Friday, July 24, 2020

Passion counts twice





Ken Coleman has a popular podcast about loving what you do and doing what you love.  I find the idea of the sweet spot fascinating.  He defines it as the crossroads between your talents (what you do best) and your passion (what you love to do most).  I strive to help my students find their sweet spot early and then identify a path to reach it.  One quick starting points is the 16-personalities quiz. We start there and then it takes countless hours of thinking, reflecting, discussing, and soul searching; and that's only half the battle.  The half I can somewhat help with. 

The other half is all you.  You are the only one that can walk the road set before you, determine if it is worth it.  Deep down you know if you want it bad enough.  You may not have what it takes yet, and that is ok.  If your sweet spot is worth it to you, you will find a way.  Your education will fine tune your talents, you have the passion. For putting in the hard work of not giving up on your dream check out this TED talk on grit. There is a book to go along with it, and our library has it. Check it out!



Author and speaker Angela Duckworth defines grit as passion + perseverance. Put another way, caring about something enough to keep trying long enough to make it happen.  So let me say it again, you may not have what it takes right now, and that is ok. If your sweet spot is worth it to you, you will find a way. Keep trying, and if that doesn't work, dig deep and try again (and again...).  Keep equipping yourself with what you need to get to your sweet spot and do what you love for the rest of your life.  Keep plowing. There is no stopping on the road to greatness.  There is resting, but not stopping.  If you want to know your grit score, check out this handy online quiz and let's talk about it at our next meeting, or leave your comments for discussion below.  Get after it! <><



10 comments:

  1. Passion is such an important aspect of life and the decisions we make. It is crucial to find something or an area of interest to latch on to. From there, we can build on our interests and work. However, passion cannot be forced. When adversity and difficulty strikes, we need our passion, our why to fall back on. This pushes us through. My personality type is to be an advocate. Because of this, a lot of my goals are derived around that of helping others. With a grit score of 4, I have shown a strong ability to persevere through difficulty. Therefore, if I am able to set a goal centered around my passion, it is easier to push through and simply persevere.

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    1. Kegan, I love that you went and took the personality test and calculated your grit score. Way to interact with the post. Well done.

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  2. Passion in life is essential. When you decide to live a life outside of passion, you are simply teaching yourself that it is okay to live life and perform at a subpar level...not okay. Passion should be the driving force behind everything we do. It keeps us on track and allows us to not only do our best but be our best. Why would one choose to live or work without passion?! Don't do something just to get by. Find your sweet spot and run with it. Passion is the answer, always.

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    1. Hi Ben, well said. Your comment got me thinking. I wonder if there are circumstances when we have to be outside of our sweet spot, either before we find it, while we are working our way to it, or even when we are in it. For example, I very much dislike grading. I love teaching, it is one of my sweet spots and one of the reasons I do what I do (the other one is research), and grading just comes with the teaching turf. I am not even close to passionate about grading, but in order to teach effectively I have to measure if students are learning. So grade I do, with the best attitude I can, albeit dispassionately, so that I can continue on to my teaching passion. Anyways, I wonder your opinion. Do you think the motivation (of continue something we are passionate about) would make up for the momentary lack of passion or are we doomed to unsatisfactorily going through tasks that make it possible for us to operate in our sweet spot?

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  3. The Great Mohammad ALI said "that a life without a passion is a Life that I don't want to Live". When you have a passion or a love for something it makes you put that much more effort and determination into the area that you focused.It is imperative that when you pick a job or a profession it is something that you have a passion for because if you do that you will never work a day in your life because you are doing something that you love. Passion is something that can't be forced or imitated because you can't fake it. When you have genuine passion for something It want matter who your doing it with or how you make that count. I believe you never stop looking for you passion or you love until you find it because nothing ever seems to measure up to it. MAny of my goals were accomplished because i had such a passion for the sports i played and wanted to get better but, you have to take the same mentally with you passion and apply it to everything you attack you name to because it will only make you stick out and that much better as a employee or boss.

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    1. Well said Tony, so now that you are done with football, what is your passion? Do you know what you are aiming for yet? No judgement if you are not, I am just curious.

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  4. The one thing that stuck out to me is the 16-personalities quiz. While working at Chick-fil-A, management was required to take the quiz. When I took the quiz at Chick-fil-A, my personality type was campaigner. I just took the same quiz and my personality type was protagonist. While looking at both personality types, I can see how I am both. The most important thing I can see is how when I first became a manager I was very socialable. My goal at the beginning wasn't to be a strong leader, but as I went through obstacles I seen a change in myself. I wanted to be the leader that people look upto and inspired people to be their best. I love having the ability to make a diverse in a person's life. Everyone has the ability to succeed. Working with hgh school students, I was able to help them find their true passion and abilities in life. Passion is so important in life. I am passionate about helping people succeed, learn, and grow in life.

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    1. I love that your passion is other centered. Way to go. It does not surprise me you got a different personality result. After all, we mature as we grow and our aptitudes, like our skills, change and adapt as we reinforce some more than others. How are you practically living your passion on a day to day basis? (i.e. what are the actions that you do that further your passion?)

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  5. Dr. Benavides,
    This article is awesome. I couldn't agree more with the things that were said. Coaching basketball is my passion but unfortunately a few years back I had to get out of coaching due to some family circumstances. SO many of the things mentioned truly hit home to me especially the parts of your passion being the crossroads of what you love to do and your talents and then finding out if it is worth it. Also ,the definition of grit hit it right on the head. For me, I did everything in my power to become a coach and then eventually move up to the highest level. I watched endless hours of film, worked at dozens of camps (mostly for free), traveled, asked questions, and even wrote 300 hand written letters myself asking for an opportunity at the college level. The point about if it is worth it then you will find a way to make it happen could not be more accurate!

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