Finding passion and purpose in work is difficult.

It isn’t something that is taught in school, and since it is difficult, not many people have sufficiently good advice.

This is why I am constantly looking for people who might have an answer. I don’t have the answer.

I do like what others have to say though, and I have three mentors which have provided what I think is a great perspective on passion. By the way, they don’t actually know they are my mentors.

Recently, I spent some time watching the Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement speech, and I enjoy the James Altucher Podcast. Both provided what I think are three great perspectives on finding passion. Passion, purpose, and how it relates to work.

Steve Jobs, Kevin O’Leary, and James Altucher are far more qualified to discuss passion than I am.

Here are 3 things they have taught me about passion:

Steve Jobs on Finding Your Passion

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”

The world doesn’t hand people great work. Great work is created. Two ways to be apart of great work is to either be the creator, or to become part of the team. Which path is correct depends on the person. Neither path is found by settling.

Kevin O’Leary on Finding Your Passion

Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank has good advice when it comes to finding your passion. He believes “You have to try a lot of different things,” before you can truly find something you are passionate about.

Trying many things does not necessarily mean moving companies or not having direction. An environment which allows you to learn about different areas of the business and work in different units, may provide the necessary tools to find your passion. This could mean being proactive and volunteering to working on projects outside of the specific job description.

James Altucher on Finding Your Passion

“You are usually passionate about what you’re good at. So it is best to look for your passion in things you are good at.”

Becoming good at something is a daily practice. The daily practice of showing up. If passion lies in becoming good at something, what do you show up daily to do? Do you believe it is worth it?

As the abundance of wealth in our society grows, I think we can be more selective about work. Life is too short to work for the sake of working, being thankful we just have a job, and being unfulfilled in something which consumes much of our time.

I don’t want to settle, how about you?

Good luck and good selling!