All individuals, by virtue of their unique genetic makeup, are born with certain talents that set them apart from others. Finding your inborn, innate talents requires experimentation. Only through experimentation will you discover what those talents are.
The brain communicates to us the existence of an inborn talent by infusing us with passion when we engage in the activity. Passion acts like a catalyst in driving us to continuously engage in an activity we were born to do. Passion allows us to focus like a laser in perfecting our skill. Passion gives us the emotional energy that enables us to engage in our inborn talents for many hours every day.
Becoming proficient in an activity can take many years, decades or even a lifetime. Innate talents must be fully developed and developing any innate talent can take many years of dedicated practice. Eventually, those who find and perfect their innate talents become experts. And experts are always paid more than others.
If you are passionate about an activity, if your passion for doing something is WHY you engage in that activity, then you will eventually become expert in that activity because your passion for the activity will motivate you to engage in that activity even when it does not produce immediate wealth.
If, however, your passion is not in the activity but rather, in the potential wealth that activity can create, then you will cease engaging in that activity the moment it fails to produce the wealth you expected.
You simply will not devote the time that is necessary in developing skills in any activity that is wealth-driven and not passion-driven. This means you will never become expert in any activity that does not produce immediate wealth or the wealth you expected.
You can simultaneously have a passion for engaging in an activity and a desire to monetize that passion-driven activity. But, the passion for engaging in an activity must be the dominant reason for engaging in the activity. Passion for the activity must be the #1 reason why you engage in the activity so that you will persist in the activity even when there is no money to be made from it.
Finding your passion, not wealth, should be your main goal.
Tom Corley is an accountant, financial planner and author of “Rich Kids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life”, Effort-Less Wealth, Change Your Habits Change Your Life, Rich Habits Poor Habits and “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals.”
