On Doing Things that Motivate You

When I wrote a while back about clearing your mind and just focusing, finding things that inspire you so that you are able to work, I got a great comment from Anna who simply said: “You forgot the passion.”

Of course she was absolutely right. One of the biggest motivational factors for working hard and doing a lot of things is indeed your passion—doing things that you love.

You can theoretically go into any business but if you want to be truly successful, you need to be working on things that you truly care about. I am not alone in speaking about this. In the recent start-up course held by Y-Combinator, one of the first things they note is that you can really only be successful in a field that you are passionate about.

Of course this is not necessarily a secret. If your heart is in what you do, you will never mind the long hours, the painfully weary downs, chasing after business because deep down you fundamentally believe in what you do and know that what you are doing is going to turn out great and that it is truly useful.

Don’t underestimate your passions. They will, and should be, one of your primary motivators.