I work for a company whose tagline is Passion to Perform. And ever since I drafted my Circulum Vitae, the
word passion can never be missed when asked to provide more personal
information. I have always thought that passion is the fuel that will keep you
burning, because growing up I have always been hearing things like, “find your
passion” and “do what you love and you will never have to work a single day in
your life”. That is why; it has been a goal of mine to find that passion.
I am almost 23 and yet I do not yet know the purpose of my
existence in this world (to put it more on a religious perspective as well). I
remembered having different answers when asked “What do you want to be when you
grow up?” or “How do you see yourself in XX years?” In my early formative
years, I was firmed at my decision that I would become a teacher. I would
always remember how I vandalized our walls at home and use a stick to point
whatever I drew/wrote. I even dressed up during the first grade as teacher
during our career week! That decision I made on my early years had to change. I
was inclined to several co-curricular activities later on that I thought of
becoming a professional dancer, volleyball player or a politician.
Came high school, and of course, the decision will again
change. Once, I dreamt of becoming the next Korina Sanchez because I was really
into news then. Then I shifted to CPA, just because I thought it would be cool
to have those three additional letters attached to my name and it seems like
most people from my class wanted to be one. It was when I was a junior that I
didn’t have a decision. Probably because when I had to decide, I would have to
reflect it on the course that I would take in college. I was clueless. It was a
big decision that has a great impact on my life forever. One thing I know, I
will not take any science course. At least that I am sure of. So I decided
through the subject I usually enjoy the most though not the best in it –
Math. Asked myself what course is
related to Math without the need to hang myself when I am already taking the
course. Then I thought, something business-related with math. So it’s either
finance or accounting.
And ta-da: I am a bachelor of science degree holder of geeky
finance course.
But I am still uncertain. Finance is definitely challenging.
But is it for me? Remember, only took Finance because I did not like any
Science-related course. I understand Finance. Not completely of course, but I
can. If you want me to learn something about it, like how gamma and theta are
related, how structured trades are different from flow trades, the strategies
of a trader from prime finance business from equity derivatives business, etc.
I will study about it but mostly because it’s my work. I am interested in the
business but I believe not as much to keep me further. I really do not know…
probably Finance is for me but not investment banking.
With that, I still hold the belief that passion is as
important as breathing when it comes to work. It’s survival. But this belief
was challenged by a quote I read from a magazine:
“You can be passionate about a lot of things, but just
because you have passion doesn’t mean that’s a good place to put your effort.
Typically you find out that the more effort you put into something, the better
you get. And the better you get at something, the more fun it is. And the more
fun it is, the less you realize you’re working, and the better things will go.”
Mark Cuban, businessman, owner of the NBA basketball team Dallas Maverick
Also, I remembered a friend telling me, there is a big
difference between doing what you love (that’s passion) and loving what you do.
With those things laid out on the table, where do I stand now
in terms of believing that passion is essential for survival? I showed this to
a friend who is very opinionated on things, and he said to me that passion is
still the key. He gave himself as an example when it comes to the subject Math.
He will never be good in Math because he never liked Math. He asked me, “what
will make me push to being good if I don’t have the drive to learn it?” Touché.
He got a point.
But I can’t still help but think about that quote I read. It
may be true that with just a little bit more practice, I may have this passion
for what I do… or simply put, I may love what I do. That is the question then,
is passion learned? Or is it something within you already that you just need to
develop?
To be honest, I am still quite confused about it until now.
But I still would like to believe that we need to love something for us to put
our best effort on it. It is indeed difficult to give our best when we are
unsure of ourselves.
Wherever you are, either you found your passion or you are
currently developing a love on what you have on your plate, what is important
is that we realize that it will never be easy on either side of the coin
because it takes hard work and a lot of prayers to be able to say that “this is
what I am destined to do”.
