During my visit to Chapters last weekend, as I was strolling the aisles, I stopped for a minute , picked up the book in front of me, and started reading the back cover.  I picked up some of the other books from that same row of books. I realized I was in the Biographies section.

This particular row of books was dedicated to stories of people who were unhappy with their lives and what they did to ameliorate their situations. In the pursuit of happiness, they decided to make changes in their lives whether that be by: traveling to places they’d never been, ending a marriage, changing careers, trying new foods, etc…

There was a high supply of books on “pursuing happiness” or “finding your passion”, which speaks volumes for the demand for this kind of stuff.

This leads me to my question, is the world becoming a less happy place? Here are my thoughts:

I don’t know if we have become unhappier, but I do think the world has become more competitive. Globalization has made the world a smaller place and cool, new innovations have opened up doors to great new opportunities that were never available before (i.e. Facebook, smartphones, etc). More people are pursuing higher education to equip themselves with the knowledge they feel they need to compete and be “successful”. I believe the issue starts here. Let me try to explain.

A highly educated and ambitious population is a good thing, isn’t it?

True. But, there is a but. In short, I don’t think people are pursuing higher education for the right reasons. Knowledge can be gained from books and compiled within a matter of minutes using Google, but obviously there are advantages in pursuing a higher education that only Google and books cannot provide.

Here’s a very short list of a few of the things I gained from my years as a student:
-Stronger work ethic: provided greater discipline, allowed me to realize the strong correlation between high-quality work/effort and success.
-Further developed interpersonal skills/networking opportunities through working with other competitive students, professors, and industry experts
-Helped me learn more about myself: Through being told what to read, study, and write, I learned very quickly what I enjoyed doing and things I didn’t enjoy. This also helped me realize my strengths and weaknesses.

Now, this list looks simple and not very shocking – have a look at items that have appeared on the lists of others I have talked to:

Things they said they gained from their education:
-An iron ring
-College diploma/University degree (Bachelors, Masters, PhD)
-Can recite pie backwards up to the 10th decimal
-Have secured a job that pays the average salary, based on their education and years of experience

How does the latter list differ to the above?

Most importantly, the first list acknowledges personal development, whereas the second fails to acknowledge the skills developed. Rather than pursuing a higher education for a diploma, a degree, or an iron ring, the focus should be on the skills desired and why acquire them. Rather than chasing goals to acheive what you are passionate about, the goal becomes to merely receive a piece of paper.

Unfortunately, degrees, diplomas, iron rings, knowledge of random facts and figures do not have any effect without action. Action on knowledge or achievements can change the world. To act upon the things we know, passion is needed. Examples of people who have acted upon their passions and knowledge include: Michael Jackson (music and dance), Donald Trump (leadership, real estate, hair), Walt Disney (story-telling, psychology), Terry Matthews (entrepreneurship, telecommunications), Steve Jobs (marketing), Jack Welch (psychology, management), etc…

The reason these people have seen extraordinary levels of success is partly due to the fact that they know their strengths and where their passion lies. Their passion for what they do/did shows.

Often, I see many pursuing things that make them miserable. Or people who try to be the jack of all trades. My question is, why? Why not focus on one thing you enjoy and are passionate about instead? Having a single-minded attitude towards what you do best and what you enjoy, in my opinion, can result in extraordinary level of success – whether that be financial success, personal satisfaction, etc…

How do you know what your passion is?
One of my favourite things to do, would definitely be meeting other motivated, hard-working, young entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs. Recently, at GenYOTT, a social networking event in Ottawa, I had the opportunity to meet Nimit Malavia, a talented, illustrator. His passion for what he does is very evident. As we chatted, I asked him what his key driver was, what keeps him motivated. He said, “I feel sick when I don’t draw”. Enough said.

Another example, a non-profit organization that I feel very fortunate to have done some work with, Human Mobility International (HMI)  is made of pure passion, wherein the founder, Briton Amos “provides high-end wheelchairs to improve the quality of life of people suffering from the after-math of living in conflict zones and areas of natural disasters. These clients will primarily be found in third-world countries where they cannot afford these wheelchairs in order for them to re-integrate into their society.”

Ultimately, to avoid the need for books on “how to be happy” later in life, I think we need to do the following:

1) Understand the reasons for our decisions and how we choose to spend our time. These decisions should follow with goals. It’s important to understand that to achieve goals, you must have set goals.
Remember:
a) Goals should be ambitious, but realistic
b) There should be a reason for wanting to achieve these goals

2) Also, keep track of how you spend most of your time. Is the work you do mostly busy-work? Measuring your productivity should not be based on how much time you spend in front of your computer, answering e-mails, or in meetings. My favorite time management tip is, ask yourself: “Am I being productive or just active?” – @tferriss, The 4-Hour Workweek.

3) Unfortunately you may have to do things you don’t enjoy. Getting things that need to get done efficiently and effectively to focus on what you are passionate about should be the underlying objective. (For example, completing linear algebra class to get to exciting calculus. To get to calculus, you must put in the effort by completing algebra.)

I would like to keep this blog short, which is a bit challenging because there’s much to say. To sum up, passion and knowledge can change the world. Everyone has the potential to make an impact. Unfortunately, many do not take the opportunity when given the chance – I hate seeing smart, talented people that are lazy. As the folks at Nike would say, just do it.

To end, I’m a huge fan of this Steve Jobs presentation – I think it fits with the theme of this entry, check it out

Cheers, Esha

Copyright © Esha Abrol, Canada. October 20, 2010.