"You gotta love what you do.” We are here to tell you it ain’t necessarily so

If you act, you know what is real. You always want to know what’s real.

Let’s begin by dealing with a misconception. When people think about desire, they almost automatically equate it with passion, as in the passion entrepreneurs have in starting their business. And they conclude that this passion is an absolute requirement before getting underway. Indeed, how many times have you heard this advice given to people thinking of starting a company: “You’ve got to be passionate about it. You gotta love what you do.”

We are here to tell you it ain’t necessarily so. If what you mean by passion is a deep, personal commitment, then yes, having passion is a good thing. Having strong positive emotions about your venture is an asset for obvious reasons: You are more likely to get started. You are more likely to persist. You are more likely to be creative in solving the problems you encounter.

But if by passion, you mean blinding, manic focus, ignoring everything and anything that gets in your way, that’s not such a good idea. It’s actually a destructive force. People destroy and kill out of passion. Moreover, it leads to misperceptions of reality.

Just Start: Take Action, Embrace Uncertainty, Create the Future by Leonard A. Schlesinger, Charles F. Kiefer