Commitment or Passion - Paths to Success

December 2nd, 2008

Success follows doing what you want to do. There is no other way to be successful. Malcolm Forbes

A friend of mine interviewed me for a book he is writing. The topic was “vision.” In responding to his questions I had this realization:

Commitment is work; passion is joy. Both are paths to achieving a vision. You can be successful through either one, but you will rarely fail if that path is passion. Have you ever been passionate about something and felt tireless in moving toward that goal? Have you had the experience of weaving that goal into everything you did and even thought? There is nothing more compelling than that kind of a full court press that passion brings. Things just happen in those circumstances that propel you toward your goal.

Commitment on the other hand takes deliberate discipline and focus. And commitment is essential when implementing any action plan. In fact, when my coaching clients say they are ready to make a change, I ask them, “On a scale of 1 – 10 (10 being high and 1 being low), how much do you want to make this change?” If they do not say “10,” we continue to talk until we either find someway to reduce what ever obstacle is in the way, or the client realizes that he or she really does not want this change enough to follow through. So we drop it rather than waste time pretending that it is important.

Now, as I reconsider these thoughts, I realize that the critical combination may be a dance of these two elements─both passion and commitment.

What do you think?

Entry Filed under: Insights on OC