Passion & Purpose: What are they and why do they matter?
I’ve always been interested in the contrasting lifestyles that people lead. And wondering what objective conclusions can be made about those that get to live the lives they live, versus those who feel they have to live the lives they live, has been one of my greatest curiosities. But now that I’ve read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, it has become clear to me that the answer lies in knowing the difference between passion and purpose.
If you objectively think about what our purpose is here on earth, we can conclude that it is to simply perpetuate the continued existence of our species. After all, every plan we make for tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year, is because we expect to still exist at all of those future points in time. And since our collective existence is a team sport in which we’re all on the same team, means that our purpose is to help other people survive and hopefully thrive. Which, by the way, if we focus on thriving as opposed to simply surviving, the former will automatically address the latter (but more on that in a future post). As for passion, it is an energetic feeling that we apply to any activity that we feel can give us the fuel and focus needed to go the distance towards fulfilling our earthly purpose.
When you think about why certain people can’t lose weight, it’s not because it’s impossible for them to do so. It’s because they’re not emotionally up to the task, seeing as how the calculous is very simple: move more, eat less. This isn’t a moral issue, it’s a physics issue. Therefore, when it comes to those who are confused as to if they should be following their passion(s) or their purpose (let alone knowing the difference between the two), it’s because they have yet to figure out if they’re emotionally up to the task of learning how to passionately embrace the kinds of activities (even if it’s not their original passion) for helping them to fulfill their purpose of helping others as stated above. And this my friends is where the rubber really meets the road.
Logic says to pick a target, reverse engineer a process for hitting said target within a specified amount of time, and then stick to a work habit for executing on that process. However, if your current passions don’t seem to fit anywhere within such a scheme after you’ve drawn it out, this is where the emotional reluctance occurs towards letting go of your beliefs about yourself. And the best analogy I can give is the feeling of doubt one might have towards their abilities to find another person who can make them feel as good as the last person they were with before that relationship dissolved. In other words, a person might have a hard time believing that it’s actually possible for anything else in this world to energetically satisfy them like the passion(s) they currently hold. But the irony of it all is that none of us came into this world with ANY of the passions we currently hold. Those passions were developed over time. So if we could do it once, we could do it again by learning to develop other passions that may be more appropriate towards this mechanical purpose we all share (i.e. showing others how to thrive in all areas of life). But it all starts with defining what we want that purpose/vision to look like, and in great detail (think the specificity of MLK’s Dream speech) if we’re to know that we’re actually hitting our target. And THAT’s the part that most of us fail to do! So in paraphrasing Robert Kiyosaki, you have to really dig into the “numbers” when you need to make an unemotional decision about matters that matter the most.
Suggested Takeaways…
a) Leading a life by passion alone is like allowing yourself to be in a boat in the middle of the ocean without a sail, simply because you have a profound preference for the boat you currently have.
b) Passion(s) is for self, purpose is for everyone else.
c) Doing the math (i.e. the “numbers”) means being clear on exactly how you want the look and feel of your purpose to play out. From there, pick a date, plot a course, and become relentless about finding some aspect of the course you can become passionate about. *Hint: If your current passion(s) don’t fit easily into the picture, find as many aspects of the process where you can integrate your current passion(s) so that you won’t be so energetically reluctant to do the work.