Passion and Profit: Do You Really Know What That Means?
Check if you are honest with yourself!
Passion and profit — that’s said flippantly.
Passion? Heard it a thousand times.
Profit? Heard ten thousand times, especially in empty promises.
Passion and profit. Emotion? Zero. Just a slogan.
Really just a slogan?
What is passion?
I have received many different answers to this question:
- what I like to do most
- when I am really in love
- a hobby that I could talk about all day long
and the like.
Is that passion? In my eyes, no.
I think passion is not “something.” Passion is not a “thing.” Passion is a very specific feeling that a situation can give you.
An experiment:
Close your eyes.
You’re on the beach of this small, secluded cove on a balmy summer night. The moonlight makes the small waves glisten. The sand beneath your feet is still warm. You are leaning against a palm tree, and a light wind blows over your face.
Now imagine the hottest, most irresistible person you can think of spontaneously.
This person is standing close in front of you with their head slightly bowed. The flash of their eyes hits you like a lightning bolt, their eyes hold your gaze and you can feel your heartbeat all the way to your neck. You are trapped and never want to be freed.
The world around you disappears, and you don’t care.
The lips of your counterpart approach your neck. You can feel the breath, but they don’t touch you. They move away again, and your counterpart’s short, sideways pointing head movement asks you to come along.
That look … a feeling runs through you, boiling hot down your spine from the back of your neck.
Freeze this moment! Keep this feeling! Don’t let it go! Never let it go!
This feeling is passion.
And no, it’s not a feeling that only appears in the experiment I just described — that’s just an example that works equally for pretty much everyone 😉.
Passion is something you can’t escape. It comes abruptly. You can’t bring it about willfully, it comes all by itself.
And you are addicted to this certain kick that this situation brings.
Many people talk about doing things out of passion. That can be true, but often it’s not.
How do you know if it’s a real passion?
It’s not just something you particularly enjoy doing.
Something about the activity gives you that comfortable feeling in a certain place.
Your thoughts revolve around it. Around this moment that gives you the kick — over and over again. It puts a smile on your face.
You want to do more of it to amplify the thrill.
You look forward to doing it again.
You’re willing to put other things aside for it without a second thought.
You make it your priority.
THAT is passion.
Everything else is just a hobby.
What is profit?
Many people associate profit only with monetary gains. If it brings in cash, then it’s “profitable”.
However, this is only half the truth. Actually, that is only the pragmatic part.
Profit is much more than money. Profit is the experience you gain along the way. Profit is contacts you make, people you meet who can steer your own path in entirely new directions. Personal profit is the inspiration you take with you, ideas that arise, and opportunities that open up.
Profit is learning and growing from challenges. As a result, profit is becoming a better self.
Money is a resulting side benefit.
Let’s put it together.
Passion and Profit:
The desire to grow personally through a genuine passion and to do something that not only gives you that all-encompassing good feeling but, in the best case, also brings in the money to stop worrying about the boring things of everyday life.
Together we are stronger
Sooner or later, you want to share your passion with someone.
Get more out of it and increase the thrill. Gather new impulses. And earn money with it.
Family and friends are usually not good advisors in this. They can’t help it. They simply don’t share our passion (if they do, congratulations!).
We look elsewhere for like-minded people.
Each of us has joined interest groups in our lives. Small ones or larger ones, offline or online. It basically doesn’t matter. The idea is always the same: together, we can achieve more. Can, yes, in theory. In practice, however, this often doesn’t work because, in the end, everyone is just cooking their own soup, and honest communication is lacking.
Common ground looks different.
It is based on mutual respect, equal eye level, and the willingness to ask for and accept criticism and tips and try to learn from them. And — almost most importantly: interest in the work of others. Egoism must have just as little place as arrogance.
If all these things are right, nothing stands in the way of living out your passion!
This is part 3 of a 10-day Medium story sprint we are running in the Passion & Profit community, and we would love to see you there!
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