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This Post by Justin Dixo Follow me on Twitter Photo courtesy of Bhav Bhav

There is a large body of advice when it comes to careers, what is smart to do in life and what is not. There are also two classes of advice when it comes to following your passions. Some say that following a creative passion is likely to bankrupt you, others say that following something that you are passionate about is the absolute best way to go.

So who has the best advice? The best way to narrow this down is to look at who has the best results. If someone is miserable at their job, do not take their advice for where to work. If they really knew a better way they would act on it. The fact is that the successful people I’ve studied are people that pursue their passions.  But I want to take this a step further, I say that those who follow their passions are not only more successful people, but they become better human beings.

Ayn Rand set a standard that we must do the work we love, in a standard that we can be proud of. Richard St. John who has been a writer, a public speaker, and a successful entrepreneur followed eight principles to his success, the first of them being passion. He was asked while on his way to a TED conference how people become successful. He than dedicated the next few years, to learning these things. You can view his results here (link opens to new window). In regards to passion, on his study, it became the number one thing that he listed. So what is it that makes passionate people more successful, and why do I say they become better human beings?Passion is contagious. When you are really passionate about something, you can see every awesome aspect of it. You can make people think of things in new ways. One of the things that I’m passionate about is comic books. For two years I ran a comic book discussion group at a Barnes and Noble. When it was time to start the discussion group I went in front of a group of people and told them why I was starting it, and why they should take a serious look at graphic novels. When I finished talking about it, I had someone walk up to me and tell me that they had no interest in comics but that they wanted to come to my group.

Chasing our passions kills false identities. Doing the things you love, and really getting good at them, to a point that you are satisfied, and that you know you have done your best does not leave room for false identities. If you love to do something, or would love to get good at something go do it.

Passion gives perseverance. If something really matters to you, than you are not going to give up on it. One of the best friends I could of asked for is a guy named Jason. He’s way further along in the business world than I am, so I ask him for career advice when we talk. The thing he told me that was most important is perseverance.

Chasing your passion makes you more self-aware. In order to chase after your passions you have to know what you are after, or at least find out. Sometimes we find out that what we thought we would be excited about isn’t as good as we thought it was, or we change. Either way, taking action on the things that matter to you, are going to help you keep up with the changes. So how does this effect business? In Robert Kiyosaki’s bestseller Rich Dad, Poor Dad he talks about the three treasures that the japanese treasured. They treasured the sword, the diamond, and the mirror. Above all they treasured the mirror, if a man could be possessed by the calls of his own soul, it was believed it would make them more successful.

Chasing your passion kills excuses. Frequently the reason we don’t try to do something is that we think we can’t. Those who dare to give these things a serious try, and not give any ground until they absolutely know that they have given it there all steadily must break each excuse that would hold them back. In these cases acting on ones passion must be more important than living in fear of what we don’t know if we can do or not.

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”~ Eleanor Roosevelt

People who chase their passions push past negativity. Will Smith gave a speech at the Nickelodian Kid’s choice awards a few years ago. In it he said that the secret of life was running and reading. He mentioned reading, because he believed all the answers are already written down somewhere. He mentioned running though because it was how he learned to push past negativity. Its how he learned to ignore not only the naysayers around him, but the voice inside him when he feels like giving up.

Passionate people are interesting to be around. Because of what acting on passion does to us we become both more engaged, and more engaging. We start seeing through obstacles that once held us back, which enables us to push others past those same obstacles.

You may never turn your absolute passion to a career, but this is no reason to not act on it. Give it a serious try, persist at it until your damn good at it. Even if it does not make your career, it can teach you life lessons that will. If you don’t know what your passions are, go out and try things till you find something. Find something that excites you, find something that matters to you, and don’t let anybody else set the standard for how you should live your life. I dare you to to take your dreams seriously, I dare you to do something you are passionate about. If you can not justify it as a career, than justify it as becoming a better human being. Justify it as making this world better, because this world needs passionate people. I’m going to end on this quote introduced to me by my friend Arvind Devalia.

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”~Harold Whitman

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