of a long conversation that we had with our few clients and their team members. We love our clients. We, Task Papa want you to grow and break the limits but in the right way and the right direction. No matter who you are – our employees, clients, competitors, or anyone for that matter – your smile is our smile. We aim to be an example for you and to see you as an example but not with an illusion that has given an end to many lives around us with false hope. Let’s break the illusion and let’s understand real life for that will give us what we want or at least will give us enough wisdom to understand what needs to be pursued and what not to enjoy our life.

Don’t fall into the trap of “Passion gives you success” Don’t forget the hungriest stomach has a passion for food and still death toll due to hunger is an all-time high.