Many of you might have probably read about The 10,000 Hour Rule that is closely associated with writer Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers. The principle says that 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” is needed to become world-class in any field. To give you a sense of the actual passing time. If you spend 2 hours a day you hit this in close to 14 years provided you do it every single day. That sounds like a lot of time for many and they are right. It is a lot of time.

What makes people do deliberate practice on something for such a long time?

Many would say it is all about Passion. But my further readings after Gladwell’s Outliers (where I read about it first) tell me that passion might be insufficient to keep on going. You need a purpose along with Passion

Passion is that very personal thing that makes you happy while purpose is something you do and the impact of which is much greater than you

If you do not have both passion and purpose together your ability to keep doing the same thing for long periods will be challenged. I say that because there are so many people in our work force who do a job with neither Passion and Purpose and always think that if only they could land on a job they are passionate about, things will dramatically change. Unfortunately they might not be right.

Another thought is that the same job you do can become a passion if you really look deep into it and search for it. You also need to answer the question, what is your purpose?

Here are a few ways to search for Passion and Purpose in what you currently do. You need to ask yourself.

1. How can you add more value to what you do that will go beyond what is expected from you? Passion is always built upon when you add more value to what you do.
2. How are you impacting the life of other people who work with you? Are you positively changing their life or career? Are you helping them learn and be better at what they do? Are you helping them in balancing their work and life?
3. How is the company you work for shaping the world you work in? How aligned do you feel with the purpose of the company you work for? If not can you align or even build and contribute to it?

Finally all said it might also happen that you might be in a job that you cannot fully connect with. Not on your passion nor on your purpose scale. I have only one thought in this case

Do the best for 8 hours a day and give your best so your bills get paid. Find something you are passionate about and build a purpose on it and drive it all the way.

Then a day will come in your life when your passion and purpose driven side hustle can take care of everything for you. But you need to start Now! There is no time to waste that is cheap. Time gets costlier as time passes.

Categories: Enjoying Life and Work, On Passion

Tags: Career Talk, purpose, Unlock Passion