Passion Is Suffering, Not Happiness | Ep 993
In this episode of The Game, Alex Hormozi examines the common advice to "follow your passion," offering a different interpretation based on the word's Latin origins. He explains that passion actually means suffering, not happiness, and argues that pursuing meaningful goals requires enduring significant challenges and discomfort rather than seeking constant enjoyment.
Drawing from personal experiences, including sleeping on a gym floor, Hormozi explores how suffering exists on any life path—whether in entrepreneurship, employment, wealth, or poverty. He discusses the relationship between purpose and perseverance, suggesting that true fulfillment comes from finding something worth enduring hardship for, rather than simply chasing activities that bring immediate pleasure.
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1-Page Summary
Debunking the "Follow Your Passion" Myth
Alex Hormozi challenges the conventional wisdom of "following your passion," offering a more nuanced perspective that connects passion with suffering and endurance rather than pure enjoyment.
The True Nature of Passion
Hormozi explains that the word "passion" actually comes from the Latin word "passio," meaning suffering. He argues that pursuing one's passion isn't about constant enjoyment, but rather about finding something worth enduring hardship for. This often involves doing uncomfortable or unenjoyable tasks in service of a larger, meaningful goal.
Understanding the Role of Suffering
Drawing from both etymology and real-world examples, Hormozi emphasizes that suffering is an inevitable part of any path in life, whether in entrepreneurship, employment, wealth, or poverty. He shares personal experiences, including sleeping on a gym floor and battling athlete's foot, to illustrate that meaningful achievements require enduring significant challenges.
Finding Purpose Beyond Passion
Rather than simply chasing passion, Hormozi advocates for focusing on the "why" and "how" behind our actions. He suggests that true fulfillment comes from committing to a purpose significant enough to make the associated hardships worthwhile. Using his own experience as an example, Hormozi explains that while his daily work doesn't always align with his passions, his deeper purpose of helping others provides the motivation to persist through challenges.
1-Page Summary
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- Passion as a source of enjoyment and energy: While passion can involve suffering, it can also be a source of immense joy and motivation, driving individuals to excel in their chosen fields.
- Diverse interpretations of passion: The historical etymology of "passion" as suffering is one interpretation, but the modern usage often emphasizes intense enthusiasm and interest, which can be a positive force in one's career.
- Balance between passion and practicality: It's important to balance passion with practical considerations such as market demand, personal strengths, and the ability to make a living, rather than viewing passion as an all-or-nothing proposition.
- The role of enjoyment in sustainability: Constant suffering and hardship without enjoyment can lead to burnout; finding joy in one's work can be crucial for long-term sustainability and mental health.
- Passion as a guide, not a destination: Passion can be a valuable guide to finding one's path, even if it is not the sole factor in career decisions. It can help individuals identify what they care about and seek out related opportunities.
- The importance of adaptability: Rigidly adhering to a pre-defined passion may not be practical in a rapidly changing job market; adaptability and a willingness to develop new passions can be equally important.
- The potential for passion to develop over time: Passion for a particular field or activity can develop and deepen over time, rather than being a pre-existing condition that one must follow from the outset.
- The value of intrinsic motivation: While enduring hardship can lead to growth, intrinsic motivation—doing something because it is inherently rewarding—can also be a powerful driver of success and fulfillment.
- The risk of romanticizing suffering: Glorifying suffering as a necessary component of following one's passion can be problematic, as it may discourage seeking out or creating more enjoyable and healthy work environments.
Actionables
- Reflect on your daily tasks and identify one that feels burdensome, then write down how it contributes to your larger goals. For example, if you dread weekly meetings, consider how they keep the team aligned and contribute to the project's success, reinforcing the purpose behind the discomfort.
- Create a "Purpose Map" by drawing a flowchart that starts with your daily activities and connects them to your ultimate aspirations. This visual representation can help you see the connection between mundane tasks and your meaningful objectives, like how learning a new software might be frustrating but is a step towards becoming proficient in your field.
- Start a "Challenge Journal" where you document one challenge you face each day and how you plan to overcome it. This practice encourages you to actively engage with obstacles as part of the journey towards your goals, turning them into opportunities for growth rather than roadblocks.
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Debunking the "Follow Your Passion" Myth
Alex Hormozi offers a fresh perspective on the often-repeated advice to "follow your passion," suggesting that it may be more about endurance and dedication than immediate enjoyment.
"Passion" Is About Finding Something Worth Suffering For
Root of "Passion" Is "Suffering" - Not Always About Enjoyment
Hormozi points out that the root of the word "passion" comes from the Latin "passio," which means suffering. This implies that pursuing one's passion isn't always about doing what you love in the moment, but rather about finding something that's worth suffering for.
Pursuing Passion Means Sometimes Doing Things You Don't Enjoy
He explains that growth, which is often a part of following one’s passion, involves stretching beyond one’s current capabilities, and this can be painful. Hormozi suggests that pursuing a passion involves enduring hardships, including the necessity to sometimes do unenjoyable things in order to achieve a larger, meaningful goal.
Finding True Passion: Commitment to Meaningful Endurance
Hormozi argues that to make a passion a reality, one must become skilled at it. This process oft ...
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Debunking the "Follow Your Passion" Myth
Additional Materials
Clarifications
- The Latin word "passio" originally referred to the experience of enduring suffering or hardship, especially in a religious context like the Passion of Christ. Over time, "passion" evolved in English to mean intense emotion or enthusiasm, but its root still implies enduring difficulty. This historical meaning highlights that passion involves perseverance through challenges, not just pleasure. Understanding this helps explain why pursuing passion often requires hard work and sacrifice.
- Passion is often misunderstood as constant happiness or fun, but it actually involves commitment through challenges. Many meaningful achievements require effort, discipline, and overcoming obstacles, which can be uncomfortable or difficult. This endurance builds skills and progress, deepening the connection to the passion. True passion is sustained by valuing the long-term purpose more than momentary pleasure.
- Growth often means learning new skills or facing challenges that feel uncomfortable because they push you outside your comfort zone. This discomfort happens because your brain and body are adapting to unfamiliar demands. Over time, this process strengthens your abilities and resilience. Without this stretching, improvement and progress are limited.
- Fleeting moments of passion are brief experiences of intense excitement or joy related to an activity. Sustained effort involves consistently working through routine or difficult tasks that may not feel enjoyable but are necessary for progress. This effort builds skills and creates opportunities to experience those moments of passion more often. Success often depends on balancing both the highs of passion and the discipline of perseverance.
- Turning a passion into a business me ...
Counterarguments
- The interpretation of "passion" as suffering may be historically accurate, but language evolves, and many people now associate passion with intense enthusiasm and pleasure, not just suffering.
- While enduring hardship can be part of pursuing a passion, it's not universally true that passion must involve suffering; some people may find that following their passion brings more joy than hardship.
- The idea that growth is painful may not account for the fact that some individuals thrive on challenges and find growth to be an energizing, positive experience.
- The emphasis on endurance and suffering might discourage some from following their passions if they perceive it as a path of constant struggle rather than fulfillment.
- The notion that true passion involves commitment to meaningful endurance could be seen as a narrow view, as some may experience passion in a variety of forms, not all of which require endurance.
- The claim that becoming skilled in a passion requires engaging in less enjoyable tasks might overlook the possibility that for some, the proces ...
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Reframing Passion As Something Worth Suffering For
Alex Hormozi delves into the concept that suffering is not only an inevitable part of life but may also be an indication that one is on a meaningful path.
Suffering Is Integral to Meaningful Pursuits
Hormozi discusses the idea that enduring hardship is integral to pursuing goals that carry personal significance. This echoes the etymology of the word "passion," which stems from the Latin word for suffering, suggesting that to be truly passionate about something is tied to enduring pain for it.
Suffering Is a Constant in any Life Path, Loved or Hated
He emphasizes that suffering is a constant across all walks of life, whether one is an entrepreneur, an employee, wealthy, or financially struggling. By reframing one’s perspective to see "bad things as good," Hormozi implies that acknowledgment of suffering as part of any life path can lead to a more resilient approach to challenges.
He illustrates this with a hypothetical scenario where a person faces different activities that all incur a cost of suffering, regardless of the individual's feelings about each activity. This underscores the idea that pain is a shared experience in any pursuit, even those one is passionate about.
Hormozi asserts that both paths—the one lacking personal investment and the one fueled by passion—will involve suffering, pointing out that the hardship on each path may be equivalent, thereby dismantling the myth that passion precludes pain.
Embrace Suffering As Necessary For Growth and Achievement
Drawing from the literal translation of passion in Latin, which resonates with stories of sacrifice such as the crucifixion of Christ, Hormozi stresses the importance of choosing goals worth enduring suffering for. T ...
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Reframing Passion As Something Worth Suffering For
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Counterarguments
- The association of passion with suffering might be culturally specific and not universally applicable.
- Suffering is not always necessary for growth; some individuals or cultures may emphasize joy and positive experiences as equally important for personal development.
- The idea that all life paths involve comparable suffering could be seen as oversimplifying the vast differences in challenges faced by individuals based on their circumstances.
- Reframing negative experiences as positive might not always be beneficial, as it could lead to the dismissal of legitimate grievances and hinder the pursuit of systemic change.
- The narrative that embracing suffering is necessary for achievement might inadvertently glorify struggle and discourage seeking help or improving one's conditions.
- The emphasis on personal growth through suffering may overlook the importance of community support, collaboration, and shared success.
- The concept that mastery arises from overcoming adversity might not account for tho ...
Actionables
- You can start a "Suffering Journal" to document and reflect on daily challenges, noting how they contribute to your personal growth. By writing down the difficulties you face each day, you'll begin to see patterns in how you overcome them and how they lead to improvement in various aspects of your life. For example, if you're learning a new language and struggle with pronunciation, journaling about your practice sessions can help you track progress and stay motivated despite the frustration.
- Develop a "Passion Project" that requires a long-term commitment and presents significant challenges, such as writing a book or training for a marathon. This project should be something you're deeply interested in but also involves considerable effort and discomfort. As you work on it, focus on the satisfaction of pushing through tough moments, which will help you understand the intrinsic link between passion and endurance.
- Create a "Growth Game Plan" where you set a ...
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The Inevitability Of Suffering In any Meaningful Pursuit
Alex Hormozi articulates a resonant theme regarding the intrinsic nature of suffering in any pursuit, indicating it to be a certainty in any meaningful endeavor.
All Paths Involve Suffering, Not Just Passionate Ones
Hormozi confronts a common misconception that suffering exclusively taints the journey of the truly passionate, asserting instead that all life paths inherently involve difficulty and discomfort.
Challenges in Entrepreneurship, Employment, Wealth, and Poverty
He explicitly underscores the universal nature of challenges, encompassing entrepreneurship, employment, wealth, and even poverty. Hormozi argues that no matter the chosen path—whether detested, tolerated, or deeply loved—the quantum of suffering remains consistent.
Progress Has a Cost: Expect Challenges
Hormozi shares personal anecdotes, like sleeping on a gym floor and experiencing a loss of social status, to illustrate that the pursuit of any goal entails hardship. He candidly speaks about his battle with athlete’s foot and the physically trying conditions he endured, painting a vivid picture of sacrifice. Furthermore, he delivers a stark message on subjective well-being, asserting that it remains relatively static whether one is poorer or wealthier because it is governed by internal factors.
Hormozi asserts that "everything is hard" and indifference is r ...
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The Inevitability Of Suffering In any Meaningful Pursuit
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Counterarguments
- While suffering is often part of pursuing goals, it is not universally experienced to the same degree by everyone, and some individuals may find ways to minimize or manage suffering effectively.
- The assertion that all life paths involve the same amount of difficulty and discomfort can be challenged by the idea that people's experiences are subjective and can vary greatly depending on personal circumstances and perspectives.
- The idea that challenges are universal might overlook the nuances of individual experiences, where some people may face significantly more or fewer obstacles due to various factors such as privilege, social support, or access to resources.
- The claim that subjective well-being remains stable regardless of wealth or poverty could be contested by research suggesting that certain levels of wealth can indeed impact one's sense of well-being, particularly if it lifts someone out of poverty.
- The notion that obstacles are often ignored or overlooked by others does not account for the empathy and support systems that do exist and can play a significant role in helping individuals overcome challenges.
- The idea that accepting and confronting adversity is necessary to make an impact may not always hold true, as some individuals or groups may achieve significant impact through innovation, collaboration, or other means that do not require substantial personal suffering.
- The concept of refr ...
Actionables
- You can start a "Struggle Journal" to document daily challenges and reflect on their role in your personal growth. By writing down the difficulties you face each day, you can begin to see patterns in how you approach and overcome these challenges. This practice can help you recognize the value of adversity in your life and may shift your perspective to view struggles as opportunities for development rather than mere obstacles.
- Create a "Sacrifice Map" to visualize the trade-offs you make for your goals. Draw a simple chart with your main goals at the center and lines branching out to the sacrifices you've made or anticipate making for each goal. This could include time spent away from family, financial investment, or personal comfort. Seeing this map can help you understand and accept the necessary sacrifices for progress, making them feel more like conscious choices rather than burdens.
- Engage in a "Legacy Project" where you commit to a long-term goal that involves a significant challenge. ...
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Importance Of Finding a Purpose Bigger Than Yourself
Hormozi delves into existential questions regarding professional and personal fulfillment, advocating for a focus on a deep, meaningful purpose over chasing ephemeral passions.
"Why" and "how" Are More Important Than "What"
Hormozi underscores the significance of understanding the reasons behind our actions rather than just the actions themselves. He posits that the internal motivators — the "why" and "how" of our efforts — are more enduring and impactful than the "what" which is external and often beyond our control. He calls for a revaluation of duty, stressing the importance of intention behind actions, like working to provide for one's family.
Passion Arises From Finding a Purpose Meaningful Enough to Endure Suffering
In exploring the concept of passion, Hormozi argues that it stems from the willingness to sustain hardship for a cause deemed valuable. True passion, according to him, is the drive derived from committing to a goal so significant that the pain encountered on the journey to attainment becomes tolerable. His passion for helping men provide for their families springs from such a meaningful purpose.
Committing to Purpose Outweighs Pursuing Passion
Hormozi suggests that dedication to a purpose is what carries one through adversity, not merely the pursuit of passion. He challenges the common counsel of following one's passion, suggesting that a tenacity for purpose and the readiness to face difficulties outweigh the pursuit of passion.
The commitment to purpose, Hormozi argues, propels one to excel in their field and to endure challenges. The gratification of personal ne ...
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Importance Of Finding a Purpose Bigger Than Yourself
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Counterarguments
- While Hormozi emphasizes the importance of purpose over passion, one could argue that passion is often the spark that ignites interest and leads individuals to discover their purpose.
- The idea that enduring suffering is a measure of true passion may not account for the fact that some individuals may find their passion in activities that bring joy rather than suffering.
- Hormozi's focus on purpose and enduring hardship might overlook the importance of work-life balance and the potential negative effects of overcommitment on mental health and personal relationships.
- The argument that the "why" and "how" are more important than the "what" could be challenged by pointing out that the "what" can be equally important, as it represents the tangible impact of one's work and can be a source of motivation.
- The notion that personal gratification is fleeting may not consider the cumulative effect of small, personal achievements that can lead to long-term happiness and fulfillment.
- Hormozi's perspective might not fully address the diverse range of individual motivations and the fact that for some, following their passion can ind ...
Actionables
- You can identify your core values by writing down the principles that resonate most with you and reflecting on how they align with your daily activities. For example, if one of your values is 'community,' consider how your job or hobbies contribute to the well-being of those around you. This alignment can reveal a deeper purpose in actions that might seem routine or mundane.
- Create a 'Purpose Map' by listing your long-term goals and the challenges you expect to face along the way. Next to each challenge, write down the reasons why enduring these hardships is worthwhile, focusing on the impact you hope to make or the personal growth you aim to achieve. This visual tool can serve as a reminder of your overarching purpose when you encounter obstacles.
- Start a 'Commitment Journal' where you log daily entries about the tasks you've comple ...
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