Your performance level When passionate about something

In My Humble Opinion
1

Using my self as an example I know when I am excited or passionate about something I operate on a much higher plane. Concentration and attention span being the biggest factors and energy level and time spent being the second biggest factors.

On a slightly lower level I notice I retain information much better if I am simply interested in something. I think it is safe to assume that most would agree with this to some degree. 

Anyway for fictional purposes only would it be outlandish to showcase free source collaborative think and development groups as being 3 or 4 more times effective as a corporate think tanks.

How dramatic of a change do you see in yourself when operating at a passionate level??

2

I hope I can tell this anecdote without making this post absurdly long, but I have my doubts.

Last year, I was training for two things. I was an EMT, training to be the aid in charge (AIC) of an ambulance. And I was an athlete, training for American Ninja Warrior.

Then one day, I had a conversation with the rescue squad chief. She had seen videos of me on obstacles, and commented on how she could see the passion in my face when I completed obstacles, and she never saw that sort of passion from me when I was at the rescue squad. And as we talked, I really clearly saw the difference passion can make.

When I was at the rescue squad, after an ambulance call, I was supposed to meet with my mentor and discuss my performance, what I had done right and how I could improve. He encouraged me to go online and read examples of patient care reports, sign up for additional hours to ride with different shifts, attend EMS symposiums, etc. But I didn’t want to do any of that. So, as much as possible, I didn’t. And whenever I did, it took tremendous willpower.

It was totally different with my obstacle training. Any time a friend suggested we go to the gym, I would see if I could rearrange my schedule to fit it in. Anywhere I traveled to, I would look up local ninja gyms. Sometimes I would travel specifically to run races or attend competitions, even if it meant paying for a hotel room. I would study technique, message with my friends pointing out how a certain person was bending their arms or moving their hips. I would take video of myself and play it back in slow motion, studying my run-up, my backswing, my knee drive, whatever I could think of. And it didn’t take any willpower, because the whole thing thrilled and fascinated me.

It probably wouldn’t surprise you to hear that I had stagnated in my training as an EMT, and it was taking an absurdly long time for me to become an AIC. On the other hand, I was progressing so quickly in my ninja training that it was drawing notice and comment from my peers, and I had tremendously talented athletes approach me wanting to train together.

How dramatic of a difference it makes is, in my opinion, impossible to overstate. Performance level is determined in small part by your natural talent, but for the most part, it’s determined by how much you study the craft and put in practice hours. The more passionate you are about something, the more study and practice is effortless, because you have an insatiable appetite to do more and learn more.

So in case anyone hasn’t figured it out, I quit the rescue squad. I got first place at last week’s ninja competition. And I’m so much happier now.

3

That was a great story and a great example.

4

For a large majority of tasks I am the laziest of lazy slobs, and strikingly incompetent. But for tasks which are my joy and passion, I become a workaholic, putting in unpaid overtime, or whatever. (My mother liked to remind me “to play as hard as (I) work,” and I did try and succeed at that to some extent. But often it was the very work I was most passionate about which was, for me, play!

Do you assume that developers are more passionate in a “free source collaboration” than in a corporate environment? That may be true for many people, but I doubt it’s true for all.

5

In this particular scenario the developers would only be there because they shared a passion for something before entering into the collaboration

6

Not a great difference and I work best at the two extremes compared to any middle ground. Give me something I actively dislike and I can do it as well/fast/complete as something I truly love. Mostly to get it done and over with but still – I think it says something about my personality.

7

My performance level when passionate about something is like 5x higher. Much more focus, research, study, effort on getting that article/story/whatever out. For someone who is scatterbrained, it at least gets me focused on one thing only for a brief time.

8

Mine may be lower. When I get really interested in something, I tend to go straight for the aspects of it that got me enamored, while glossing over the busy-work that goes along with it.

9

Having interesting work tasks to do makes my whole life better. Work better, sleep better, healthy.

I’m coming out of a period when work (software development) really had no focus, nothing specific to do, no mission. Handle these stupid problems as they show up in the database, and no we’re not good at prioritizing which ones, just pound the metrics for the team down. Make progress, good luck.

Now I have a big chunk of work I’m excited about – doing the planning, thinking about implementation, I’ve written a prototype. It feels so much better just making something again.

So yes – it makes a huge difference to me. I signed up to develop software, so I’m happy doing that. Can we get all this process crap out of the way?

10

I should add that that period lasted for 3/4 of a year. “Our metrics are poo, stop everything!” A shorter period would have been no biggee.

11

For my first sexual encounter, I was a ten (on a scale of one to ten) on passion. I had known her for years before the encounter. On the performance level a zero.

So, training has a lot to do with it. But, how do you train for that?