So Good They Can't Ignore You

The Anti-Passion Manifesto I needed

There was a time when I used to trumpet the cause of passion to everyone who asked. Over the years, I gave it up a little by little; making it milder at first by replacing it with “enthusiasm” and then treating that as less important. After reading this book, I am evaluating this again in the light of the disadvantages of chasing passion described here.

Like all words, “passion” can be interpreted in many ways and there can still be arguments that what is described here is not a problem with passion in itself. Yes, there are several cases described in the book of people who reached success over a series of unexpected journeys but one could make a case that those were journeys to discover their “true” passion. I can definitely relate to that. After all, the descriptions in the book about what their success looks like (and feels like to them) matches the descriptions of passionate people. Maybe these people discovered their passion eventually.

To me, that is still dangerous because of the messaging it sends to everyone. Indeed, there are such cases described in the beginning of the book (there's a chapter titled “The Dangers of Passion”). On the other hand, if it really is passion that is responsible for success, then this book is a recipe for finding your passion.

In the end, it doesn't matter if passion is what gives you joy in your work. The important thing is reaching that state and this book describes how you can get there. We sometimes have a very immutable view of ourselves. But we are constantly learning and growing and changing. What we feel are our passions change with time. So, regardless of whether you are passionate about sticking to passion or not, this book is likely to help you.