By Grace Adegboye
“Which is more important passion or diligence?” In a room of about five professionals I thought I had read and known all I needed to, but I hadn't prepared my mind for that question.
“So what if you don’t feel like it, are you saying we are not to expect any turn out from you?” To what end are these questions, I thought. Where is all this going?
Looking back at that interview three years ago, I see that most of what I do and who I am is from what I learned that day. It was expounded to me that passion drives a man. Many times, we tell young people or entrepreneurs to do what they love. We tell ourselves that if we do what we love, we won’t have to struggle with our jobs.
Being in love with your work makes work seem like play, every day. History is replete of people who loved painting and became famous as a result. There is a long list of those who saw themselves as medical doctors, actors or even businessmen and eventually became that, because it was what they loved. However, the question remains—is just loving what you do enough to bring the much-desired success?
Passion is consuming. You think about your career daily, make plans, sketches, designs and write out thoughts as they flow in your mind. But seriously, does it really outweigh diligent commitment?
I was made to understand that diligence involves a sense of responsibility. Someone committed to a course fires on even when the passion needs a refill. It is synonymous with duty and obligation, and may not demand a love for the task carried out. A diligent person is one who spends and is spent on the job. Still, the question of whether one is more important than the other opened my eyes.
There is a place of love for a thing, yet we have amongst us those who love, wish and think about doing a thing, but never brought it to fruition. The reason is not far-fetched. They were not committed to executing it to the fullest. On the other hand today, lot of people are hard workers yet frustrated with their jobs and won’t mind changing occupations. They work the 9-6, are productive, and still hate what they do.
While you invent ways to express your love for what you do, be ready to spend and be spent for it because the early days of a start-up are appealing as a thought, but could but could be a little difficult in reality.
My conclusion about the two is that neither is more important. However, for success and fulfillment, we need a perfect mix of both. Once you have an undying love for what you do, let that love push you to a point of diligence to bring your dreams to actualization.
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