One of my big lessons this last year was this:
Passion is not enough to change the world.
That might sound strange, coming from a coach, whose job is to help people find their passion. I've met plenty of passionate people, individuals who found the thing that makes them jump out of bed in the morning. The thing they formed a non-profit around. The thing they can't stop talking about. Yet passion is not enough.
Commitment is needed. In fact, commitment trumps passion, time, authority, money, and most anything else you can think of.
I recently saw Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, speak in Denver at the Paramount Theatre. I wish I had taken my teenage sons to hear him speak. Mortenson has that impact on people. He inspires them, not with his words, but with his actions and for lack of a better word, with his presence.
What
hit me between the eyes was encountering someone who is the essence of commitment. It's rare to see someone who devotes his
life to a single purpose. In Mortenson's case, his mission is to create peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan, by providing education for children, especially girls, in those countries.
Commitment looks like this:
- Attending an event in LA until 2am, getting a few hours of sleep, then hopping on a plane to Denver, only to return to LA that evening.
- Visiting 118 cities in one year to speak about your cause.
- Sleeping in your car and eeking out a living as an ER nurse, in hopes of raising $12,000 to build a school on the other side of the world. Deciding that pennies from school children could be the start of collecting the funds.
- Building schools, one by one, in a remote part of the world, with political, geographical, and cultural obstacles at every step of the way.
- Providing a consistent message, day in and day out, to groups as diverse as U.S. military commanders to school children to outdoor enthusiasts.
The results are impressive:
- Since 1994, nearly 80 schools have been built in one of the most troubled and remote areas of the world, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- Three Cups of Tea is now mandatory reading for senior officers in the Pentagon in charge of counter insurgency efforts.It has also been on the New York Times bestseller list for two years.
- After reading the book, military commanders like General David Petraeus and diplomats like Richard Holbrook are focused on listening more. Mortenson relayed how Petraeus, after reading the book, said, "We need to listen. We need to have respect. We have to build relationships."
- Collecting 100 million pennies from school children, as part of Pennies for Peace
- Fifteen years after living in his car, Greg Mortenson was nominated in January 2009 for a Nobel Peace Prize.
For wisdom entrepreneurs, take note. Yes, one voice can start a community (and judging by the crowd at the Paramount Theatre, Mortenson's community is as diverse as I've seen in a long time.) But without commitment, it's all for naught. Mortenson has shown that when you make that commitment, your life changes. (BTW–that scares the heck out of a lot of wanna be wisdom entrepreneurs. I've seen it.)
Mortenson confessed near the end of his talk that he doesn't know why he is compelled to do the work he does. In his words, "I just listen to what people need." It made me think that commitment is not entirely a choice. You choose to surrender to the call, but after that, you are compelled. There is no other choice.
Mortenson closed with two thoughts that are particularly appropriate for wisdom entrepreneurs, one a quote from Martin Luther King and the other a result of a plea from Mortenson's wife.
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."
"If you want to make the world better, you need to take care of yourself to be strong."
P. S. I had contacted Mortenson's non-profit, Central Asia Institute, asking if I could interview him for this blog. I received a reply a few days later that my request had been forwarded to Mortenson. Because of his busy schedule, not all requests could be honored. I never heard back from Mortenson, but it didn't matter. Who was I to slow down the progress of this man, with a mission so clearly imprinted on his heart and mind? Instead of asking for a favor from him, I was compelled to offer up whatever help I could for his cause. That's what happens when you see commitment manifested.
This is a beautiful, profound and inspiring post, Carol. I read it twice, and I’m bookmarking it so I can come back and read it again later too.
And I haven’t read Three Cups of Tea, but now I really want to, and I really want to see Greg Mortensen speak!
Thanks, Marissa, for stopping by and letting me know the impact of this posting on you. Yes, if you get the chance to hear Greg Mortenson speak, take it! You can see his speaking schedule on his site, http://www.threecupsoftea.com. He’s booked months in advance, so you’ll get plenty of notice if he’s coming to a town near you.
In the meantime, the book is a quick and meaningful read.
This is an excellent post, Carol. You draw a distinction that once made, seems obvious. But it’s not at all apparent to many who plunge into something without the staying power.
With several first-hand experiences with helping causes, the important line between passion and commitment is the difference maker. It’s not at all hard to get fired up about an issue or a project. It’s quite another thing to carry it through to completion.
A local writing contact (Doug Stanton – http://books.simonandschuster.com/Horse-Soldiers/Doug-Stanton/9781416580515) will be featured on this weekend’s cover of the NY Times Book Review. He has a great story to tell, a track record of success, and clearly he’s exceptionally talented. But none of that matters as much as the fact that he worked and struggled for six full years to bring the story to completion.
His idea was easy to get passionate about; his commitment has created a bestseller and future feature film.
Thanks, Dave for that example of what it takes sometimes to come up with a NYT bestseller! People see the end product but they don’t see all the work that went into it.
Reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers. He talks about how mastery at the highest level requires 10,000 hours of practice, no matter what the discipline. He cites the history of the Beatles. Everyone saw them in their 10,000th hour and thought of them as an overnight sensation. In reality, their early years were spent in Hamburg, Germany, playing day after day in crummy joints. Crummy in the sense that these were small, unknown clubs but great in the sense that it helped them hone their craft.
Yes, commitment does indeed trump passion.
I think you should build on this more. How do committment and passion differ? I believe that “success” (achieving the goal) is mostly about hard work, especially when the chips are down. And, it definitely hard to get people behind something (lead them) if you’re not passionate. So, is it really about longevity? If you work at something long enough you’ll succeed? Obviously its more than that, but I want to hear you talk about that.
Thanks, Herb, for “egging me on” to think about this more deeply. Some thoughts come to mind:
* A couple of years ago, I was in a three-day workshop with Michael Gerber, author of the E-Myth. He was coaching me in front of the room about having a big enough dream to work with. I asked him, “What if I’m interested in many things?” He said, “No, this is about something you would give your life to.” I’ve seen individuals like me, passionate about many things. But it wasn’t until I got to a deeper place of why I’m on this earth that I could commit to something that I would give my life to.
In practical terms this means, not being distracted by “lesser” projects that don’t align with my life purpose. What is my life purpose? To uncover wisdom in unexpected places and to build on that wisdom to help others. That’s why I work with “wisdom entrepreneurs.”
You know you’re committed when you say no more often in service of saying yes to something else that really matters. That doesn’t necessarily happen with passion.
* Longevity is the result of commitment, but it’s not the same as commitment. I stayed in engineering for 15 years. That’s longevity. Was it commitment? Not really. I had a job. I was competent. I was good at it.
* In terms of sticking to something when the chips are down, yes, I think commitment plays into this. In this situation, resolve comes not from fear (e.g., plowing through because I don’t want to fail) but rather from a sense of purpose (e.g.,playing the role that I’m meant to play.) It has much more a sense of “I can’t stop myself from doing this, because it feels right.” Passion can also feel like this but I’ve seen individuals who quash passion, because they couldn’t commit. Commitment would have required serving passion at all costs.
* Commitment requires resourcefulness, exactly because it means going through good times and bad times. Passion doesn’t require resourcefulness. It requires heart and love. Commitment requires discipline–to say no in service of saying yes. Passion doesn’t require discipline. It requires expression. If passion is about divergence and expansion, commitment is about convergence and singular purpose.
Hope that helps. I appreciate the question and sometimes, the question creates more questions. What do others think?