In Tune With What You Love

“…the difference between people who are successful and not are that those who are successful seemed to know from the age of 7 or 8, maybe older, they’re very in tune with what they love. I compare it to a voice inside their head, not literally a voice but something that says “you really are drawn to this subject” and they hear it throughout their lives. For me it was writing and books, since I was a kid. At any time I deviated from that love and went into something else, I was just so unhappy and I knew that I wasn’t doing the right thing. It’s just this voice that keeps drawing you back to what you really, really love.”
– Robert Greene

Found the above quote via this blog post, feed your head + find your soul, by Justine Musk. Something I think about a lot, hoping I’ll be able to help my kids find what they really, really love.

6 Comments leave a comment below

  1. This is a notion I have thought about a lot as well, and it certainly seems to be a trend I read in interviews with people who have found at least some success in a field that they love…but then what about the rest of us, those who are just discovering our passions, who never really honed in on anything until we hit young adulthood – or beyond? This sentiment narrows down the possibility of being successful quite a bit, as though those who are older and currently lost don’t stand a chance. For that reason, I’m hoping this isn’t the only difference between the successful and not successful. There’s got to be more to it. Maybe. Hopefully. =]

  2. It’s so beautiful how conscious you are in helping your kids find what they love. If only all children’s hearts were nurtured in such a caring way.
    My brother knew from a very young age that he wanted to be a pilot. I was so envious of his knowing, his lack of uncertainty and strong sense of passion and purpose.
    I only discovered my love at 31 years of age but my search took me across the globe and gave me amazing life experiences I could never have conjured in my wildest of imaginations. Talking to my brother recently I discovered that he was envious of my experiences. I feel that there is certainly something to be said for success and being in tune with what you love from a young age but it is a somewhat limited idea.
    Love the questions, love the search.

  3. Interesting theory and as a parent should you support a child’s interest early on, but people change and lose interest in subjects. I’m not the same person or even remotely interested in things I was interested in as a child, even with the loving support from my parents.

    But again, its just a theory– nothing to lose by testing it out.

  4. Hi Tina —

    I was literally just reading about you in Chris Guillebeau’s new book THE HAPPINESS OF PURSUIT + then realized you had linked to me — thank you very much for that, and I am so delighted that you found me. Look forward to avidly following your posts!

    warmest

  5. Adding: I wanted to respond to Jahanzeb Khan’s comment. Sometimes it’s not so much about what the child expresses interest in — especially since kids are so exploratory at that age (as they should be) — but about what makes her eyes light up.

    That goes straight to our creative DNA and remains constant, even if it can be expressed in a variety of ways across different disciplines.

    Since we all tend to take our natural gifts somewhat for granted — precisely because they come so naturally to us, we figure other people have the same abilities — one of the responsibilities of the parent is to reflect the child’s gift back to him. We need to name it and identify it as a talent, to deem it worthy of exploring and developing, instead of making the child believe that her time is better spent going down roads that hold little interest for her.

    Stephen Cope has a great book out called THE GREAT WORK OF YOUR LIFE and he has a chapter dedicated to this. It’s worth reading!