Follow Your Passion? Nah, Try This Instead.

In this week’s Pinkcast, Dan interviews Tom Rath, New York Times bestselling author of StrengthsFinder 2.0, How Full Is Your Bucket?, and Eat Move Sleep.

Tom has just published his most recent book, Life’s Great Question, and that is the focus of the Pinkcast.

I have been a fan of StrengthsFinder 2.0 since it was released (side note – my top five strengths are Learner, Achiever, Relator, Responsibility, and Futuristic), so I was certain this Pinkcast would be worth watching.

In the interview, Dan notes that many people, when they are certain junctures of their life, ask themselves, “What’s My Passion?”.

But Tom is not a fan of such a question. He believes that such a question assumes that we are at the center of the universe, and everything revolves around us. However, we know the world does not work that way. (WHAT??!!)

The better question is: “Where Can I Find My Greatest Contribution?”

When you start by focusing on what other people need, you can work back to who you are and how you can make a difference.

This suggests starting with the demand side of the equation – what do people need – and then take a look at the supply side – what are your strengths and natural talents – and begin to connect who you are with what the world needs.

Here are a couple of snippets from some of Tom’s recent tweets that state these ideas quite succinctly:

• Move from: “You are what you do” to  “You are how you help”.
• In the end, you won’t get to stay around forever, but your contributions will.

And here is a full tweet that says it best:

While your talents are nature’s best building blocks, they serve the world best when your efforts are directed outward — not inward.

We need to think about who we are (supply) in relation to what the world needs (demand).#LifesGreatQuestion

— Tom Rath (@TomCRath) February 13, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

This seems like another great book from Tom, and I look forward to reading it.

Here is the Pinkcast: