How we're losing our ability to be passionate [#54]

I spent a lot of time this weekend playing Magic: the Gathering. For the uninitiated, it’s a trading card game where you use a fictive currency called “mana” to cast creatures (think: Dragons, Elves, Merfolk) and spells to kill your opponent before they kill you. 

I started as a teenager, and quickly rose through the ranks. It was all I did for a while. I loved the game, the tournaments, every single aspect of it.

The game is incredibly strategic: you have to put together the right deck based on your assumptions about the meta game (ie. what other people at the tournament will play), read your opponent, think 3-4 turns ahead. The tournament begins the week before, really, when you test and practice playing your deck. 

To the surprise of absolutely no one, being a highly competitive Magic player wasn’t exactly considered “cool”.

Girls … well, they didn’t exactly chase me for my trading card game prowess. 

These days, that’s different. (Besides the fact that … girls still aren’t chasing me for my trading card game prowess.) 

When I talk about playing Magic, almost all of my conversation partners react along the lines of: “oh wow, that’s cool!”

What changed? 

You know what’s seemingly rare these days?

Passion. 

Talking about Magic lights me up. 

People notice that. 

You probably know that feeling: when you talk about something that’s close to your heart, the energy in the room changes. 

But what also changed is that less and less people have something that they’re truly passionate about. So when they meet someone who’s passionate about something, it instantly attracts them. It’s a rare quality. 

How many people do you know that are truly passionate about something?

Are you yourself truly passionate about something? 

Why are we losing the ability to be passionate? 

At the bar on Saturday evening, over beer and shots of “Mexikaner”[1] the person sitting next to me offered up a solution: 

We’re too distracted to be passionate. 

It’s so easy to get sucked into perfect recommendation algorithms today.

Just take a look at how you spent your day yesterday: chances are, you initially set out to do a lot of cool shit but in reality, most of it was spent on the couch watching one Netflix episode after another. 

(Although knowing readers like yourself, I’m not very confident in that statement)

3h of screen time on the phone.

More on the laptop.

Even more on the TV. 

And today, it’s back to work. 8-9 hours in front of your laptop, maybe working out, and coming home to … well, do what exactly? 

Of course we don’t find the time to be passionate about something. 

Being passionate means allocating time and energy. If you don’t have any of that available, well, you sure as s**t won’t develop a passion for anything. 

But being passionate about something also makes life worth living:

• Soccer fans who travel to every away game of their team
• Musicians who lose themselves in the process of playing
• Gamers who just can’t wait to get back to playing their newest video game
• Athletes who thoroughly enjoy the process 

When was the last time you had free time and thought, “hell yeah, I now get to do this”? And it wasn’t connected to lounging on the couch or in bed? 

Charlie Munger says: 

“(1) take a simple idea, and (2) take it very seriously”

Apply this to being passionate: take something that you enjoy doing, and just do it very seriously on a daily basis.

Seriously = without distractions. 

Seriously = fully immersed. 

Seriously = with intent. 

So that one day, you’ll light up again when you talk about the thing you’re passionate about. 

The weirder, the better.

What do you think? Is there something you're passionate about? Why or why not? (and if you enjoyed this post, maybe leave a like as well).

PS: A fitting post I read today. 

[1] “Mexikaner” has absolutely nothing to do with Mexico. It’s a shot made of vodka, tomato juice, and lots of Tabasco. 50% disgusting, 50% awesome.