What ‘Doing What You’re Pasionate About’ Really Equals
“Do something you’re passionate about” may be the most commonly repeated business advice for entrepreneurs out there. But what does this actually mean? Why is this important? The practical reasoning behind this advice is in the details.
When you are starting a business it covers you whole and infiltrates every part of your life. When you are starting a successful business it requires your attention like a small baby. It’s the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning and the last thing you do at night. You are trying to change the world with this idea, or at least your community. This business is nothing without you and in the beginning it cannot stand without your help.
When you are passionate about something you put in the extra time on the small details. It’s the difference between pricing your product on assumptions or taking the time to gather data and enter in a confident number. When it’s 5 O’clock and the coffee is wearing off it’s opening up a Red Bull and looking over your contract one last time to change some of the language. Some of the results are unexplainable, or at least to me. When you are passionate about a business you wake up in the morning, grab your coffee, and head right to the computer to analyze spreadsheets. It’s that same feeling that got every 6 year old out of bed at the crack of dawn, running downstairs screaming on Christmas morning. You didn’t set an alarm but somehow your body knew you needed to wake up early, and with excitement.
Do you believe in momentum?
Have you ever watched a game in which one team scores big, takes an interception back for a touchdown, or makes a big play and quiets the crowd. You look at your fiends in the room and you both know ‘The momentum has switched’. There is no calculation for momentum, there is no mark on the scoreboard to account for it, and it will not show up in the box score the next day. But you can feel it, and it is as real as anything. Suddenly you get all the bounces and you are in-sync with your teammates. As your opponent walks off the court dejected with his head down, you’re skipping to the bench, high-fiving all the way. It affects the outcome, there is no quesiton about it.
In business, passion is a greater force than momentum could ever be. Passion widens your eyes, literally. Passion makes cold calling enjoyable because you know your idea is a winner, you just have to find the right match on the other end. Instead of being rejected all day long you know you are just getting closer, you are optimistic. Passion allows you to sell your product because when your audience is looking you in the eyes they see your honest intentions. It comes across as a genuine benefit to them and you are the right person to make it happen. Without passion, a sales agent comes across desperate and grabbing at your wallet. With passion you are relaxed because your intentions are pure. You know this is going to work, it’s just a matter of time.
Passion is energy. Harnessed, and applied with focus it is the difference maker for many businesses. You cannot work 16 hour days for something you are not passionate about. The hard truth for most of us is that working 40 hours a week is not anything to brag about. There are in fact 168 hours in a week. Even if we took away 8 hours a day for sleeping, a 40 hour work week means you’re only working 35% of the time. Sorry, but that’s not that impressive. Imagine the advantage someone working 16 hours a day has over the standard 40 hour workweek. It’s a 180% increase in work time because weekends are not days to binge drink and each nachos, it’s just more time to perfect your craft. Passion is the motivation to put in the time.