The Passion Paradox: Passion Is The Reason Your Results Are Superficial

I want to be passionate.

I want to be so hungry and driven for my goals and dreams that no setback or hurdle can extinguish my fire.

Come rain or shine, as long as I hold onto this ember, I will make it.

I believe the passionate person is the one who envisions a way and then proceeds to pave it.

An individual with an ingenious idea or lucrative methodology, ready to take the world by storm and have success chase them doggedly.

The passionate person feels an almost supernatural burst of zeal, and begins to immediately turn their life around.

Tell me, are you passionate?

Have you ever felt passionate? That sudden Eureka, where all the pieces start to fit?

Do you believe passion is necessary for your dreams?

Are you on fire for your goals and hopes?

Are you desperately hungry for the things you’ve envisioned?

Thirsty for the success that you know will be within your grasp?

Even if you might not know how, you’re passionate because you deeply believe you will.

Sound familiar?

Then you’re passionate.

The passionate one

Ryan Holiday writes the following in his description of a passionate person:

“Passion is seen in those who can tell you in great detail who they intend to become and what their success will be like — they might even be able to tell you specifically when they intend to achieve it or describe to you legitimate and sincere worries they have about the burdens of such accomplishments.

They can tell you all the things they’re going to do, or have even begun, but they cannot show you their progress. Because there rarely is any.

How can someone be busy and not accomplish anything? Well, that’s the passion paradox.”

It’s a particularly piercing analysis, especially because all of us can see the passionate one within ourselves.

He later writes that,

“This seemingly innocuous motivation is so far from the right track it hurts.”

And I agree.

Why not passion?

Passion is rooted in feeling, it starts and ends with I.

More specifically, passion is maintained by feelings of satisfaction.

As long as you feel good, satisfied, or even inspired you will remain passionate.

In fact, passion is nothing but a feeling.

It is completely vacuous and empty.

I cannot count the number of times I’ve watched something inspiring or convicting and put the sweets in my hand down.

Or even suddenly, at 2 a.m., whilst thinking about how useless I currently felt, I burst into a series of press-ups until my arms couldn’t force another.

I mean, how many of us have seen a video brazenly pointing out our insecurities and then proceeded to stop eating or even start eating less?

It is nothing but passionate idiocy.

I cannot count the number of times I have told myself it’s enough, then fallen right back into the same pattern.

And the reason is:

Passion means nothing when there is nothing left to feed it.

It is completely transitory in nature.

The reason you cannot base your future on passion is because it doesn’t function in reality; it’s purely fantastical.

Passion cannot weigh the pros and cons, but it can help you dream about the riches, jewels, and successes.

Passion cannot drive you to execute your plan, but it can inspire you to dream of the fruits of one.

Passion cannot get you to keep showing up, but it can tell you how great it felt the one time you did.

Because passion is satisfied by feelings, not results.

I call it the passionate quota.

For a person driven by passion, as long as they reach their passionate quota — that’s them done for the day or even the week.

The passionate quota doesn’t concern itself with the critical questions of who, how, what, or when — but boy can it tell you why!

And I’ve been victim to it plenty.

If I hadn’t replaced passion, I wouldn’t be writing this.

Before this month, do you know how much material I had highlighted or consumed?

Do you know how many links to applicable information or informative videos I saved?

How many ‘beginner guides for X’ and ‘tips for starting Z’ links I bookmarked?

If asked, I could name every single website, source, or creator for the above information.

I mean, even conversations! You cannot imagine how many conversations I’ve had about what I'm passionate about.

And I never did anything with it.

Ever.

It’s not as if the information was useless, rather all of it was incredible.

If utilised properly, with planning and PURPOSE then I would be miles ahead of where I currently am.

And that’s the terrifying trait about passion.

It twists our good intentions and appetite for success with our innate human desire for satisfaction.

Its only concern is to feel as much from as little as possible.

Because feeling great is amazing, and that’s the core of being passionate.

You can see it for yourself:

Passion first convinces you that one step every day is enough.

Then a step every other day.

Then a half-step.

Then a conversation.

Then a thought.

Then you’re back where you started, dejected and in need of more passion.

Let’s say I wanted to save £200.

Even though I just got paid, I’ll put in £10 every day for the first week. One step every day is enough.

But because I did so well, it’s fine if I use half for a takeaway to reward myself — £10 every other day.

To make it more manageable, I’ll do £5 a day; that way, there’s no way I’ll be inconsistent. A half-step.

“Guess what I started doing; it’s made saving so easy!” A conversation.

I’ll think to myself, “I’ll put £5 in my savings today when I get back from work”. A thought.

How often have we felt accomplished because of our thoughts?!

I know I have!

I’m not saying it’s wrong to be excited for the future, but rather that it’s idiocy to believe that being excited for the future alone is enough — there has to be more.

And passion cannot ever be the vehicle to get you to your dreams.

It’s all about purpose

What happens when you don’t feel satisfied anymore?

Is that just the end?

It is for the passionate.

Since there will always be another route for passion to manifest itself, why think about the problem?

“Just start afresh.”

What happens when it doesn’t go according to plan?

“Guess it just wasn’t meant to be — onto the next.”

Are you seeing the pattern here?

Passion makes us blind to the fact that nothing has changed.

Yes, maybe the font is a little different each time, but we’re still focused on the result, not the how.

The only solution is to completely abandon passion and choose purpose.

Ryan Holiday writes that:

“Purpose is to and for. (I must do ______. I was put here to accomplish ______. I am willing to endure ______ for the sake of this.)

Actually, purpose deemphasizes the I. Purpose is about pursuing something outside yourself as opposed to pleasuring yourself.”

And that’s the key.

It’s abandoning oneself in pursuit of more.

Still don’t believe me?

Andrew Tate gives a mildly crude but incredible analogy:

“The Chinese concreate billionaires aren’t passionate about concrete. They don’t mast*rbate over cement mix.”

The point he’s making is that, contrary to what has been fed to us, even if you don’t feel passionate, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.

The concrete billionaires he mentioned were definitely not passionate about concrete; however, their drive to excel, regardless of what they felt, made them billionaires.

Do you think they dreamt about concrete when they were children?

Of course not.

But they definitely dreamt about their financial success.

Purpose is a vehicle which incorporates all your strengths, and analyses the best way to utilise them for your goals.

It doesn’t take feelings into account, as Ryan Holiday puts it:

“Passion is form over function. Purpose is function, function, function.”

Furthermore, do you truly believe the efforts they undertook were easy?

Nobody does.

Now answer this:

Can you associate anything about being passionate, or more specifically, the desire for satisfaction, with strenuous effort?

I can’t.

But I can surely link is to simplicity and easiness — that’s why we get hooked on it.

Passion will always be right there when you’re tired.

Whispering to you when you’ve had enough.

Enticing you when your self-control starts to slip.

IT’S EASY TO FEEL GOOD.

There is nothing about mastery, success, or accomplishment that is easy!

Rather, we value it because it’s incredibly hard.

When talking about history-shapers such as Eleanor Roosevelt Ryan Holiday Writes,

“It took them years to become the person they became known as. It was a process of accumulation.”

There is no historical legend that was shaped by years of cumulative non-effort, satisfaction, and fantasy.

But passion will convince you that you’re the one who’ll be the first.

If you believe that, you will forever remain a victim to the passion paradox.

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LM