Passion vs. Purpose

I read an energizing article in the Harvard Business Review by Oliver Segovia recently that suggested that true happiness comes not in pursuing your passion but in finding a problem that needs solutions and working on that.

I have always liked the quote,
"Where our deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet, we hear a further call."
-- Frederick Buechner

Segovia references this idea at the end of his article when he says:
"Happiness comes from the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, and what the world needs. We've been told time and again to keep finding the first. Our schools helped developed the second. It's time we put more thought on the third."

Maybe, finally, we are moving away from ME and are on the verge of understanding that it is about WE...the fact that we are in this together and that individuals can make a difference in some way. Instead of leaving the solutions to the "experts," maybe it is time for all of us to get involved in the solutions....time to stop being armchair critics, get out of our chairs and DO something.

How do I make connections?
Where can I affect change in the big scheme of things?
Where CAN I help?
What CAN I do?

At the very end of his article Segovia asks: "What big problems are you trying to solve?"

I challenge us to look at the problems in the world and decide which one we are going to try to solve. I know that I don't have what it takes to solve the economic collapse but there are other big problems I could be helping to solve.

What are YOU going to do?

Let me know.


To read the entire article by Oliver Segovia:
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/01/to_find_happiness_forget_about.html