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It's about passion

I've been wanting to write this post for a very long time now, but could never find the right way to put it. What is passion? According to dictionary.com passion is many things, but there is a particular meaning I find interesting:

a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything

An enthusiasm...like so many things in life, being successful at IT is all about having a passion, an enthusiasm for what you do. The Internet Service Provider, Internet Solution's slogan, for me sums it up perfectly :

Do what you love. Love what you do.

I've seen many folks that studied long and hard in their respective IT fields, but they lack one very crucial element. Passion.Sure they are very talented, but that urge to do and know more is not there.That drive to do what they do, not because they're getting paid for it, but because they want to do it, is missing.

A substantial amount of people starting out as IT professionals, either quickly lose interest or realize that IT is not excatly what they want to do with their lives. A few of them then work hard and try their hand at managing IT (Project management, Team Leaders, Development Managers, etc.), a lot make a huge success of it, but a lot of them, due to the lack of passion for the industry have a really hard time with the management side as well.

Now, I'm not bad-mouthing anyone here nor am I judging these people's abilities, on the contrary, but what I am saying is this; Education and talent can only take you so far, to make it all the way you need passion for the project, man.

If you agree with me or not, please leave a comment...

I'll leave you with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson(hey, a guy with sideburns like that can't be wrong):

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

Print | posted on Wednesday, August 22, 2007 10:00 PM

Comments on this post

# re: It's about passion

Requesting Gravatar...
I like the word enthusiasm: passion may be a little to ideological or religious for my tastes.

You would enjoy reading anything by John Wooden, the greatest coach in American History. My introduction to his philosophy was on http://billwalton.com/wooden.html.
Left by Phil Raevsky on Sep 22, 2007 8:47 PM

# re: It's about passion

Requesting Gravatar...
Hi Phil,

I agree, it's more about enthusiasm than anything else.

Thanks for that link and your comment!
Left by Pieter van der Westhuizen on Sep 24, 2007 9:33 AM

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