Ability or Passion? Which one for Becoming Super-Wealthy?"

(A conversation between JaiChai and a billionaire named Yu)

“What job, vocation, or business should I venture into? Which path or direction is best to rapidly manifest and enjoy a life of happiness and riches?” I said, with a genuine seriousness clearly on my face.

Yu scratched his chin and said, “ JaiChai, the Original Substance (GOD) let’s you, and only you, decide. This is not a cop out. It’s called personal choice. But the Original Substance doesn’t leave you stranded in the land of decision making. The Original Substance has endowed you with innate skills and individual obsessions. This is a natural ability versus personal passion situation. Sometimes they coincide, sometimes they don’t. Either one, done in the Certain Way, will make you rich. Let’s examine both choices in detail.

First, to be a success in any endeavor you must have superior skills and abilities for that activity. Without superior skills for the task or job, you can’t get rich.

The fastest way to get rich is to do something you’re naturally equipped for. Many people are innately better at something than the rest of the general public. For example, some people were born to be athletes. Other people are “naturals” from the beginning at doing something that the rest of the world finds difficult. These are the prodigies of the world. The academic, musical, athletic, and artistic fields all have prodigies.

But what is the most common outcome of child prodigies? If they’re doing what they’re naturally good at to satisfy someone else’s passion , they eventually burnout or walk away from the activity. It is the child prodigies that do their craft for their own satisfaction that successfully transition into adult stardom.

Think of skills and abilities as just the tools and equipment needed to accomplish a task. You must have excellent, superior tools to succeed. You can’t build a fine house without good construction equipment. You can’t make beautiful furniture without good carpentry tools. You can’t be a good speaker without excellent oratory skills. You can’t be a successful actor if you don’t have good stage presence. You can’t be a mathematician or physicist without superior intelligence and analytical skills. You can’t be a good artist without creativity . And so on.

But just because you have special skills doesn’t automatically guarantee success. You must know how to use them. Think of it this way. Just because I have a garage full of expensive woodworking machines doesn’t mean I can produce fine furniture. Just because I own a piano doesn’t automatically make me a concert pianist. And just because I own a computer doesn’t mean I can write the next killer app or multi-million dollar computer game.

Finally, you also must be motivated to use and develop your tools to be successful enough to get rich.

For example, let’s say I have all the advanced skills and fully know how to utilize them, but simply aren’t motivated to do the task. Some people, no matter how good they are at something, choose to do something else instead.

You must have all elements (superior abilities and skills, the expertise to use them properly, and the will to do the task) in order to manifest riches.

The lack of any of these elements results in mediocrity or failure. These situations (e.g., having the ability and expertise without the motivation ; having expertise and motivation without the ability; or having the ability and motivation without the expertise) will not make you rich. Clearly, then, you can see that you must have the will, ability, and expertise to manifest wealth quickly – even if you’re a prodigy or a “born natural” at something.

What is it you’re after the most?

Do you want to get rich easier and faster by employing the special, natural skills you were born with? What if you were great at doing something, but felt no joy doing it? Would you still do it? Would the fact that it provided the money to enjoy other aspects of your life be enough for you to keep doing it?

For some, this situation is okay. They work long enough at what they’re naturally good at; then go on extended vacations to enjoy the activities they really love. Then they return refreshed and ready to work to fund their next adventures. Besides, since they’re naturally good at the activity, it’s easy for them to do it, not much of a hassle.

But if they really hated doing it, they would continue long enough to be able to abandon it; meaning, earning enough to retire from it. Then they usually move onto an enjoyable activity with less or no monetary rewards.

Or do you want to do something that you’ve always wanted to do, but have never tried before? This option, although more immediately satisfying than doing a non-passion activity that you’re naturally suited for, takes much longer to make you rich. You must accept this.

Since you may not have been born with the natural skills to excel in your passion activity, you might have to start from scratch and develop them. In this case, the activity must be such a personally gratifying obsession, an overriding life passion, that the journey toward riches is as enjoyable as the riches themselves.

So, the simple answer to your original question is this. Choosing which path to follow, which vocation, business, or activity to pursue depends on you, only you. It’s your natural ability versus pursuing your passion.

There are many pro’s and con’s resulting from each choice. And, along the way of either path, you might find some delightful surprises, some latent passions, and dormant, natural abilities. It really is an individual preference.

Think hard and look into your soul. Listen to your intuition . Always follow your heart.

Namaste.

By JaiChai

About the Author:

He is a retired U.S. Military veteran. Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an A.A., B.S., and MBA in less than 4 years much later in life – while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic. In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he free-fall parachuted out of airplanes and performed diving ops in very deep, open ocean water. He accidentally - or was destined - to meet a billionaire. Then his whole life changed. He spends his days on an island paradise with his daughter, longtime girlfriend and three dogs.