In the world of professional aspirations, business ideas, and personal growth, we occasionally encounter a recurring sentiment from people after being exposed to an opportunity to enhance their lives. It sounds something like this: “I just want to be passionate about what I do,” or “I want to give 100% to everything I undertake.” These statements, while seemingly noble, often paint an unrealistic picture of how passion is developed and what it really takes to get there. Passion does not come from exposure, it comes from involvement. Without this understanding, the idea of passion can be misleading and, at times, delusional.

Let me explain.

The Pickleball Conundrum

At the time of this writing (July 2024), the sport of pickleball has taken the world by storm and has become the fastest-growing sport in the United States for 3 years straight. In 2023, the number of pickleball participants in the U.S. increased by 51.8% from 2022 to 13.6 million players, which is mind boggling to me.

I remember when I was first exposed to pickleball, as I’m sure most do.

I was exploring tennis lessons with my 3 children at the time. Each visit to the park, we found it difficult to get on a court because a dozen or more senior citizens had taken over with their plastic balls, their paddles that looked like they were from an oversized ping pong table, a truncated court, and mild athleticism. I remember watching them play games wondering what geriatric physician came up with this sport (forgive me, just being honest). I scoffed at the game and wondered if it would last.

My next exposure was during a beach house retreat a year later, where several of my friends were really fired up to play. I was curious why this game seemed so exciting to my friends, so I decided to give it a shot. I hit the ball around, joined in on a couple games, but quickly lost interest because they were WAY too serious about the game, and I was only casually interested. I didn’t want to ruin their fun.

It wasn’t until 2 years later that I was exposed to the game again after being bombarded with pickleball stories from my friends. This exposure over time turned into mild interest and I decided to give it a real try. I learned the rules of the game, including the odd kitchen rule, the 3 part scoring (I still don’t get this), the need for paddle taps, and even the two–bounce rule. The game was entertaining enough to keep me coming back a few more times, and even participating in a local tournament.

The Progression of Passion:

Here we are, 3 years after my initial exposure, and I’m yet to buy my own paddles. The thought has crossed my mind, and I have come close a couple times, but I know how the story goes. As someone who became a die-hard wakeboarder for over 15 years, this is not my first rodeo. Allow me to take you on a short journey.

First, because I’m slightly more interested, I find myself more available when my friends say they want to play. I even casually look for opportunities on my own, in an attempt to potentially have a group outing. I gradually become more knowledgeable and more involved.

My involvement allows me to make a small commitment, so I buy my own paddles (entry level, of course). Now, because I have a financial vested interest in the sport, I need to justify what was spent, so I find myself at the court more than just occasionally.

As I play with more people, I realize the importance of proper attire, especially good shoes. So, I invest in additional gear to appear more knowledgeable and prepared. I play a little more, and soon realize that the paddles I use are not sufficient for my quickly growing skillset, so I upgrade.

Now that I’m upgraded, I find myself at a pickleball court at least once a week. I roll up to the court and address Robert, James, Amanda, and Stephanie by first name. They know me, they accept me as one of their own, and we are quickly becoming friends on the court.

Since we are now friends on the pickleball court, we exchange numbers and start hanging out on the weekends, outside of the court. When hanging out, much of our conversation revolves around funny pickleball stories, techniques, inside jokes, and projections of who we will beat next week.

I’m getting pretty serious now, so I upgrade to the $250 paddles, bags to carry them, and make sure all my gear is top level, putting me in the thick of it. My interest has grown from casual to committed, and my early exposure has turned into involvement. In fact, I am so involved now that it is part of my life. I want to become better and I spend my days watching videos, attending events, involving myself with the culture, and ultimately becoming….passionate.

This, my friends, is the only way to passion. Passion does not come from exposure. Passion comes from involvement, after interest has turned into commitment.

Interested Is Enough:

I write this because I want people in the world to understand what the path to passion looks like. When we started our entrepreneurial endeavors, I was working a full time job as an engineer and Jennette was an elementary school teacher. We were exposed to a non-traditional way to make money that is outside of the regular 9 to 5. In the beginning, the idea interested us, so we started on our side venture, unsure of where it may go.

As our interest grew, our involvement grew. We began to learn about who we are, what strengths we have, how to work together, what success really looks like, and our dream of a better future started to take shape.

We still didn’t give it everything we had, and we certainly were not committed because we had full time jobs and stable incomes. However, we were interested enough at this time to put forth effort and commit to some basic habits that began to produce some results for us. In the beginning the results were not tangible. We grew personally and professionally. We developed a strong self image and began to be confident in our abilities to take on new ventures. As that confidence grew, our results became more evident from the outside looking in. We were moving forward and gaining traction.

It wasn’t until over a year later that Jennette and I made the decision to focus all of our free time and energy on growing our enterprise. Just like the progression of pickleball, and just like my 15 year commitment to wakeboarding, over time the interest allowed for involvement. The involvement turned into commitment. Finally, the commitment turned to passion. We found purpose, energy, meaning, drive, growth, dreams, and friends that we cherished far more than any group we had associated ourselves with in the past.

Don’t Let Your Lack of Passion Stop You:

Bottom line. You don’t need to be passionate to explore new ideas. Passion is a delusion. Allow yourself the opportunity to become interested over time. Expose yourself to new opportunities. Let that exposure lead to involvement, and let involvement lead to commitment. Who knows? It might even evolve into your greatest passion.

By taking action on mild interest rather than waiting for passion to ignite, you open yourself up to opportunities you might not have otherwise discovered.

You don’t need to be passionate to start. You just need to start.