Do What You Love

When Tom Kelly spoke with the Stanford Technology Venture Program years ago, he emphasized, "Do what you love because you will be good at it and you will be willing to put in the extra work." He also referred to a talk given by Jim Collins who talked about three circles. The three circles were: What are you good at? What are you born to do? And what will people pay you to do. When they all interconnect, it will not only give you the answer of what to do with your life, but also how to find happiness doing it. He talked about how he was good at math, but was unhappy with the program in college. This reminded me of a story from Henry B. Eyering. His father was a brilliant and world renowned scientist. When Henry was in college doing a physics degree, he asked his father to help him with a complex mathematical problem. His father asked him, "When you walk down the street, when you're in the shower, when you don't have to be thinking about anything else, isn't this what you think about?" When Hal answered no, he was advised to get out of physics. His father said, "You ought to find something that you love so much that when you don't have to think about anything, that's what you think about." This story fits perfectly into Collins' theory. Not only should you be good at something, but you should also be passionate about it.