{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"+1: #990 The Passion Paradox","description":" Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness have written a couple great books together. First, they gave us Peak Performance. Then The Passion Paradox.   Today we\u2019re going to talk about one of the central themes of The Passion Paradox. (Tomorrow we\u2019ll chat about some goodness from Peak Performance.)   So\u2026   Passion.   It\u2019s AWESOME!   Except when it isn\u2019t.   Enter: The Passion Paradox.   As Brad and Steve put it: \u201cMindlessly living with a passion can be extremely harmful and destructive. Mindfully living with a passion can be the key to a life well lived.\u201d   They tell us that psychologists differentiate two types of passion by calling the unhealthy kind \u201cObsessive Passion\u201d and the healthy kind \u201cHarmonious Passion.\u201d   Obsessive Passion is toxic. It has two primary facets: 1. Focusing too much on extrinsic results (like fame, wealth, achievement, etc.); 2. Being too worried about failure.   Harmonious Passion, on the other hand, gives us a deep sense of joy. Whereas the toxic passion is focused on the pursuit of extrinsic rewards, the healthy passion is focused on intrinsic drivers.   As Brad and Steve put it: \u201cEnter harmonious passion: a feeling that emerges when you are wrapped up in something primarily for the joy of the activity, when your engagement is not merely a means to an end but rather an end in itself. Harmonious passion manifests mainly from activities that are freely chosen without contingencies; when you do something because you enjoy it, not because it offers potential rewards, and not to avoid negative repercussions.    Not every moment of harmonious passion is necessarily pleasing, but overall, it is deeply fulfilling. It aligns closely with the ancient Greek notion of eudaimonia, or a kind of happiness that results not from overwhelming pleasure but from striving to meet one\u2019s full potential by engaging in activities that one considers meaningful.    In the 1970s, the late psychologist and humanist philosopher Erich Fromm wrote of something similar, which he called productive activity, where happiness isn\u2019t related to the attainment of possession or rewards but rather to \u2018the process of ever growing aliveness . . . for living as fully as one can is so satisfactory that concern for what one might or might not attain has little chance to develop.\u2019    The great paradox, however, is that although external achievement is never a primary goal of harmonious passion, when you become completely immersed in what you\u2019re doing for the joy of the activity itself, it is often a by-product. Those who focus most on success are least likely to achieve it. Those who focus least on success, and focus on the process of engaging in their craft instead, are most likely to achieve it.\u201d   That\u2019s Today\u2019s +1.   First: Shout out for eudaimonia. :)   Second: Pop quiz: How\u2019s YOUR passion?   Here\u2019s to the Harmonious variety in which we seek mastery and experience the joys of mindfully embracing our passion\u2014while letting the outcomes take care of themselves. ","author_name":"You Are Heroic with Brian Johnson","author_url":"https:\/\/www.heroic.us","html":"