I've been reading Gary Vay-ner-chuk's book Crush It! and there was a line in there that says business is not only about making money. Gary says that something is wrong with you if you think otherwise. I've had this discussion before with my very good friend @Jahriv. He shares the views of Mr. Vaynerchuk and believes that business should be rooted in passion with money being the side effect of that passion. I still tend to disagree with this theory. I believe that the only reason for a "business" is to generate revenue and it is possible for someone to look at the cash in the bank as the only reason for being in that business.
Why is passion important?
- Motivation is derived from passion. We all know someone who sits in a cubicle ruing the fact that their higher ups rake in all the profit while they slave away at their tasks. The successful people among us usually like what they do, this allows them to go to work with the "can do" attitude, which in turn, usually, translates into success in their career path.
- Passionate people are excited about the thing they are passionate about, they spread the word, they try to infect you with it as well. Which can't be a bad thing in business.
How can one truly do something well without passion?
- Motivation can also be derived from other sources. People can do things simply out of necessity. For instance, Gary ended up in the wine store founded by his parents because he had to. His passion at that point was something else, however he still successfully built the business into a multi-million dollar wine empire.
- Simple twists of fate. I had my heart set on becoming a Chemical Engineer but a clerical error put me in the department of Natural Sciences at college so I chose Computer Science, not because it was what I wanted to do but because of the available choices at the time it was the one most likely to provide me with a decent job and potentially a decent life. I believe I do my job well and I do it because I'm good at it and the pay is good.
In the end though, it comes down to the individual, depending on circumstances you should find the right motivation for whatever you decide to do. If you find a niche market for slug farming and are sufficiently motivated to work hard and do what it takes to be the best slug farmer then you will succeed. But let's not kid ourselves, if your dream is to buy the New York Jets, then you are only growing your business so you can have the money to buy the Jets. I don't think that can be termed passion.
I may be wrong, since I'm obviously not on the level of success with Gary. Do I have to find a passion for what I do? Or maybe the problem is that I'm not doing what I want to do but what I have to do? Is the source of motivation the difference between mediocre and excellent?
