Comments on: Finding Where Your Passion, Your Genius and Your Purpose Meet

By: Dave Pollard

Dave Pollard — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 01:16:40 +0000

Thanks, everyone. Your thoughts were my inspiration for the Feb.8th follow-up post which explores how to find your Passion in a little more detail, and contrasts some older and less successful methods with Dick Richards'. And to answer lugon's question, I think this would be quite easy to teach to young people in schools. What an idea: show the young how to figure out what they should be doing with their lives and how to make it happen, instead of just dumping them out into the work world to grab any job they can get.

By: Martin-Eric

Martin-Eric — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 20:52:42 +0000

This article sheds a very positive light on the genius-finding process. It describes how to recognize signs that one's life has finally achieved the synchronicity that can support's one growth to their full potential.

By: Martin-Eric

Martin-Eric — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 16:50:57 +0000

Found an article that confirms the impossibility for citizens of some countries to deliver their talent because of visa red tape as increasingly becoming a globalization showstopper.

By: lugon

lugon — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 11:36:53 +0000

Could this be taught to children? Does it need to be?

By: kerry

kerry — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 22:34:01 +0000

Er – to qualify that last message:The sentence that leapt out for me in your post was your query as to whether we could talk to animals. In my experience, with my cats, the answer is a definite ‘yes’. But, just as with humans, its a matter of humility and respect. For example, I can’t tell my cat not to scratch me, she won’t listen. Its perfectly normal for her to scratch in play. I can, however, request nicely that she try to be gentle because I am a human with certain limitations. When I do that, she responds with a lick to the scratch and very gentle paws for the rest of the play session. Its just a matter of not being condescending and not being authoritarian. I was wondering, a few days ago, whether such a direct communication would be possible with animals that I don’t know well. I think it would involve their feeling your love and humility – something that can’t be faked. If it isn’t 100% authentic, they will not listen. And we all know that authenticity is the hardest thing for humans to achieve :)

By: kerry

kerry — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 22:24:08 +0000

Dave, seems to me that you have the uncanny ability to read my mind…or is it the other way around? Either way, I do appreciate you!

By: cindy

cindy — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 14:59:14 +0000

Hello Dave,I have been itching to figure out if I am cut to be my own boss (a very small knitting project). Your postings of the past few days are helping me to see. They help me to see where I am landing, and I hope it would be a positive one. Thanks!

By: Dick Richards

Dick Richards — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 14:24:18 +0000

Dave – I might add to your model a description of the box in which the three circles reside (I haven’t worked this through entirely or in much depth, so take it as my first impulse and not a belief). The white space, or clear space, then also becomes significant. That space is the context for the interaction of the circles. I think that context has two potential meanings. First, you can look at the space as representing the culture in which you live and work, including issues such as Martin raises. Second, you can view the space as representing the “personality”, meaning the sum total of what the person has learned, including resisitances, attitudes, values, etc.So, looked at in the first way, the model describes how passion, genius, and purpose interact under the conditions in your culture. In the second way, how they interact within the conditions of the individual self.The model then accounts for such discrepancies as what happens when your own values conflict with cutural norms or when your own values conflict with one another.

By: Barbara W. Klaser

Barbara W. Klaser — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 00:33:48 +0000

Dave, I’ve always liked this diagram of yours, and now that you’ve made it more detailed I like it even better. I think though that as long as I’m making a living, it’s not as important to me to be in the 3 section as it is to be happy with wherever I am, and to realize where I am and (if possible) why. That helps me make more informed choices about what I do. You boil all that down beautifully here.Randall’s point about reducing living expenses is one I’ve lived through in the past few years. But it’s not always as easy as just deciding what you yourself can do without, or doing what you love (I am). There are social issues to consider. How are your close friends and family living?. Can you live with having the least attractive house, the oldest car, the less attractive clothes? We all like to feel we fit in with our peers. Yes, I’ve proven I can reduce my living expenses, but whether I want to live that way, whether doing what I love is enough to make up for not living the way I’d prefer, and the way my friends live, is a decision each of us has to make on our own, and it’s not always a cut and dried choice.

By: Randall

Randall — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 22:59:41 +0000

Martin also raises a valid point that I feel highlights a gap in the model. Your talent might be appreciated but might be undeliverable due to regulatory or legal constraints. Citizenship is extremely important, given the fact that many governments willingly allow the free-flow of capital, but strongly resist a similar mobility of labour.