Following your passion could be a mistake.

Yeah, says the guy who became a professional UFC Champion.

Do all MMA fighters love to fight? Some, maybe.

But I’m guessing that after doing it for a few years, most of us realize that punching someone in the face isn’t a passion. Competition is.

It’s the process of preparing, training, sleeping, eating, and living right for months on end.

There’s a feeling of euphoria when you leave the octagon with your hand raised knowing you got the better of the man or woman who went through that very same process to try and defeat you.

We’re addicted to the thrill of competition.

Follow your passion

So when did the whole “follow your passion” mantra come from?

In my mind, the idea that you should follow your passion starts from our perception of work.

There’s another saying ‘Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.’

The average American spends almost a third of their life working. That’s 40 hours a week on average for about 25 to 30 years straight.

It’s staggering but true. With that amount of time, your job can have a huge impact on your quality of life.

Pick the wrong career, and you might end up hating Mondays and tolerating work long enough till the weekend just to do it all over again.

Before the days of social media, we were sold the image of the wearied office drone, shuffling into work, disheveled, and looking forlorn.

Now social media has given us a peek into the other side. Our feeds are populated with productive, smiling, and happy people at work.

There is a growing belief that one does not need just to be content with work. It’s possible to seek and find fulfillment in your career.

Falling in love vs. being in love

As someone with an unorthodox career choice, I can speak to the joys of walking your own path.

But it wasn’t all fun. I wrote about some uncomfortable truths as a pro-fighter. And that was after I had shared about the grueling nature of the fight business and how it eventually wore me out.

It’s a lot easier to fall in love with a hobby than to stay in love with it as a career. I enjoy working out, but I wouldn’t dream of owning a gym. There’s so much more to being a business owner than simply loving lifting.

It’s one thing to enjoy getting into the random scraps and streetfights as your recreational activity.

It’s a whole other story navigating the behemoth that is the UFC – weight cutting, sanctions, rules, media day, press conferences, meet-and-greets and other stuff.

Some of it you enjoy, the rest you tolerate. You just learn to get better at dealing with the stuff you don’t enjoy doing.

More importantly, even if it’s truly your passion, you need just enough to keep you coming back for more.

I love to compete and win. Without both, I wouldn’t have lasted as long as I did in our sport.

Find your calling vs. Hone your interest

Football, not MMA was my first sport. I loved playing football and all through high school, I had dreams of becoming a football player.

That never materialized. It was apparent after many years on and off the bench that I just didn’t have the physical gifts to make my mark in football.

Not everyone has a passion or feels a strong calling. Sometimes, you fall into things.

I found MMA and really enjoyed it. I got better at it, and it further fueled my desire to improve.

The truth is we are not as great as we think when it comes to predicting what makes us happy.

What you like doing at 10 years old can be very different from what you enjoy when you’re 25.

It’s important that you find ways to experiment and try different things. It’s a chance to learn more about yourself, not what you like doing.

Once you’ve done that enough, however, you quickly get a sense of what you THINK you might be good at.

Journey vs. Destination

As cliché as it sounds, it’s real progress that keeps us happy and fulfilled.

It’s a blessing when you know you’re putting out into the world what you’re good at, while also getting better in the process.

Being able to learn, study and adapt skills from other disciplines to become a mixed martial artist is a very gratifying journey.

There’s always something to get excited about which keeps you focused on the next goal.

I must admit, it’s a pretty unique situation I was able to get myself into. Not only was I able to develop an interest but also turn it into a successful career.

In the end, it’s neither your job nor passion that defines who you are. It’s the person that you become in the process that truly matters.