Question: Sir, could you reconcile passion, and talent, and how both shape financial success for young graduates.
My Response: I have a passion for football but I have zero talent in football. I generally like sports but I am not good at any. In secondary school, I attended the heats for long-jumps, 100m race, and in all I was always coming last. Then, I made a decision: it may just be a great idea to put more effort in Mathematics, Integrated Science, and those things I was truly talented at.
To this day, I can say that following my talent (here, inborn natural ability), and not necessarily my passion, helps me thrive. And for financial success, passion does not generate financial outcomes automatically. What makes money for you is your talent or skill you have mastered. But if your passion falls within your talent or skill acquired, that is a huge blessing.
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But note this, it has to be in this order: discover the talent or what you are good at, and develop and nurture it, over time, that thing will become your passion, because you have a deep mastery in it. In other words, your talent which is unlocked will boost your personal confidence, deepening mastery and success, and over time, it will converge as a passion. But if you begin with passion, without the necessary talent, you could be frustrated, financially.
It is very possible that people will tell you to follow your passion, and over time, you would use it to unlock financial freedom. That is wrong. If you develop your passion and it cannot earn you income, you have not helped yourself.
In summary, check what you can do really well, focus on how you can develop yourself best in it, and that possibly will cushion more financial stability because you will be successful in it, and people will pay you. But following a talent-less passion will lead to frustrations. Of course, you could be among the blessed: your talent falls into your passion where you have inborn natural ability in something you are passionate about. Good luck.
Commen on Feed:
Comment: “It is very possible that people will tell you to follow your passion, and over time, you would use it to unlock financial freedom. That is wrong.”
The fact is that nothing is right or wrong until the period and character in question is determined. Whether we call it passion, purpose, calling, talent etc they are all expressions of the thinking mind.
Do your own thinking and be cognizant of the “time” “you” have. A skillful typewriter at this age and time is not totally uneconomical so long as there is a measume to demonstrate the skills (but the statistics of viewership may be poor).
Thanks.
My Response: For a fresh graduate (my audience in the piece), you have no freedom to follow passion and be living in your friend’s house when you can use your talent to find a way to earn a living. But over time when you have the financial means, your options open. Remember, I was writing to “young people” and I assume they have no backups.
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Even mediocres can boast of having passion for something, but that doesn’t stop them from being mediocre anyway. To get things done, some form of ability, capability and knowledge must be present. Whether you decide to follow your passion or your passion is following you, never forget how to get the job done, else you will waste away. Put your passion where you can function, if you do not want to be unfortunate.