While speaking at a San Diego university recently, I was fortunate that I was not asked to leave the stage. You see, I chose to share with the students in my audience some frightening statistics. I announced that, while many would receive their degrees, few very few would end up pursuing careers in their chosen field. At this point, the faculty began giving me dirty looks.

I went on to say that, while most students were there to pursue a dream, the dream they were chasing was not their own. Many students enter college to live up to the expectations of family, friends, and society. Theyve been told they should become an accountant, lawyer, doctor or teacher because of the great future and financial gain. In trying to do what others think they should do rather than following their individual passions, they rarely continue along the same path once they leave campus.

Instead, I painted a different sort of picture. Using an off-the-wall example to illustrate my point, I asked each of them to imagine that he or she really wanted to become a banjo player. I said, "What if you took the same period of time and energy pursuing that dream, your dream, your passion? What if you began as an apprentice at a banjo shop, and then worked hard to learn everything about banjos? After four to six years, the same time you would have spent earning a degree that you would not use anyway, you would instead have become an authority on banjos. A real banjo aficionado. Know why?"

"Because youd be following your passion," I continued. "You would become captivated by the topic, and the pursuit of this goal would no longer feel like work, as much as it would be a part of who you are. Staying up late reading and learning everything there is to know about banjos, listening to old songs and then creating new ones would not be a chore; it would become your joy, because youd be doing what you love."

Now heres the best part. There will always be a call for authorities in any area. So no matter if your pursuit is toward playing the banjo, inventing new ice cream flavors, or discovering the latest medical breakthroughs, there will always be a demand for your services, thus creating success in your chosen field of endeavor.

This is where true happiness and fulfillment comes in: getting paid to do what you enjoy most while living the life you love. Because . . .

When you do what you love, and love what you do, youll have success your whole life through!

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