“One of the great lies of life is follow your passions”

[Guest 72%dark]

Billionaire Mark Cuban: ‘One of the great lies of life is follow your passions’

 

Mark Cuban grew up working class in Pittsburgh. His father installed upholstery in cars and his mom worked a myriad of odd jobs. Today, Cuban is worth more than $3 billion, owns the Dallas Mavericks and is a star on ABC's hit reality television show, "Shark Tank."
He chased any number of random side-hustles on his way to the top, including selling baseball cards, stamps and coins. One thing Cuban did not do? Follow his passion.
"One of the great lies of life is 'follow your passions,'" says Cuban as part of the Amazon Insights for Entrepreneurs series. "Everybody tells you, 'Follow your passion, follow your passion.'"
Cuban says that's bad advice because you may not excel at what you are passionate about.
"I used to be passionate to be a baseball player. Then I realized I had a 70-mile-per-hour fastball," says Cuban. Competitive major league pitchers throw fastballs in the range of 90-plus miles per hour.
"I used to be passionate about being a professional basketball player. Then I realized I had a 7-inch vertical," says Cuban. Top contenders for the NBA draft in 2017 each had a max vertical leap over 40 inches.
"There are a lot of things I am passionate about. A lot," says Cuban.
Instead, pay attention to those things that you devote time to, says Cuban. Double down your investment there.
"The things I ended up being really good at were the things I found myself putting effort into. A lot of people talk about passion, but that's really not what you need to focus on. You really need to evaluate and say, 'Okay, where am I putting in my time?'" says Cuban.
"Because when you look at where you put in your time, where you put in your effort, that tends to be the things that you are good at. And if you put in enough time, you tend to get really good at it," explains Cuban.
When you are good at something, you enjoy it, says Cuban. The effort and skill snowball.
"If you put in enough time, and you get really good, I will give you a little secret: Nobody quits anything they are good at because it is fun to be good. It is fun to be one of the best," says Cuban.
"But in order to be one of the best, you have to put in effort. So don't follow your passions, follow your effort," says Cuban.
"I am going to give you one other secret: The one thing in life that you can control is your effort," says Cuban.
The billionaire is not alone in his advice.
Jeff Chapin, co-founder of direct-to-consumer mattress company Casper calls passion "whimsical."
"There are so many things that can captivate you that don't have to do with your passions," he tells CNBC Make It.
And often, hearing the advice "follow your passion" translates into following your hobby. "I love kitesurfing, so I'm going to go start a kitesurfing business," Chapin says as an example. "The reality is you probably ruined your hobby because now you turned your passion into your job."

 

Source:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/mark-cuban-follow-your-passion-is-bad-advice.html

[derryfawne]

Not always though.

 

I quit my managerial position without having another job lined up 3 years ago. Now I finally got into the industry that I want - it was rough in the beginning, but after a little bit of hard work and perseverance, I can proudly say that I am actually doing quite well now. And our company's on an exciting time right now.

[Guest 脏子姨]

9 minutes ago, derryfawne said:

Not always though.

 

I quit my managerial position without having another job lined up 3 years ago. Now I finally got into the industry that I want - it was rough in the beginning, but after a little bit of hard work and perseverance, I can proudly say that I am actually doing quite well now. And our company's on an exciting time right now.

What industry and job title, how much do you make....quick, tell us!!!  Are you rich in monetary sense? Do you have landed property or free hold condo? Are you driving Porsche? How much cash do you have? Do you own shares, how many lots of what company? Do you have branded watches or jewelleries? What brand and how much per watch, ring, necklace?  

 

Tell us 

[Guest 犯贱冰冰]

5 minutes ago, Guest 脏子姨 said:

What industry and job title, how much do you make....quick, tell us!!!  Are you rich in monetary sense? Do you have landed property or free hold condo? Are you driving Porsche? How much cash do you have? Do you own shares, how many lots of what company? Do you have branded watches or jewelleries? What brand and how much per watch, ring, necklace?  

 

Tell us 

 

你这臭婊子那么八卦干嘛？

[Guest 脏子姨]

Actually啊，怎么say呢？子姨姐姐我is very lucky的. 我一入行，就有lucky star shine me....

 

你看啊，first我嘛，very like man的那个 errr......怎么say呢，这词不好念，是"大笔是"...... 就是"big pen is"什么的，you know 吗？ "big pen is".....我们叫"大屌"嘛........我好lucky，天天大屌往我随便来.....

 

Second, 我吮吸big pen is, 让人play我，他们就给我big work嘛。

 

我passion和工作two in one嗯。这样才是happy happy lucky lucky.

[Guest 脏子姨]

15 minutes ago, Guest 犯贱冰冰 said:

 

你这臭婊子那么八卦干嘛？

I must say啊，我是依旧貌美如花的子姨姐姐，我是前辈哦! 姐姐"厉害"......你知道我的"意思"吗？听姐姐劝....姐姐问啥，他回答就对了。

[Guest 脏子姨]

姐姐全身都"厉害"....

[derryfawne]

22 minutes ago, Guest 脏子姨 said:

What industry and job title, how much do you make....quick, tell us!!!  Are you rich in monetary sense? Do you have landed property or free hold condo? Are you driving Porsche? How much cash do you have? Do you own shares, how many lots of what company? Do you have branded watches or jewelleries? What brand and how much per watch, ring, necklace?  

 

Tell us 

 

Nope - not rich in monetary sense lol.

 

Whether or not you do a job following your passion or selling your soul to the corporate devil, it's still a job to pay the rent after all. Not everybody gets to have a rag to riches story to tell.

 

But as far as career ambition and life satisfaction goes, I think I'm in a much happier place now than where I was in 3 years back.

[Guest 脏子姨]

3 minutes ago, derryfawne said:

 

Nope - not rich in monetary sense lol.

 

Whether or not you do a job following your passion or selling your soul to the corporate devil, it's still a job to pay the rent after all. Not everybody gets to have a rag to riches story to tell.

 

But as far as career ambition and life satisfaction goes, I think I'm in a much happier place now than where I was in 3 years back.

Ok understood. As long as you are happy and can maintain this stage without or without money.....

 

姐姐觉得不行，就好像只有love，没有sex，不行。

[Guest Passion]

What is wrong with pursuing passion?   Rich people has no passion, which is why they are rich.  

[Guest 脏子姨]

18 minutes ago, Guest Passion said:

What is wrong with pursuing passion?   Rich people has no passion, which is why they are rich.  

如果钱和passion,子姨姐姐不必想，先选钱。

 

有了钱，才想passion。如果找不到passion,我也要做个享尽荣华富贵的肤浅人。

 

不做满腔热血，热忱爆棚的穷人。

 

 

[doncoin]

I Think you need to find something you are good at, be validated in it and you will find it rewarding in the long run. I agree with the article and what Mark Cuban said. Financial rewards are not the only measurement of success. I know several rich people due to work, and a number of them are already in their 2nd or 3rd marriage. One is going on to his fourth. The only thing in common is that they get older, the wives get younger

[zyjd]

I was stuck at an IT job I loathed but it paid well. My passion has always been cars and real estate, but I never had the courage to make the leap of faith from making $7,800 a month (not including transport allowance, incentives, bonuses) to drawing a $500 monthly basic salary.

 

It wasn't until I was so burnt out from work and started getting panic attacks that I resigned to take a 6 month sabbatical - I saw a doctor for the attacks and he ordered it.

 

After the sabbatical (my money was running out lol) I asked myself if I wanted to go back to IT or if I'd like to take the leap of faith and try something I'm really interested in. There were a few things to consider: I was pretty good at my IT job, my former company was welcoming me back with open arms, and the fact that I'd have to wait about 3 months before getting my commission from selling a car.

 

The pros and cons list didn't make sense joining the automotive line, but I took a deep breath and applied to one of the dealerships. I told myself it's this, or nothing - if they weren't calling me back in 3 days I'd go back to IBM.

 

Long story short, when they made the job offer I actually went holy **** this is getting real. I nearly turned it down because it really didn't make sense in joining a trade that's so tightly controlled by the government (and hence volatile), but I told myself I'm still young and I should at least give it a shot.

 

I'm now 2 years in this line, and have never been happier. Just glad the dealership called back the very next day instead of 3 days later, and a supportive bf who encouraged me to try it out.

 

Career wise it looks like a step down - technical manager to sales consultant, but hey, happiness and job satisfaction over fancy titles.

[Guest Been there]

17 hours ago, 72%dark said:

 

 

 

Source:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/16/mark-cuban-follow-your-passion-is-bad-advice.html

Mark Cuban running from odd jobs to odd jobs and landed in wealth has nothing to do with passion or making the right choice.  People from the ivory tower have very myopic thinking about wealth and money based on their OWN experience and may not necessarily representative of other people situation.

 

Let me relate a story.  In singapore, there were many Karung Guni man who went about collecting and hunting junks.  It was like Mar Cuban, taking all sort of odds and ends to make a living in his younger years.  However, not all will become rich like him, even if you do not pursue your passion. Like Karung Guni Man (or Mark Cuban), some were lucky (picked the right junks or accidentally found cash in a pile of shit) and started to own a warehouse or factory and became a millionair selling and exporting junks. Other will remain a small Karung Guni or carboard pickers.  I have friends who were like Mark Cuban,  taking all sorts of odd jobs for the sake of earning money, in his old age he remain the same.  Asked what his passion were, he said don't know.

 

Li Ka Shin did not go about doing odd jobs.  He sell flowers and have a little mind of a business to make him rich

Bill gate, steve job, all have passion to do what they did and became a billionaires, so is facebook founders and Jack Ma

Peter Lim, did not do odd jobs.  He invest his money and struck gold overnight (like winning lottery).  No running around to do all sort of jobs.

 

Asked all those billionaires and each has their own set of story different from Mark Cuban.  Some will talk about passion, others about mindset resilience and even a few will say education is not the factor they were rich.  

 

People,  your life is yours and you should not listen to other people because of differing situation, culture, politics and lifestyle that put Mark Cuban where he is now.  I can say I have many successful ideas, but our govt will not approve and no license will be granted, my parents will be disagree, our conservative society forbids....etc.     So how?   Than again in a small countries like ours,  once you became successful, there will be 100 people doing copy-cat to compete with you.  So how? Market small,  stress level is high and how many more years can you try and try?    Why not do something you like, follow your passion and enjoy life to the fullest instead of like my old friends who were clueless when asked what his passion was and still not getting anywhere when he listened to Mark Cuban advices to richness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest 72%dark]

For those like @derryfawne and @zyjd, I’m glad to hear of your success and happiness; congrats!

 

I felt compelled to share this article as a counter to the current pervasiveness of the “follow your passions” meme. It has become such a cherished ideal that people now even rush to defend it (as the majority of the replies to this thread evince). 

 

The problem is, as with much else in life, people only like to hear the success stories and the happy endings. Generally speaking, those who try and fail, those who find themselves broken and embittered by the experience of “following their passions”, hardly ever air their side of the story. So other naïveinnocent people take the plunge without hearing different sides of the story and considering more sober options.

 

And there will always be people who say that failure is a learning process so don’t let that deter you. To which my reply is, life isn’t like a video game whereby if you ‘die’ you just start again at the beginning of the level – you can retrace your steps until you finally overcome. In real life, failure may well teach you some valuable lessons, but you may never be in the same place again to apply those lessons; you may even, if you’re unlucky, find yourself in increasingly worse circumstances, with no way back or up. (I speak from personal experience.)

 

I’d say follow your passions only if you’re sure you have nothing to lose.

[Mastiff]

12 minutes ago, 72%dark said:

 

I’d say follow your passions only if you’re sure you have nothing to lose.

 

Lao Tzu, velly wise man. 

 

"He who start nothing, leaves nothing undone."

 

 

[Guest 小肥猫]

I read memoire of a lion, and inspirations stories of a tiger.  I tried to be like them.  In fact, I wanted to be like them to follow their passion.  So I started small, chasing after a mouse and became successful. Than I felt brave,  I pounced on a creature, bigger than the size of me, a goat.  It meh at me,  I jumped on it again again, and got shook off several times.  I tried to bite on its throat like what the tiger did, and got flung into the air and kicked in my stomach.   My wish in life, is to someday kill an elephant.  Yes!!! I felt inspired by the tiger and lion because I believed if they can, I can too. After all,  we are cat family.  What do you think?

[kimlo777]

On 2/20/2018 at 10:19 PM, Guest 脏子姨 said:

What industry and job title, how much do you make....quick, tell us!!!  Are you rich in monetary sense? Do you have landed property or free hold condo? Are you driving Porsche? How much cash do you have? Do you own shares, how many lots of what company? Do you have branded watches or jewelleries? What brand and how much per watch, ring, necklace?  

 

Tell us 

you don't measure life's success by any of those things you mentioned surely.  success is knowing, first of all, our purpose in life then cultivating the courage to do our purpose.  when you die you cannot take any of the things you mentioned with us but we will be judged by how we led our life on earth with purpose and meaning. to me that is the true measure of success.

[Guest InBangkok]

On 2/21/2018 at 8:49 AM, Guest Been there said:

Mark Cuban running from odd jobs to odd jobs and landed in wealth has nothing to do with passion or making the right choice. 

 

Completely agree. Passion can take different forms, from jobs to relationships to travel, wealth and a nice house. As far as career is concerned, I would always say follow your passion. Even if you are not sure how to get on to the first rung on the ladder,  even though the salary once you get there is less, remember you will be learning and following your dream. Never give up!

[Guest Guest]

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/struggling-students-top-ntu-graduates#.Wo4z3wsidUc.facebook

[Steve5380]

Like other advice, the "follow your passions" is a positive career recommendation that needs some qualifiers.

It is good to have a pragmatic view of a future career, observing how the average person does in such activity.

This means refraining our ambition from trying to make us exceptional, which can increase the risk of failure.

To be passionate about being a teacher, an engineer, a doctor is reasonable, since average persons in these activities can make a good living.

To be passionate in the arts, sports and try to follow such passion is risky, because only the best artists, the best sportsmen become highly successful, unless one already is prepared to reach a lower level of performance.  For example, a music lower can reasonably plan to be a player in an orchestra, but to put all hopes in becoming a world famous soloist can end up being just a dream.