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【英文原文】
For a long time, I’ve held the belief that if something is a good idea, it’s worth doing.
Now, I completely reject that notion.
I just can’t operate that way anymore. I know better and my brain can’t be fooled.
In 2007 Tim Ferriss coined the term “work for work’s sake.” Since then, something worse has emerged: “improving for improvement’s sake.” (Honestly, this conundrum has probably been around for centuries. I just came up with it now because I desperately want to coin a phrase of my own, so I can be cool, too.) In other words: “improving for improvement’s sake” is doing something just because it’s a “good idea.”
Yeah, I’ve been there, and what is neatly packaged as a “good idea” is often OCD and egotism in disguise.
It’s at that point where passion is ransacked and Ego reigns king of the hill.
There are many instances where passion can turn into just a good idea…
Passions turns into obsession. When I first started learning Jeet Kune Do, I was incredibly excited. I’ve wanted to study martial arts since I first saw The Karate Kid at the ripe age of seven. So when I was presented the opportunity to learn the style of martial arts that Bruce Lee formed, I could barely contain my excitement (and, I’ll be honest, my nervousness at the thought of possibly sucking really bad). But when my ego got hold of me, it became hard not to practice just because I felt I should; just because it was a “good idea.” In other words: I forgot about my passion and started aiming to improve simply for the sake of improvement.
Your love becomes your job. This seems like the most backward thing, right? I mean, in the beginning we complain that we don’t have enough time to do what we really care about, but when we’re presented the opportunity to make money from it, it becomes a turnoff. At first, it might seem exhilarating and thrilling for the chance to do what we love for a living. But after a while, that excitement tends to wear off and it becomes a chore. It’s a must instead of a fun option kind of thing. (A little later in this article we’ll get into why this happens and how to can get out of it.)
You mistake avoidance for apathy. We often think that because we’re avoiding doing what we love, it must not matter enough to us. Of course it matters! That very avoidance and fear is a sign that it does matter. But it’s hard not to let that fear discourage you and lead you to believe that because you’re avoiding it, you must not want it bad enough. If you let that happen, you forfeit your passion and the worst happens… it turns into just a good idea.
What’s happening here is one of two things: A.) Your passion is getting stifled somewhere along the way, or B.) You’ve simply lost interest.
If the latter is the case and your supposed true love (with your new career pursuit, or whatever it may be), was simply infatuation, then you can safely let it go. There’s no point in clinging to goals that no longer serve you.
If you can honestly say that you truly are passionate about whatever you’re aspiring to — and your spark was simply extinguished somewhere along the way — there is hope for you yet.
