Problems > Passion
Bad advice often sounds like wisdom.
"Write down your mission statement at the top of your resume" is one of those.
It may seem like a good way to stand out and show what you stand for.
It may even seem like a good way to define one's own purpose to motivate yourself.
But I'm convinced that this isn't the case.
It's a bit of a lie, and can lead one down chasing one's purpose.
One short essay -- whose author I can't remember -- changed my mind about this, saying that it was better to pursue problems than passions.
It's taken me over a decade to fully appreciate it.
Although it made sense to me at the time, internalizing it has been very hard. And I think part of the difficulty is that it seems that searching for one's purpose and passions is more reachable.
But actually it is solving problems and falling in love with them that can light one's fire.
Identifying, defining, and going deep into problems is not easy. This is often because most of our life is not spent falling in love with problems.
It's avoiding them.
As I started to think about what I wanted to focus on for this Substack, I revisited the notion of problems vs purpose, and I could see both how difficult it is to get clear-eyed about problems, but also how clarifying it is to so.
The problem is the difficulty for people to find their strengths and positioning in the world to advance their careers and business.
I resonate with the problem because I have experienced the problem.
What has made it difficult is that most people around me did *not..
Either they didn't think about it; or they found the answer.
This is a problem not just in career, where one can easily feel lost and aimless without a clear category.
But it is also one that can plague small businesses, freelancers, writers, and start-ups: what is their unique place in the world?
This doesn't guarantee there will not be competition. If the endeavor or market is worthwhile, there will be plenty of competition.
But what it should help is to mitigate, if not eliminate, the concerns about competition.
Whenever I've read about companies that achieve this, I am envious.
Whenever I read about an employee whose career sky-rockets because of their unique position, versus just "hustling hard," I'm envious.
This might be the most important thing for even young children, my own included, to understand and explore.
So to me, this is a problem worth solving.
Can it be solved with technology or an app?
Not sure.
But someone who knows the type of problems, the scope of problems, that they are best suited for is more powerful than just having a passion. And probably a more compelling way to define one's purpose (to solve the problem).
How to start?
Think about issues at work or with clients where you are most engaged with solving their problems.
What makes you excited about the idea of solving?
What types of problems do you volunteer to help?