Passion is a Fire

As I’ve been thinking through the questions “how do we choose what to work on” and “what motivates us to work”, I’ve been trying to understand what passion is.

I’ve been struggling to actually define it, but recently I think I’ve come to a pretty solid hypothesis:

Passion is a fire.

Photo by Almos Bechtold on Unsplash

On social media, we see people who have the grindset-mindset: wake up at 4am, cold shower, eat nails without any milk, etc. They make videos and Twitter threads to show it off, pitching that these early morning routines and raw eggs have allowed them to build their lives, wallets, and shredded bodies.

How do they do it? Motivation? Willpower?

One of the things often pitched is discipline. “Just be disciplined bro.”

So we try to replicate what we see on the outside — their cold, hard discipline. But the only fuel we have is a mere spark of inspiration from watching them do it. That fuel is like a few pieces of paper, or a handful of dry twigs. It may burn fairly bright for a short while, but very quickly burns out.

Were they just born with some innate discipline gene, or a massive willpower reserve?

Honestly, I don’t think so.

These people are able to go through that suffering because they have a fuel that’s stronger than their desire to lay in bed. Not the other way around.

The fire is only as strong or lasts as long as you feed it.

The successful people we see are indeed passionate—they have the fire burning. But what is the fuel?
At its core, it’s a competing interest. A value. An identity. A higher purpose. A call. Dharma.

That’s what allows us to be consistent or disciplined in the long term. It’s those things that you can’t help but do, that are tied deeply into who you are.

Screw following your passion, you need to kindle and stoke it.

What’s your fuel?

Personally, a lot of my projects are stacks of pallets. I take a few weeks or months “stacking pallets,” just tinkering with things, not making much progress. When it finally lights, it burns super bright, but extinguishes a short time later.

Instead, I’m going to start choosing those clean-burning, longer-lasting fuels. Start to act on my curiosities unapologetically, and start to turn those into a higher purpose.

How do we cultivate a higher purpose?
Great question. Hopefully, we’ll answer that together. :)