there’s more to entrepreneurial success than “find what you love”

I was thrilled to see this recent article in ‘Find Your Passion’ Is Awful Advice for a few reasons. As I talk to established and emerging entrepreneurs I often hear platitudes repeated with manta-like precision and regularity. These bits of pre-packaged wisdom are, in most cases, offered in the spirit of help and support and frequently encapsulate fanciful notions of stress-free, effort-free work by “ignoring the haters” and “doing what you love”.

Eventually, most entrepreneurs figure it out. Starting, sustaining, and scaling a successful business is nothing like “the brochure” says it will be. Unfortunately, for many, this discovery occurs after up to three years of hard work and most to all of their life savings (some even take on insurmountable debt). What starts out as a bliss-driven dream ends up as an emotional and financial nightmare.

Business and career success is a process of discovery. You have to be willing to be bad at something to build the skills and experience necessary to be good at it. Passion can be a powerful motivator to “stick with it”, but it can also cause us to over-commit to endeavors we will never be good at or that the market does not want enough to pay for.

Many of the successful entrepreneurs and career business people I have spoken to have found a way to balance their passions with practicality – frequently discovering things they once thought uninteresting (or worse) are not important and enjoyable core skills for them. I’ve found the Japanese framework Ikigai useful in developing that balance.

Careers – from the most disruptive entrepreneur to the most conservative employee – are a craft. They build on processes and established practices to create and expand opportunity. “Following your bliss” is just one small and frequently over-simplified piece of a larger, richer craft and, like many components when taken of context, has its flaws magnified in the absence of complementary elements of the craft.

At Logika, we’re committed to the craft of entrepreneurialism and its role in improving careers, organizations, and communities. Contact us to learn more about how we can take you to the next level!