Passion is important in career

When i was hearing Hrithik Roshan's interview in 'Tere Mere Beech Mein' conducted by Farah Khan, i was touched by the life-and-death decision he had to take in his career.

He was diagnosed for 'Scoliosis'. It is a curved spine; a deformity due to irregular shaped vertebrae. He was told that he won't be able to do the 'intense physical acts' such as dancing and fighting sequences natural for an actor. If he tries doing that,he was told that he may get forced to long bed rests. He had undergone a 3-month bed rest for recovering from one such painful event.

What would you do, if you wanted to become an actor, at such time? Would you pursue acting as a career despite the consequences? Would you pursue it when you know that your father is a reasonable rich person and your becoming an actor does not matter much in gaining financial independence? Would you do it differently when you have no other better choice than 'acting career'?

Hrithik Roshan thought over it and decided to pursue acting despite the consequences. In his word, he felt ' I would rather die pursuing what i want instead of living with something that i don't want'. In my journey of a careerologist ( where i explore careers) i have found very few people take such kind of decisions when other reasonable options are available. They do take such tough decisions where no other 'path' is worth pursuing.

This is what brings me to the main subject of this blog. How much do we value passion in our career? I have seen many examples in 'senses-based' careers ( such as acting, dancing, sports etc) where such decisions are taken. I have seen few instances in cognitive careers of corporate world where such criteria are used to take such decisions. The two notable exceptions to this rule that come to my mind are in the field of advertising and publishing.

Emotions are however important 'part' of our self. And it is surprising that individuals in corporate world do not use that element as much as others in their lives. Using emotions in careers is helpful in more than one ways: it keeps our work-life ( i.e. jobs) exciting and life worth living. Perhaps it is the skill of using emotions in work-life that is lacking.

Using emotions in work-life does not guarantee success. Hrithik Roshan succeeded with his call. But that may not happen in other cases. To utilise emotions in one's work life therefore demands a certain maturity and intelligence. Without that basic skill, emotions start 'using' you, instead of you 'using' the emotions.