Passion is a very popular word on the web these days and I have been guilty of using it much myself.
It is clear that passion is a required trait as a success factor, but a problem that I have come to realize with all this talk about passion is that it tends to get painted as the sole source of success. Like passion mixed with love is all that is required for a healthy and happy relationship, or that passion for your work is all you need in order to find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Passion is really a success factor…
but what we are forgetting is self discipline. In reality, discipline will always trump passion. It’s like the quite confident brother of passion. It holds its own with passion, but it never gets the attention because passion is such a loud and colorful character (that jerk).
Passion is simply an emotional state. An unstable one for sure. With highs and lows. You may be passionate about an idea, and that passion gives you the motivation to give it a go…but when you hit a wall, you give up. Crushed that your idea failed. Like a small child you just pick up your toys and go home. What you are really missing an really need is discipline. Discipline will help get you over that wall. It is discipline that will figure out a way come hell or high water how to reach success.
Thinking of passion as the only source of success makes sense though.
Passion as seen in my above example, helped to motivate action. Action produces results. Thus, it is assumed that passion = results. Perhaps, but not always. What is always true is discipline = results. It takes personal consistency and self discipline to achieve success long term. Even writing this site for example. I unplug from watching my stats regularly becuase it is such a roller coaster of highs and lows. When things are going great, I feel great. When things are not so great, I feel as such. Instead, I rely on discipline. Taking small step everyday. Constantly and consistently.
Going it alone on passion will set you up for failure because passion is such a fickle emotion, an unreliable power source. Sometimes you’re motivated, sometimes you’re not. Thinking that passion is all that is required for success is no different than thinking than thinking that love is all that you need to ensure a successful long term relationship.
Passion Versus Self Discipline
Since my head is spinning, let me recap my main points
- Passion sometimes produces results
- Discipline always produces results
- Passion sometimes produces action
- Discipline always produces action
- Action always produces results
Therefore, discipline is required for success because it always produces action and action always produces results. Where passion only sometimes produces action which produces results. As such, passion is a great fuel injector, but because of its unreliable nature, it is best to rely on discipline.
Discipline will allow you to take action regardless of your emotional state. When passion is erratic, like a roller coaster with its ups and downs, its highs and lows, discipline will be a nice, steady, reliable and consistent source.
The reason for this difference is discipline is a character trait, where passion is an emotional state.
When it comes down to decision making, you will have a better chance at taking the right course of action with relying on discipline than passion because discipline comes from how you act, where passion is how you simply feel at the moment.
best,
-David