Passion is Overrated

Commitment is not.

Dima
3 min readFeb 13, 2014

Commitment is becoming the new currency.

Along with reputation and credibility, commitment is the number one trait we look for in someone before considering working with them.

We are inevitably moving towards the world where the most important question to ask becomes:

“Will they be committed enough?”

Our world is getting smaller.

Assessing whether one is capable of getting the job done is something we get better and better at.

Understanding what should be accomplished in order to succeed is something we do better and better.

Knowing where to find people who can be of help along the way is a problem that nowadays can be more or less considered solved.

Commitment, in its turn, becomes the key ingredient.

But there is the trick.

Where commitment is currency, passion is bond.

And know well what happens to the markets when too many bonds are issued.

Hint: They collapse.

Small bonds are helpful and healthy.

They increase one’s purchasing power. They can be used as a leverage to grow projects. They are indicative of stable economy and established trust.

Large bonds are big red flags.

The Ponzi scheme in action. Often they are the signs of hype, bubble and a soon-to-come disaster.

When counting on passion, don’t let bonds go beyond the size that can be safely handled.

Genuine passion is an overpower.
Passion incepted is a time bomb.

Charismatic people are “experts” at making others passionate.

… people, who would be persuading you to do something for them, are, in their turn, well trained in making you lower your defense and follow your intuition instead …

… people around you will try to abuse this fact. It would benefit you greatly if you are able to identify those “experts” and force them to play on your field of rational reasoning and critical thinking.

Today I can elaborate on this thought from my very first, very long and very boring blog post.

Calling out for passion is nothing but a way people admit they are out of rational arguments.

Unfortunately, human beings are still finding it hard to not react to the old “nothing but a little chicken” argument. Sigh.

All I can do is to wish us to Live Long and Prosper.

Do not let people make you passionate.
Wait until you
become one.

On the one hand, it is great to be driven by inner passion. For focused, creative people this might well be the best way to live.

Fact is, it is so great that passionately moving forward is a state close to an euphoria. Difficult to acknowledge once into it.

On the other hand, it feels miserable to realize that the passion was not natural but imposed. The ingenuity of everything will always make its way back around.

We deserve more than being drawn into becoming passionate about something only because the idea has been a high-quality sale.

Instead of getting addicted to fake, imposed values people around are quick to sell us, I would like to encourage each and every one to deeper search within ourselves and to find what we would genuinely wish to be doing.

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