If I could modify the quote “find your passion,” I would change it to “find your vocation”. If one has read famous self-development books, it is hard not to notice that they always emphasize the importance of passion. Suppose one has a burning desire for something. In that case, one will pursue it, forgetting time, dream about it, and go for it, overcoming all obstacles and setbacks.
Passion is a mixture of enthusiasm and excitement, a source of energy, and of course, the power to turn inspiration into action. It is not just something one does in one’s spare time; it gives meaning to everything and sometimes is even the meaning of life. Passion is essential because it makes one go forward, try again and again, and succeed. However, passion is what helps find a vocation in life, but not the vocation itself. A vocation is something that a person would enjoy doing all his life, giving him absolute pleasure. Unlike vocation, which is a stable concept, passion can come and go at any time.
It is essential to see passion only as a means to an end, as a passing point towards a vocation. If a person is passionate about an activity, there is a good chance that they will soon abandon it because of their fickle nature and circumstances. If a person finds their vocation, they are more likely to devote their time to it for the rest of their life, regardless of changing circumstances.
Everyone has at least once had an explosive passion – something that interested a person for a short time but over time faded into the background. Suppose the goal is to find one’s purpose and turn one’s passion into achievement and success. In that case, one must first find out the underlying interest that will guide one, like a compass, in the long run. Such a compass should be a vocation, a cause to which one consciously agrees to go long and hard, rather than episodically.