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Mike Rowe responded to a Facebook fan. http://freebeacon.com/culture/mike-rowe-on-following-your-passion/
Here's a excerpt: "One day, I brought home a sconce from woodshop that looked like a paramecium, and after a heavy sigh, my grandfather told me the truth. He explained that my life would be a lot more satisfying and productive if I got myself a different kind of toolbox. This was almost certainly the best advice I’ve ever received, but at the time, it was crushing. It felt contradictory to everything I knew about persistence, and the importance of “staying the course.” It felt like quitting. But here’s the “dirty truth,” Stephen. “Staying the course” only makes sense if you’re headed in a sensible direction. Because passion and persistence – while most often associated with success – are also essential ingredients of futility."
Some of the following I've paraphrased or quoted from reading/watching Mike Rowe:
"Never follow your passion, always bring it with you."
"Useful skill + willingness to work = Opportunity"
How can we apply this philosophy in the military?
Are happiness and passion always coincidental?
Here's a excerpt: "One day, I brought home a sconce from woodshop that looked like a paramecium, and after a heavy sigh, my grandfather told me the truth. He explained that my life would be a lot more satisfying and productive if I got myself a different kind of toolbox. This was almost certainly the best advice I’ve ever received, but at the time, it was crushing. It felt contradictory to everything I knew about persistence, and the importance of “staying the course.” It felt like quitting. But here’s the “dirty truth,” Stephen. “Staying the course” only makes sense if you’re headed in a sensible direction. Because passion and persistence – while most often associated with success – are also essential ingredients of futility."
Some of the following I've paraphrased or quoted from reading/watching Mike Rowe:
"Never follow your passion, always bring it with you."
"Useful skill + willingness to work = Opportunity"
How can we apply this philosophy in the military?
Are happiness and passion always coincidental?
Leadership
Character
Happiness
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 5
This is a great question. I think it depends on how much risk one is willing to take.
The greatest achievements in life (at least the ones that affect society the most) usually require staying the course without knowing how things will turn out, and possibly doing so for a very long time. For example, it's entrepreneurs who are chasing dreams into industries that don't exist yet, or politicians who nobody agrees with but hope to be proven right through some change in world events, or scientists who everybody else thinks is wasting their time but then make an amazing discovery that proves everybody else wrong, etc.
If somebody is willing to follow their passions and take on great risk, they stand to achieve much more than if they wouldn't, but they are also more likely to just fail.
In terms of your final question, I don't think that either happiness or passion is coincidental. Happiness has been shown to be much more a result of one's own state of mind, and much less a result of one's surroundings. In other words, people can have all the things they want in the world and be unhappy, or have almost nothing and be very happy. I hate to sound like some kind of monk, but I believe happiness can only really come from within... everything else is just fleeting moments of joy. Easier said than done though.
The greatest achievements in life (at least the ones that affect society the most) usually require staying the course without knowing how things will turn out, and possibly doing so for a very long time. For example, it's entrepreneurs who are chasing dreams into industries that don't exist yet, or politicians who nobody agrees with but hope to be proven right through some change in world events, or scientists who everybody else thinks is wasting their time but then make an amazing discovery that proves everybody else wrong, etc.
If somebody is willing to follow their passions and take on great risk, they stand to achieve much more than if they wouldn't, but they are also more likely to just fail.
In terms of your final question, I don't think that either happiness or passion is coincidental. Happiness has been shown to be much more a result of one's own state of mind, and much less a result of one's surroundings. In other words, people can have all the things they want in the world and be unhappy, or have almost nothing and be very happy. I hate to sound like some kind of monk, but I believe happiness can only really come from within... everything else is just fleeting moments of joy. Easier said than done though.
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Maj (Join to see)
So you do not agree with Mr. Rowe? He states don't follow your passion. Look at the thousands of folks that try out for X-factor or the Voice and get crushed be caused they followed their passion.
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Maj (Join to see), I would say it's hard not to be passionate about serving one's country. The particular way we do that may be up for debate. I got in it, kept soldiering, and stepped off the active duty train 30 years later. I guess I did bring my passion along with me, so that part definitely rings true for me.
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SSgt (Join to see)
I endured a bit on a challenge early on and then I got to be a Meteorologist in the Air Force and I never imagined that that might ever happen. So, it did go in the direction that made most sense and a field I loved since being a kid in the 60/70s.
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