Passion today, is one heavily misunderstood concept. I dare say that it’s even overrated and overused today.

Successful people are always ready to say things like, “Passion is all you need” or “Follow your heart. That’s the most important thing.”

Is it really though?

There’re a lot of nuances to this idea called passion.

Passion is good. It’s great. It’s a ball of wonderful energy. But it’s NOT going to solve all your problems.

Here’s 7 different ideas about passion you need to know to excel in it

1) Passion isn’t just a mere hobby or past time

Nay, passion isn’t just some mere interest you dabble in during your free time.

Passion is what identifies you. Passion is your identity.

Let it burn into your life so that others will take notice.

You’ll want people to say, “Oh that’s [insert your name]. He’s the guy who does [passion].”

And that is awesome as it is.

So be proud of that passion. Be known for it. Let it seep into your everyday life for every single second you live. That’s how you live your passion.

2) Passion isn’t a golden ticket which solves all your problems

Many were the times I’ve read entrepreneurs saying how passion is the key thing which drove them to success.

I believe that is true to a certain extent, but it isn’t as easy as it sounds.

You still need to put in the hard work and sacrifice to get the results you want.

Essentially, this means feeling less than great even though your passion is involved. This means having to question yourself, “Why isn’t my passion making things easier?”

Passion does not mean an easy route to success. So don’t be too disillusioned when you’re sweating blood and tears.

3) You don’t have to be the best at it

I’ve been a B-boy (breakdancer) for many years now. And quite frankly, where I’m from, I’m not the best at it. I don’t win competitions and you can’t find a lot of YouTube videos of me.

But, as I’ve learnt, passion isn’t competition.

You don’t have to be the best at it to love it. You don’t need first place or trophies to validate your love for something.

Competition is great now and then to motivate you to work harder, but never forget the roots of your passion; your identity. Always go back to your Why and your original love and inspiration for it.

You ought to enjoy it and love life with your passion too you know.

4) Others may not understand your passion

I’m 29 and certain friends are still shocked to hear that I find time to practice my craft as a Bboy. Some of them even think it’s a pastime for kids.

It may sound daunting, but passion can be greatly misunderstood by even your peers and family alike.

So be prepared to face some criticism and flak from people around you. Know that at the end of the day, what they say or think do does not matter.

The critics are mostly people who are unhappy because they lack passion themselves. Continue loving and doing what you do, and I guarantee they’ll turn around as you inspire them.

5) Don’t be so lonely and introverted with your passion

I do agree that passion is a private and personal kind of love you’d want to take you everywhere you go in life.

But you know what’s a simple hack to continuously be more passionate and inspired? Meet more people who share the same passion.

Put in the conscious effort to meet others, train with others or just be in their presence.

That’s how your passion and your persona grows.

6) Passion needs to be fed inspiration

To extend the last point, passion needs to be given fuel from time to time.

Remember that very first moment when you got really inspired from, say, that speech your favourite writer gave?

That feeling was awesome. But, life will get in the way.

Just like how passion doesn’t make work any easier, passion needs to be fed inspiration in order for you to feel the love, the drive, the energy, the force.

So get out there and seek inspiration. Go to concerts. Stop wasting your time with social media and read books instead. Meet your mentors. Talk to people and make new friends.

Do them so you can remember why you have that passion.

7) Passion is what makes sense of the world for you

There’s way too much information out there. What’s more, a lot of the information is rubbish or nothing but toxic news.

It can be pretty disheartening to know what’s going out there. It can be pretty hard to live a meaningful life that way.

To keep it simple, we’re all just trying to be happy.

Try as much as you like, if you only use your head to reason with the world, there’s always going to be conflicting pieces of information.

There’s no point in being right when you’re unhappy.

So what makes you continuously happy? Passion.

Let passion be your world then. That’s not to say be deluded, but allow passion to make your happy (and sane) so you can take on the world.

Did I leave anything out? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts about Passion.