In the past several years, the phrase “follow your passion” has become the new mantra for those wanting to “have it all” . . . whatever that means. I’ve heard this phrase uttered, mostly by those (like me, I must admit) who have in the past had difficulty holding or keeping a job, or difficulty earning money from their own business or enterprise. Finding your passion is what you do if you don’t really have any other job to do.
That may sound a bit harsh, but as I said, I’ve been among those shouting this phrase the loudest over a period of several years.
So why am I so down on passion now? Quite frankly, I’m not. I’ve just discovered there are different types of passions, and the ones we think we want the most are usually those that either
- Don’t have a large enough market, or
- Have have the most competition.
When it comes to your market, size DOES matter! If, for example, your passion is about the life and death cycle of the three-toed sloth, those who might pay you for this knowledge would be few and far between. Your options for making a living would be as a biology teacher or a zoology professor somewhere.
As for competition, the ones with the biggest passion usually dominate. So unless you have a passion greater than, say, the most devoted baseball blogger, travel writer, or restaurant critic, it may take you a long time to break in to these markets, if at all.
Following your passion does not mean following in the steps of the “starving artists” who shun earthly rewards for higher feelings or insights. You as a coach can guide others towards finding fulfillment at the same time you are seeking greater financial rewards. Some of mankind’s greatest artifacts were created by those who went for the money.
In the video below, I give a few of the more famous examples and suggest that following the money can, in itself, be a kind of passion!
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Michael — very important point about misdirected passion.
As a coach of coaches, I run into coaches all of the time who believe that those who need them the most are who they want to help. They all that their passion to help those who need them.
Well, I ask all of my clients to divide their target niche into 3 levels of success, unsuccessful, average, and very highly successful, and then ask them which of these they’d rather help. Frequently they pick the one at the bottom because they believe that these people need them, and that will provide a bigger market, and because these people need them they believe that’s an easy sale, and they’d love to help those in serious need.
Surprise!!!! I have found that those at the bottom of the success ladder are there for a reason. One of those reasons is the beliefs they have are the ones that keep them locked at the bottom of the pool. And one of those is that they rarely spend money to get help. Frankly, most of them believe that all they have to do is work harder and they’d be better so they don’t have to hire help. So they don’t.
When I moved to the very highly successful people my sales close ratio went up over 10 times, and it’s because the belief of the highly successful is that they hire people for help, and they are actually out there looking, they have the money and are ready to spend. THE IDEAL CLIENT.
Great insight Alan; thanks for sharing. I’ve found most wealthier people to be great for both business and friendship!
Alan,
Great point and I agree totally that those at the bottom are there for a reason(s), and do not realize or don’t care that their lack of desire, ambition to change, denial and their poverty mentality will always keep them in the same spot. The truly successful are usually ambitious and goal oriented and always looking for an edge over their competition and to get better.
Scott
Atlanta
Thanks Scott!