When Jachimowicz surveyed a class of Columbia Business School MBA students, over 90% of them listed “pursuing their passion” as an important goal for their future jobs. (hbr.org)
Take a walk along the self-help section of a bookstore, and you would find countless books touching on various methods of attaining success with some saying it is passion.
Although necessary, passion is insufficient alone to achieve success. Passion is one of the multiple factors but you also need luck and diligence to work together. Nevertheless, this does not diminish the importance of passion as a fundamental tool in the amalgam of success.
Passion generates commitment to succeed
Passion can generate the willpower and commitment to overcome the odds and strive toward success. Now retired English international football player Sir Bobby Charlton is a prime example. He had not the adroitness of his counterparts George Best and Dennis Law, and neither was he given the same opportunities to hone his football skills. Still, his passion for football was reflected in his discipline and motivation to play football and has won the hearts of many who are inspired by his success.
Credits: Manchester Evening News
Passion generates willpower to preserve through odds
Another example is late soul, R&B, and jazz singer-songwriter Ray Charles. No external influence could do as much as his unconditional love for music which inspired him to venture into music and become a renowned artist despite being visually impaired. Thus, passion drives us to persevere, and bear the pain and sacrifice required for the ultimate prize of success.
Credits: Investor‘s Business Daily
Luck, Besides Passion, is Required For Success
However, passion alone rarely suffices in guaranteeing success. It might be the basic need but success rarely comes if opportunities are neither given nor seized. Thus, we should observe other factors of success such as luck. The Prussian empire was saved by the timely death of Catherine the Great of Russia whose expansionist policies were withdrawn by her heir, Peter the Great. No matter what, luck can create opportunities for success or ease the road one walks to it. Although relatively tenuous compared to passion and other aspects of success, luck cannot be ignored as a factor.
Credits: www.history.com
Diligence, Besides Passion, is Required For Success
Furthermore, diligence is needed to succeed. As the saying goes, ‘Practice makes perfect. Indeed, successful men in history have often displayed unwavering tenacity to pursue their dreams. Franklin D. Roosevelt who guided the United States through World War II had reportedly slept only a few hours nightly to ensure that his goal of a victory for the Allied Forces was achieved, a goal which was eventually realized in 1945. Thus, no matter how much passion one has, one needs to put in the effort to hone one’s abilities needed to succeed.
Credits: www.history.com
Talent, Besides Passion, is Required For Success
Talent is another crucial element that passion cannot do without. The sad reality is that a man who cannot draw a stick figure, albeit with his burning passion for art, would find it challenging to become an artist. Many great men in history are prodigies in their fields and have thus surpassed their competitors. Virtuosos such as the Austrian musician, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, were composing classical masterpieces at the mere age of 5 years old! Therefore, passion and talent go hand-in-hand in attaining success.
Credits: Encyclopedia Britannica
Nonetheless, passion is the foundation for success as all the other factors are somewhat reliant on passion. For instance, passion preserves talent because one would not want to see his talents go to waste by not investing the time and energy to strive towards one’s goals.
The same opportunities by luck may surface if one were to seek out opportunities out of a passion for their work. For example, luck was hardly on the side of Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson who lacked the funding that his college mates from rich families had. However, his passion for innovation and business made him create those opportunities for himself, searching relentlessly until he found a bank that was keen to loan him money. Was he fortunate to have walked into the right bank at the right time? No, he was not but his passion made him seem so.
Credits: Inc. Magazine
Conclusively, passion may be crucial for success but it is a hollow concept without diligence, talent, and to some extent, luck. Passion is a road to success but without the road, it is impossible to reach that destination. However, a road is as good as no road if one cannot or does not bother to take the first step. Passion is necessary for success but inadequate on its own.