If You Follow Your Passion, You’ll Be Successful

“Life is a marathon, not a sprint.”

Success cannot be guaranteed by any singular factor. But pursuing your passion in life could be the closest thing to it.

It’s not an overnight solution that requires no muss or fuss though. 

In many cases, a path guided by passion is filled with stress, doubts, and distractions. That’s why going after what you love and care about requires patience, endurance and focus.

In this article, we will discuss the role of passion in the achievement of your goals. We’ll also go over how business owners can recognize their passions, and why failing to factor in your passion for everything you do might prevent you from attaining genuine happiness and long-lasting success. 

Following Your Passion in the Business World

Applying the ‘follow you passion’ principle to business seems to be a straightforward process — at first glance.

It presumes that you already know where your passion lies, and you have a clear plan on what must be done to pursue it. 

But what if you still haven’t found your passion? Or what if you have no idea about how to begin your pursuit?

Some people also don’t believe that this advice works as promised. After all, not every successful entrepreneur is following their passion, so why should you go the extra mile when an easier method works?

This involves asking the more fundamental questions below.

Why Should You Follow Your Passion to Succeed?

Starting and managing a business of your own is tough and nerve-wracking. Uncertainty seems to be present in every decision you make, and the fear of whether you’d earn enough to last another month tends to be a perennial issue for many entrepreneurs. 

The easy way out is to give up the business and look for a stable job that will pay the bills instead.

It may not be what you want for yourself, but continuing your business means going through the same struggles over and over again. 

Business owners who are just doing it for the money tend to fold way too early because they lack one key component: passion. Why?

Passion Will Keep You Going

When you’re passionate about what you do for your business, you can go on and keep trying even if you have gone through one setback after another.

Only a few entrepreneurs get it right the first time. The vast majority commit mistakes that can leave us doubting ourselves. Passionate business owners experience such failures too, but at the end of the day, they understand that it’s part of the learning process so they push themselves back up and do their best to move forward again. 

Passion Leads to Improvement

People who feel passionate about something are more likely to pay attention to areas where they could further improve.

They don’t just stand still and wait for things to happen. Rather than being passive, they look for opportunities to grow and become better at what they do. 

Passion Leaves a Good Impression on Others

Passion starts from within but its effects on you can be seen and felt by the people around you.

Whether it’s your suppliers or customers, a passionate approach to your business will resonate with those who are also pursuing their dreams and goals in life.

They recognize the extra attention and care you’re giving for it, and as such, they will feel more confident about your ability to get things done. 

Examples of Business Owners Who Are Guided by Their Passions

There is no shortage of aspiring entrepreneurs, but did you know that only 25% of these new businesses will last for at least 15 years in the industry? The reasons vary from one case to another, and one of them is the lack of passion 

In contrast, several business leaders who are also considered titans in their respective fields have demonstrated how their passions have led them to success. Let’s take a look at some examples of passionate business owners who may inspire you to follow their advice.

Chris Gardner

You might have first heard of his story through the biographical film “The Pursuit of Happiness” or the best-selling memoir of the same name.

Chris Gardner used to be a homeless man whose struggles began because of a costly investment mistake.

However, because of his passion for his chosen career, he turned his life around and founded his successful brokerage firm through persistence and resilience.

In his own words, Gardner said,

“Find something that you love. Something that gets you so excited that you can’t wait to get out of bed in the morning. Forget about money. Be happy.” 

Debbi Fields

During an interview, Debbi Fields joked, “I had a passion for making and eating chocolate chip cookies—emphasis on the eating.”

These words perfectly sum up how a 20-year-old used her favorite cookie recipe to transform a home-based business into a multibillion-dollar company: Mrs. Field’s.

Aside from being passionate about baking cookies, Debbi Fields tap into her passion for eating them to further improve her tasty products and amass millions of loyal customers around the world. 

Walt Disney

While it’s hard to imagine The Walt Disney Company struggling to make ends meet, its founder Walt Disney had to launch multiple animation companies that all led to failure before finally landing on a character that would be beloved by several generations.

He didn’t surrender because of his passion for drawing which began at an early age. As Disney had once explained, “The difference between winning and losing is most often not quitting.”

How Business Owners Can Find Their Passion

As a kick-start to becoming a successful business owner, here are three questions that will help you gain insights into where your passions lie.

What was your childhood dream?

For many people, passions emerge and take hold of them when they were still children. Unfortunately, some of us forget these passions as we experience the pressures and demands of everyday living. It’s never too late to pursue them though.

Think about what you wanted to become when you were young, and use that as a springboard to identify your passion that may serve as one of the cornerstones of your business. 

Without worrying about money, time, or effort needed for it, what do you want to do the most in your life? 

If you enjoy being creative in the kitchen, perhaps you can start a niche pickled product or sell baked goods. Some people who love traveling the world have turned their passion into a lucrative business by setting up a tour agency.

Even those who spend countless hours watching films and TV shows could establish an online review site as a profitable outlet for their passion for good productions.  

What do your friends say when asked about what makes you the happiest?

Other than highlighting what passion of yours will help you become a successful entrepreneur, consider asking the people closest to you about their thoughts, too.

They might be seeing a side of you that you don’t notice because you are usually so engrossed while engaging in it. 

Can Passion Lead You to Failure?

Some people claim that it’s terrible advice to follow our passion as a means of achieving success. They claim that it blinds people to the realities of owning a business. Others criticise it for being vague and immeasurable. Some argue that passions can change over time, so pursuing it with all you’ve got now might just be a waste of time and energy in the end. 

It’s normal to feel sceptical about the idea of using our passions to become successful business owners. However, these doubts may be cleared if you would keep in mind the roles that passion plays in your business, as we have discussed earlier.

Passion motivates you to never give up no matter how difficult your situation is.

Whenever you feel like giving up, it can pull you forward and urge you to go beyond your limit. Being passionate also urges you to elevate yourself in terms of the knowledge and skills that are necessary for your success as an entrepreneur. You won’t feel stuck in a rut because of your curiosity about everything related to it. 

Passion will convince others that you are good at what you do.

Since it drives you to keep going and keep growing, others will eventually notice your energy and excellence in carrying out the mission of your business. 

Given these, following your passion is not a guaranteed way to success. You need to spend time and exert effort to stay true to the path it has laid out for you. So, yes, there is a risk of failure but you are in control of how things will go for you and your business—and by using your passion as your north star, this risk won’t be an insurmountable obstacle on your way to success.  

Renee’s insight

My passion is everything business and business growth. This means exploring new initiatives, and facing the challenges of putting something together new and exciting.

I’m so fortunate to be working with some amazing companies where we do just that. We craft a bulletproof strategy, and work to execute it and achieve an outstanding outcome.

But you know the real reason I’m at the top of my game when doing all this?

It’s because I become alive when opening networks for my clients, developing ideas with them, and getting an understanding of what makes them tick.

It’s because it’s my passion – one that I live through everyday when working with my clients.

Key Takeaways

Following your passion can be the key to your success as a business owner if you think of it as a guide and motivator rather than a shortcut.

Several business leaders have reached the peaks of their respective businesses by staying true to their passions—and you may do so as well, starting with the search and recognition of your passion in life.

Though there is a chance of failure, such a setback won’t keep you down for too long because your passion will boost your morale and point you back in the right direction.  

So, what do you think is your passion in life?

If you haven’t found it yet, try going through our suggested questions earlier.

If you have any questions about letting passion lead you to success, feel free to let our team at Being Mindset know.