Writing: Follow Your Passion?

We see a lot of advice these days about following your passion. Determine what your passion is, pursue it, and you will find happiness. Huffington Post even has a whole section on the subject. It’s a subject usually but not always associated with “Gen Y” or millennials – those who were born roughly between 1980 and 1995. Yet I’ve heard Gen X-rs and Baby Boomers embrace the same idea. It’s usually tied in with the idea of quitting your existing job and pursing that desire or dream that’s been rattling around in your head. 

However the idea got started, the inevitable pushback has followed. “Follow Your Passion is Not a Career Plan,” says Business Week. George Washington University professor Cal Newport says it’s bad advice. Mashable reposted the Cal Newport video and then elaborated on why it’s bad advice. So did the Minimalists. So did Fast Company. (That Cal Newport fellow has had a considerable influence.)

To continue reading, please see my post today at Christian Poets & Writers.

Greg Darley's "Passion Is Not Enough"

The idea of having passion for what you do or want to be has assumed the status of legend and myth, especially in but not limited to business. Insert “passion” and “business” in the search bar at Amazon.com and you’ll see more than a thousand results.

Passion is big business these days – and we’re not talking about romantic passion. The idea is take your passion – and turn into a business, a mission, a life. Do what you’re passionate about. Live your passion.

Greg Darley, director for Backstage Leadership.org has come along in Passion Is Not Enough: 4 Elements to Change the World to inject some much needed sanity into this discussion of passion, especially as it relates to ministry and mission. No matter what you set your mind to do – a new business, writing, art, music, ministry, mission – passion is not enough, he says. It’s important, but “success,” however defined, requires far more than passion.

In fact, he says, it requires four things: calling, character, doctrine and commitment.

Darley structures the book like a basic, simple road map. It’s not so much a step-by-step guide or instruction book as it is a detailed overview, utilizing stories and examples (from the life of the author as well as the lives of others).

The writing is engaging, straightforward and fast-paced, making the work both a thought-provoking and easy read. And it’s full of common sense and wisdom, wisdom based on life. Though Biblically based, the book is written to appeal to a broad audience.

So if you have something in mind that you know will change the world, remember that passion is not enough. And remember to read this book first.