Purpose, not passion

Many a time, you hear the all-too-common and implied phrase "You never get anywhere without passion."

While that is a statement true to a good extent, it is, at least in my opinion overused and misinterpreted.

I prefer to see things from another angle, another perspective, from that of a more significant "p" if you like. I tend to think, "You never get anywhere without purpose."

While obviously passion is a major force, it tends to have little direction unless shaped by purpose.

Maradona has great passion, and boy did the little Argetinian had talent. But all that passion and precocious talent never quite achieved its intended success did it? If you follow Maradona's career, you would most likely have thought "what if"... what if he did not get himself involved with drugs, or perhaps another talented left foot like George Best (above), arguably the most talented British winger... what if he did not fall under the spell of alcohol? They could have had a more fulfilling career, a more... purposeful one perhaps.

I see on mass media too often; the strings attached to passion being used way too rampantly. Young people are told to follow their passions with abandon, to pursue their entrepreneurial spirits with passion and attain success. While it is hard to argue against "doing what you like", I seldom think it is passion that drives someone to success, at least from what I observe, it is purpose, not passion.