Prof... how do I get there?
Today I watched Larry Smith's TED Talk (https://www.ted.com/speakers/larry_smith). Larry Smith is an Economics professor who helps his students pursue their passion. In the talk, he said that we are afraid to pursue our passion. We are afraid to look stupid and find any excuse to avoid doing what we really love to do. He said that a person might have 10 interests out of which one could be their true passion. He said that we must explore new things of interest continuously until we find our true destiny. Otherwise our talent is being wasted.
The trouble is everyone says that. Find your passion. Do what you love to do. Life is simple etc etc. Nobody ever explains how to get there. For example, while exploring those ten areas of interest, how will I know that I have really explored them? I could write a program and say that hey I explored programming and loved it. How does it really feel to be passionate about something? Once I read somewhere that passion is fuelled by success. The more successful you are at something, the more passionate you become about it. But success is dependent on so many factors that there's no guarantee that what I am passionate about today will be something that I will be passionate about tomorrow. I could be a great programmer today because I am capable of facing the challenges put forth in my plate. What if I face something that I fail at? Will I stop being passionate about programming? With the huge variety of advice we get on passion (it is such an overused word...), how do we know the direction in which to chart our course of action? How does it feel to be on that journey? How does one know that one is going in the right direction? Using the right techniques? Does it bring contentment? Or does it mean being comfortable outside your comfort zone all the time? I would love to talk to people who've found what they're passionate about and are living their dreams. After watching Prof. Larry's TED talk, I wanted to talk to him because he helps his students. I want his opinion on the how.
What do I want out of my life?
Yes I want to find my passion. And once I find it, I want to live it. But irrespective of whether I find it or not, I want to know that I really lived. And I will feel that way only if I know that I completely immersed myself in everything that I do. If I am selling Bananas, then I want to know everything about selling Bananas. I want to know that I did everything I could to the best of my abilities while doing so. In the end, I want to know that I was my best whether I liked what I was doing or not. I want success to be a habit for me. Uptil this point, I have had that feeling of satisfaction for very short bursts of time only. So for the most part, I am not really living. I just exist. My current goal is to fix that. Personally, I feel that that will lead my to my passion. Cause in that case, I will be in a positive state of mind. And happiness is contagious. It makes more of itself. Leads us to make better decisions.
The trouble is everyone says that. Find your passion. Do what you love to do. Life is simple etc etc. Nobody ever explains how to get there. For example, while exploring those ten areas of interest, how will I know that I have really explored them? I could write a program and say that hey I explored programming and loved it. How does it really feel to be passionate about something? Once I read somewhere that passion is fuelled by success. The more successful you are at something, the more passionate you become about it. But success is dependent on so many factors that there's no guarantee that what I am passionate about today will be something that I will be passionate about tomorrow. I could be a great programmer today because I am capable of facing the challenges put forth in my plate. What if I face something that I fail at? Will I stop being passionate about programming? With the huge variety of advice we get on passion (it is such an overused word...), how do we know the direction in which to chart our course of action? How does it feel to be on that journey? How does one know that one is going in the right direction? Using the right techniques? Does it bring contentment? Or does it mean being comfortable outside your comfort zone all the time? I would love to talk to people who've found what they're passionate about and are living their dreams. After watching Prof. Larry's TED talk, I wanted to talk to him because he helps his students. I want his opinion on the how.
What do I want out of my life?
Yes I want to find my passion. And once I find it, I want to live it. But irrespective of whether I find it or not, I want to know that I really lived. And I will feel that way only if I know that I completely immersed myself in everything that I do. If I am selling Bananas, then I want to know everything about selling Bananas. I want to know that I did everything I could to the best of my abilities while doing so. In the end, I want to know that I was my best whether I liked what I was doing or not. I want success to be a habit for me. Uptil this point, I have had that feeling of satisfaction for very short bursts of time only. So for the most part, I am not really living. I just exist. My current goal is to fix that. Personally, I feel that that will lead my to my passion. Cause in that case, I will be in a positive state of mind. And happiness is contagious. It makes more of itself. Leads us to make better decisions.
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