Follow Your Dream or Follow The Path?

Off Topic
41

[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Unfortunately, in life, sometimes you have to do things you don’t give a shit about to pay for the things you do give a shit about. The path less traveled is less traveled for a reason. Can you be successful at something you are “passionate” about, sure. That’s every entrepreneurs dream. What’s their success rate? [/quote]

Yes that’s true. But doing something you don’t give a shit about as a career sounds like a recipe for disaster. We all have to do things we don’t want to do, I’m not saying you should avoid things you don’t want to do. But, your job will be a rather large part of your life. I guess it depends. If you feel having a plan with a linear path is better for you then do that. If you accept the risk of not taking the conventional path, but think you’ll be happier then do that. [/quote]

While I can’t speak for where he was going with that statement… I’ll give you an example.

I work in the software industry, so I have several programmer friends. Some of them have really good ideas, and build stuff on the side. The problem is… their passion is writing software, not in selling that software.

If they stuck purely to what they’re passionate about (as they do), the won’t have any customers, won’t make any money, won’t profit unless they do the stuff they absolutely hate (dealing with customers, making sales, making compromises, etc.). To them, this is stuff they don’t give a shit about, and as such, they never are successful with their side projects.

Hard work is hard work. You can be passionate about parts of it, but by and large, most of the work is just work… shit work or otherwise.

42

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Unfortunately, in life, sometimes you have to do things you don’t give a shit about to pay for the things you do give a shit about. The path less traveled is less traveled for a reason. Can you be successful at something you are “passionate” about, sure. That’s every entrepreneurs dream. What’s their success rate? [/quote]

Yes that’s true. But doing something you don’t give a shit about as a career sounds like a recipe for disaster. We all have to do things we don’t want to do, I’m not saying you should avoid things you don’t want to do. But, your job will be a rather large part of your life. I guess it depends. If you feel having a plan with a linear path is better for you then do that. If you accept the risk of not taking the conventional path, but think you’ll be happier then do that. [/quote]

While I can’t speak for where he was going with that statement… I’ll give you an example.

I work in the software industry, so I have several programmer friends. Some of them have really good ideas, and build stuff on the side. The problem is… their passion is writing software, not in selling that software.

If they stuck purely to what they’re passionate about (as they do), the won’t have any customers, won’t make any money, won’t profit unless they do the stuff they absolutely hate (dealing with customers, making sales, making compromises, etc.). To them, this is stuff they don’t give a shit about, and as such, they never are successful with their side projects.

Hard work is hard work. You can be passionate about parts of it, but by and large, most of the work is just work… shit work or otherwise.[/quote]

I agree with that. You need to do what you need to do in order to get connections to help you later on. What I’m saying is, should you give up totally on what you have interest in for the sake of money? Doing a job just to do it. No care for it really.

43

[/quote]

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:

[quote]1 Man Island wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

Define ‘passion’.
[/quote]

Interesting… I was thinking defining “prosper” was more important.[/quote]

As for passion, it’s a strong almost uncontrollable emotion towards something. If you have a passion for something, wouldn’t it make it that much easier to dedicate time to it? The more time you dedicate, the better you get at your craft. The better you get, the more chance you will find some sort of success with it.[/quote]

And this is why it affects decision making.

Profiting from something does not even require liking it. It involves many more factors which have nothing to do with passion.

If you aren’t the type of person that can find the personal motivation to dedicate the same effort to something you don’t like as something you have passion for, and want to tread off the beaten path to find success, you will not find it.
[/quote]

This way of thinking is exactly what i just wrote will prevent you from finding success.

I never wrote that. Not once. Because i have done it.

They would be exactly where they are now.

And some author will be writing about their exploits without the intricate details on how they actually succeded but, instead, tell people like you that all they had to do was follow passion and put in hard work instead of having a well designed game plan for every single move they made. And you will believe him.

[/quote]

No one is saying to go into anything blindly with no plan. That’s not what I’m getting at at all. That’s not even what the book is about. Having a game plan to get where you want to be is part of being successful. But, at some point you might have to do some unconventional things that may or may not work. This book was VERY detailed. Giving lots of background information on each person that was talked about. People like me?? Just come out and say you think I’m stupid.

44

[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:
What I’m saying is, should you give up totally on what you have interest in for the sake of money? Doing a job just to do it. No care for it really.[/quote]

It depends on the scenario.

If the option is do that or be homeless, it’s a pretty easy decision.

If following your passion means you have to stop going out to eat, sell your BMW, and move to a smaller house… well, it depends on what you value more. Both options are really pretty good.

Case in point: one of the top engineers in my company was passionate about brewing beer. He worked here, did a great job, was good at his work. Then he left and opened a local brewery. Neither was a bad gig.

45

[quote]Aggv wrote:
thread jack

Does anyone else get irritated when meeting someone new(usually women) and 2nd thing they ask is “what do you do?”

i work like everyone else, how about asking “what do you like to do”. You’ll learn a lot more about someone with that question. < usually my response verbatim. [/quote]

Dude…bitches be trippin

46

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:
What I’m saying is, should you give up totally on what you have interest in for the sake of money? Doing a job just to do it. No care for it really.[/quote]

It depends on the scenario.

If the option is do that or be homeless, it’s a pretty easy decision.

If following your passion means you have to stop going out to eat, sell your BMW, and move to a smaller house… well, it depends on what you value more. Both options are really pretty good.

Case in point: one of the top engineers in my company was passionate about brewing beer. He worked here, did a great job, was good at his work. Then he left and opened a local brewery. Neither was a bad gig.[/quote]

That’s a great way to put it. Agree 100%, it just depends on you really.

47

[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:
[/quote]

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

[quote]SirTroyRobert wrote:

[quote]1 Man Island wrote:

[quote]dt79 wrote:

Define ‘passion’.
[/quote]

Interesting… I was thinking defining “prosper” was more important.[/quote]

As for passion, it’s a strong almost uncontrollable emotion towards something. If you have a passion for something, wouldn’t it make it that much easier to dedicate time to it? The more time you dedicate, the better you get at your craft. The better you get, the more chance you will find some sort of success with it.[/quote]

And this is why it affects decision making.

Profiting from something does not even require liking it. It involves many more factors which have nothing to do with passion.

If you aren’t the type of person that can find the personal motivation to dedicate the same effort to something you don’t like as something you have passion for, and want to tread off the beaten path to find success, you will not find it.
[/quote]

This way of thinking is exactly what i just wrote will prevent you from finding success.

I never wrote that. Not once. Because i have done it.

They would be exactly where they are now.

And some author will be writing about their exploits without the intricate details on how they actually succeded but, instead, tell people like you that all they had to do was follow passion and put in hard work instead of having a well designed game plan for every single move they made. And you will believe him.

[/quote]

No one is saying to go into anything blindly with no plan. That’s not what I’m getting at at all. That’s not even what the book is about. Having a game plan to get where you want to be is part of being successful. But, at some point you might have to do some unconventional things that may or may not work. This book was VERY detailed. Giving lots of background information on each person that was talked about. People like me?? Just come out and say you think I’m stupid. [/quote]

You are not stupid. You are young and inexperienced, which makes you susceptible to drawing wrong conclusions from the wrong sources.

48

Go watch The Wrestler. Living life on your own terms can come with a very high price. For some people, no price is too high. But ultimately, that’s for you to decide.

49

I’d also recommend reading Greene’s 48 Laws of Power, if you haven’t already.

You can follow that up with Machiavelli’s The Prince and his Art of War (not Sun Tzu, but Machiavelli). And then MCDP 1, since it’s a good introduction to Clausewitz without actually reading Clausewitz.

Passion is useful, but you need more than that. The “game plan”, as dt79 said. Those books will help frame stuff better.

50

[quote]LoRez wrote:
I’d also recommend reading Greene’s 48 Laws of Power, if you haven’t already.

You can follow that up with Machiavelli’s The Prince and his Art of War (not Sun Tzu, but Machiavelli). And then MCDP 1, since it’s a good introduction to Clausewitz without actually reading Clausewitz.

Passion is useful, but you need more than that. The “game plan”, as dt79 said. Those books will help frame stuff better.[/quote]

I’ll write those down and be sure to check them out. Thank you.

51

Plan A. Follow your passion. If you can find your passion in life and able to follow it to a successful career in it? Then great! If it doesn’t work out?

Plan B. Have a passion for what you do. Create it somehow. For example:

Boss: “hey Bob I am going to need you to give me a TP60 report on that account you closed on”

You: “Gotcha” But, then here is the tricky part. You tell yourself. “you know what? I am going to give him the most badass, fucking awesome TP60 report his eyes have ever seen. Watch me make this TP60 report my bitch. You here that TP60 you’re going down! On paper. and into my bosses hand”

52

One Word: Plastics

53

[quote]mbdix wrote:
You: “Gotcha” But, then here is the tricky part. You tell yourself. “you know what? I am going to give him the most badass, fucking awesome TP60 report his eyes have ever seen. Watch me make this TP60 report my bitch. You here that TP60 you’re going down! On paper. and into my bosses hand”

[/quote]

What do you do when you’re boss does not even look it, and nobody gives a shit? Eventually you’ll also stop giving a fuck.

54

[quote]LoRez wrote:

Machiavelli’s The Prince and his Art of War [/quote]

i have never read this but my buiness partner has carried it around with him for years like a bloody bible.

55

[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Go watch The Wrestler. Living life on your own terms can come with a very high price. For some people, no price is too high. But ultimately, that’s for you to decide. [/quote]

Interesting… my take away was about how men whore themselves out too, just in a different manner from woman… it was all about selling their bodies.

Also, just to represent the passion side to the argument, you might want to check out The Alchemist.

56

[quote]Aggv wrote:

[quote]mbdix wrote:
You: “Gotcha” But, then here is the tricky part. You tell yourself. “you know what? I am going to give him the most badass, fucking awesome TP60 report his eyes have ever seen. Watch me make this TP60 report my bitch. You here that TP60 you’re going down! On paper. and into my bosses hand”

[/quote]

What do you do when you’re boss does not even look it, and nobody gives a shit? Eventually you’ll also stop giving a fuck.[/quote]

You’re not doing it for them. You are doing it for yourself. That’s the key.

57

[quote]mbdix wrote:
Plan A. Follow your passion. If you can find your passion in life and able to follow it to a successful career in it? Then great! If it doesn’t work out?

Plan B. Have a passion for what you do. Create it somehow.

[/quote]

A lot of people are happy with Plan C as well: go to work, do your job well and leave it at work, go home and do something else you like/have a passion for.

Some things just have no financial payout. For example, let’s say you love some sort of super obscure type of music. You play it, have 100s of albums, but the most you could ever really hope for is to DJ on community radio. You would still be happy, engaged with the small community with similar interests, feel like you’re making a difference by spreading the music, but you would still need to go to work on Monday and make that report.

58

[quote]1 Man Island wrote:

[quote]mbdix wrote:
Plan A. Follow your passion. If you can find your passion in life and able to follow it to a successful career in it? Then great! If it doesn’t work out?

Plan B. Have a passion for what you do. Create it somehow.

[/quote]

A lot of people are happy with Plan C as well: go to work, do your job well and leave it at work, go home and do something else you like/have a passion for.

Some things just have no financial payout. For example, let’s say you love some sort of super obscure type of music. You play it, have 100s of albums, but the most you could ever really hope for is to DJ on community radio. You would still be happy, engaged with the small community with similar interests, feel like you’re making a difference by spreading the music, but you would still need to go to work on Monday and make that report.[/quote]

Right.

59

[quote]Aggv wrote:

[quote]mbdix wrote:
You: “Gotcha” But, then here is the tricky part. You tell yourself. “you know what? I am going to give him the most badass, fucking awesome TP60 report his eyes have ever seen. Watch me make this TP60 report my bitch. You here that TP60 you’re going down! On paper. and into my bosses hand”

[/quote]

What do you do when you’re boss does not even look it, and nobody gives a shit? Eventually you’ll also stop giving a fuck.[/quote]

The last part is a choice. You don’t have to stop giving a fuck. I mean, “not giving a fuck” is pretty contagious, but you don’t have to give into it.

There are companies out there where people do care, and they make a point of only hiring people who actually give a fuck. Granted, these can be few and far between, but they’re out there. For whatever skills you develop by actually caring when nobody else does, there’s almost always a buyer out there who will pay you for that.

60

[quote]mbdix wrote:

[quote]Aggv wrote:
thread jack

Does anyone else get irritated when meeting someone new(usually women) and 2nd thing they ask is “what do you do?”

i work like everyone else, how about asking “what do you like to do”. You’ll learn a lot more about someone with that question. < usually my response verbatim. [/quote]
Dude…bitches be trippin[/quote]

If you’re out socially and someone asks you what you do, look at them sincerely, pause a beat, and reply, “In case of what?”