Industry buzzwords either resonate with you or make your teeth grind and I think that it is often a reflection of your stress levels at that point in time… they either give you hope or send your eyes to the heavens.
‘Passion’ is one such word and being driven by one’s passion could very much be seen as a luxury of the First World when so much of the rest of the world’s population can only be driven by a need to feed their family. However, like so many other people, it is fair to say that in my own case, ‘passion’ really was the driver behind starting my business.
There was very little budget behind my first game design and even though it was not so long ago, tech wasn’t really in a place that it is now and able to support the design process inexpensively. I was playing with pieces of paper on the floor, watching every penny and driven by my ‘passion’.
They do say around 20% of businesses fail in their first year and around 60% within three. I wonder if it is fair to say that this is when passion is really tested? In my own case, tangible progress was being made in the early years; there was an air of having created something quite special in the educational field and thankfully that feeling seems to have stuck but, as businesses reach one stumbling block or another, there is a sense of a new defining word to ensure that you maintain momentum and have a chance of reaching your goals and I would suggest that this is when passion might give way to pure grit.
On reflection, I can see that it is not passion that keeps our businesses afloat and moving forward progressively, but absolute grit. Grit is not a buzzword that you will read as often as other motivational business terms but it is the sense that sits there quietly beside you on the long dark days; a no nonsense, basic instinct that refuses to fail and will fight, nails in the mud to ensure that passion has its day.
