October 22, 2003
Pursuing That Which We Don't Want
My very close friend and former business partner, Cal, made a post about the corporate interviewing process he is going through. A process he is going through even though he knows he will reject the job if he is offered one. At the risk of being non-political, I'm going to completely disagree with Cal. At the risk of being more non-political, I'm going to be more frank than I normally am and perhaps alienate some people.
I believe that people too often pursue that, which at some core level is not right for them and at some obvious level is not exciting for them. I think people do this for a few reasons:
- To prove that they could succeed in the conventional way.
- To "feel" like they are doing the right thing.
- To pursue a 'safe' path so a passionate, but 'risky' path could be pursued in the future.
While some people try out something they're not passionate about, and then pursue a life of passion. I think many people, unfortunately, follow this path for years and maybe even a life. I personally feel that the best way to be successful is to find your passion, pursue it, and follow it even as it evolves.
Today, I went to another RoadTrip Nation event to watch the screening of their newest documentary where three students take a 21-day road trip to interview very successful individuals. What seemed common among all of the inviduals was that they were willing take on "dedicated poverty". In other words, once these people graduated, they were willing to take on "ramen-noodle (sp?)" lifestyles so they could pursue their passion. And as a result of pursuing their passion, they excelled. And as a result of excelling, they became successful on their own standards and society's standards.
I believe two basic ideas:
- If people spent less time being busy on stuff they're not passionate about, they would have more time for stuff they are passionate about.
- If people spent less time on items that aren't very valuable to them, they would have more financial freedom.
If people didn't spend so much time and money on stuff that isn't important, they would have more time to pursue what they really want.
I learned the power of this when I took a semester off. After 13 years of getting up at 7:00am to catch a yellow school bus and take classes that mostly weren't appealing, I decided that I needed a break. Although A's and B's made mom happy, I stopped blaming boring classes on myself. Memorizing and getting by wasn't enough. Taking a semester off was difficult because everybody told me I shouldn't. My mom spoke VERY strongly with her words (yelling) and actions (not supporting me with rent/food money).
In the end, taking the time off was one of the best decisions I ever made. I dramatically decreased my expenses, but I pursued my passion 24/7 doing whatever the hell I wanted, when I wanted to and ironically choosing to write a book, when writing was always my worst subject.
After this taste of freedom, I decided to dedicate myself to pursuing my passion 100%! Looking back, I've done pretty well, but not 100%. Cal's entry renewed my vigor.
Posted at October 22, 2003 10:55 PM
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Your thoughts on the subject ring true, however here is the difference between your sentiments and my reality: my mood shifts radically on almost a weekly basis. One week I will be convinced that I want to dedicate myself to a life in academia, another week I will be convinced that I need to be working in TV, another week I will decide that I should become a professional writer, and, some weeks, I feel like I would really enjoy the challenge of working in business. Michael and I both have a knack for business, and strategy consulting is a great way to learn the skills that could make a difference if you decide to strike it out on your own. In fact, that is all this company I am interviewing with does, it helps CEOs plan business strategy. I used to love doing that with our start-up. Anyway, because of these rapid shifts in my mood, I have sagely decided that I am going to try for as many opportunities as possible (i.e. corporate recruit, apply to grad school, try to sell another book, and look for media jobs), and then take a good amount of time to choose from among the options that I end up being offered. My biggest fear right now is that a short-term shift in my mood will close the door to an opportunity that in the long-run would really make me happy. This week I happened to be in a mood that was anti-business, so I blogged negatively about the experience. Next week I might feel different. Maybe not. The key is, when it comes to make a careful decision about what future will make me happiest, I will have the security of knowing that I didn't prematurely shut out any potential options. Besides. I think interviewing is fun. It is such a strange, wierd, unique experience, I would feel remiss if I left school without ever saying I got a glimpse of it. Maybe I could write an article about the process?
Hey Cal,
Great comments. I competely agree that keeping one's options open is very important.
Unrelated to your particular situation, but more related to making major career decisions, your entry triggered me thinking about people (including myself) sometimes settling in life.
I personally believe that it is worth closing off options that you aren't passionate about (after exploring them), because there can be major costs to holding them open or settling for ones you're not passionate about. From my experiences, I would say that pursuing what one is passionate about leads to better options and more success in the future.
For example, by pursuing your passion, you will attract people and knowledge related to your passion. This knowledge about the world and yourself in addition to people, will gradually reveal new and improved options that you can't see right now.
I really agree. Now that I have had my official exploration of the corporate recruiting world, I can say I am done exploring that world, and am happy closing that door tightly. Here are words from my father which I think is very sage:
it's a good time to think about which of
these paths you are most interested in taking...the key is match, match,
match...what's the role in the world that best matches your strengths? i can
think of several other than a doctrinaire, standardized consulting role, no
matter how selective and high paying it is...besides, if you were really
interested in consulting, i can see you starting your own consulting firm
rather than squeezing yourself into someone else's already figured out
approach.....
