The Passion Paradox: A Guide to Going All In, Finding Success, and Discovering the Benefits of an Unbalanced Life
by Brad Stulberg
All the greats shared something else in common: An unrelenting drive. An eternal hunger. An inability to be satiated. Passion. And yet when you’re under passion’s spell, the reward you think you’re chasing—usually some sort of contentment or satiation—is merely an illusion.
All the greats shared something else in common: An unrelenting drive. An eternal hunger. An inability to be satiated. Passion.
And yet when you’re under passion’s spell, the reward you think you’re chasing—usually some sort of contentment or satiation—is merely an illusion.
“However, when brain pathways intended to promote [positive attributes] are diverted into addiction, their blessings become curses. Love and addiction are alterations of the same brain circuits.”
Passion has not only biological roots, but psychological ones, too. The subjective feeling of struggle or “trauma” can be channeled into productive passions.
Interest is an invitation to exploration, drawing your attention toward activities that have the potential to grow into something greater.
"All the greats shared something else in common: An unrelenting drive. An eternal hunger. An inability to be satiated. Passion."
"And yet when you’re under passion’s spell, the reward you think you’re chasing—usually some sort of contentment or satiation—is merely an illusion."
"A part of what we experience as passion is rooted in our genetic code and amplified by our neurochemistry. Some of us may be born with a persistent disposition, yet all of us can get hooked on the repetition of meaningful activities, whether this means seeing progress in training for a marathon, learning to play guitar, building a company, accelerating in one’s career, or falling deeper into a romantic relationship. When we experience an intense urge to pursue something or someone, dopamine is flooding our brain, causing us to feel good in the moment and making us want to come back for more in the future. It is in this manner that passion builds on itself."
"“However, when brain pathways intended to promote [positive attributes] are diverted into addiction, their blessings become curses. Love and addiction are alterations of the same brain circuits.”"
"Passion has not only biological roots, but psychological ones, too. The subjective feeling of struggle or “trauma” can be channeled into productive passions."
"He had simpler ambitions: “I don’t think the studio executives believed it, but I wanted to make Titanic because I wanted to dive the wreck. I thought: How can I dive the Titanic and get somebody to pay for it? I’ll make a movie.” Cameron was simply pursuing his interest; the end product, perhaps the most popular movie of all time, was an afterthought. As Cameron told Men’s Journal, it was a side effect of a “personal quest.”"
"Interest is an invitation to exploration, drawing your attention toward activities that have the potential to grow into something greater."
- →When you begin to experience such a feeling, the temptation is to fully dive in. Yet, as you’ll soon see, that would be a mistake. Because the best way to fully develop passion is gradually.
- →The best route to making your passion a bigger part of your life is often not to choose must over should, but rather to choose must and should.
- →The path of mastery is almost always very hard and requires lots of time and unyielding commitment.
- →a form of resistance that we call “I couldn’t possibly do this” syndrome. Common examples of “I couldn’t possibly do this” syndrome include: “I went to and paid for business school, why should I be concerned with art?” “I’m a physician, not an essay writer.” “I’m sixty-four years old and I’ve never worked with my hands, why start now?”
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