Misplaced Business Passion

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Advice about business passion usually comes from those most qualified. They’ve not only achieved meteoric rise in careers with businesses no one else would dream possible, but they want us to know that passion is what made it possible. They are our success hero’s and role models to emulate.

Their stories of long, lonely hours invested and not knowing if anything would ever come to fruition captures our imagination. We marvel at their perseverance in the face of rejection, and the failure of those who felt they were wasting their time.

They give courage to dream big and go out and find our passion. This passion that excites and consumes us; this passion that fills us with the emotion of elation and sense of fulfillment; and this passion that motivates us to take action and to abandon the old and create a new business identity for ourselves.

However, as exciting as it is to discover our passion and want to live our passion, when it comes to business we often misplace passion by making it the “primary” success principle.

There are a few things to consider before you start with a business passion.

  1. Your passion is an intense personal emotion which may be hard to explain logically to others.
  2. Not every passion is a viable business.
  3. Passion is the big idea, the vision; it’s not your business plan.
  4. Passion can be a place to start a business, but it doesn’t guarantee you a successful business.
  5. Not everyone is able to sustain the same business passion over time.
  6. What makes you passionate about your business today, can decline with the everyday reality of your business.
  7. Passion can motivate you through dire times, but you need the support of a business with meaning and purpose as well.
  8. You carry all the passion of your business, and it can become exhausting.
  9. Some businesses thrive on passion, but “… success is a do-it-yourself endeavor.”
  10. Passion is secondary to purpose which gives a business direction, goals and values.

Not everyone will build, or want to build, a business based on passion like a Steve Jobs or a Sir Richard Branson. Their passions can inspire you to discover your own passion whether you decide to turn it into a business endeavor or not.

However, an overt emphasis on passion can leave you feeling guilty about your business for not having a passion or not feeling passionate enough.

It’s comforting to know that your businesses can thrive without passion. First and foremost you are working to fulfill the purpose you have set for your business. What you share and contribute, the problems you solve, the solutions and options you offer, and the challenges you set yourself to grow a better business are deeply rewarding and fulfilling on their own. And, it can be more than enough to make a business successful.

And, sometimes there will a melding between the two – when you’re just outright passionate about your purpose.

Let’s chat below about the role that passion plays in your business.

Resources:

http://eir.dell.com/why-a-passion-based-business-may-be-doomed-to-fail/

https://paidtoexist.com/why-passion-doesnt-matter/

http://sbinformation.about.com/od/startingabusiness/a/passion-for-business.htm

http://biggsuccess.com/2012/09/25/3-differences-between-passion-and-purpose/

http://www.transformationalexpansion.com/blog/?p=456 

http://biggsuccess.com/2013/06/19/does-passion-for-your-business-lead-to-failure/

http://biggsuccess.com/2012/10/09/why-you-should-not-follow-your-passion

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