The Passion, Talent, and Competence Dilemma

Deciding between the thing you love and the thing that pays.

“Don’t follow your passion, follow your talent. Your mission is to find something you’re good at and apply the thousands of hours of grit and sacrifice necessary to become great at it. As you get there, the feeling of growth and your increasing mastery of your craft, along with the economic rewards, recognition, and camaraderie, will make you passionate about whatever ‘it’ is. Follow your talent and passion will follow.” —Scott Galloway, The Algebra of Wealth

“Nobody grows up saying, ‘I’m passionate about tax law,’ but the best tax lawyers in the country are financially secure, have access to a broader selection of mates, and are (because they are so good at it) passionate about tax law. It’s unlikely you will ever be great at something you dislike doing, but mastery can lead to passion.” —Scott Galloway, The Algebra of Wealth

Those two quotes come from Scott Galloway, an NYU Stern marketing professor, bestselling author, podcast host, and entrepreneur known for his blunt analysis of business, technology, and personal financial strategy.

I’m currently wrestling with this dilemma of passion vs talent

One side of me believes that if you optimize for what feels like play to you but looks like work to others, you’ll enjoy every day that much more, you’ll naturally outcompete someone who views it as work, and you’ll eventually get very skilled at it just from the sheer amount of “play” you’re doing. It lines up with a few ideas I keep coming back to. The present is all we have. Life is short, so don’t do anything you hate. Do the thing because you like it, not for some end goal or outcome.

The other side is closer to Scott Galloway’s view. Find what you’re naturally skilled at (talented at), then double down on honing those skills, and the lifestyle it gives you will make you passionate about it. And because you’re so good at that thing now, you likely enjoy it more anyway, and it might have turned into a passion. That side has its own set of ideas behind it. Pick the right thing to work on so you maximize your opportunity. The market is the best feedback loop there is, it either wants what you offer or it doesn’t. And you need aims and goals, because without them you’re just floating.

So it’s a battle of passion versus talent, and the no man’s land in between is very nuanced, because your talent can eventually become your passion, and your passion can eventually become your talent.

There’s a glaring issue though. Most people don’t know what their talent is. People give advice on how to find it, like asking your family, because they probably noticed a pattern of something you were good at from a young age. That can sometimes work, but usually your so-called talent stays elusive.

That’s why I lean towards competence over talent. Not because competence settles the question, but because it’s how you actually find your talent in the first place. Stop waiting to discover some hidden gift. Just look at what you’re already competent at. Whatever you’re most competent at that feels easiest to you is likely your talent.

Now, since passion and competence blend so easily, the real question becomes which one is the aim. Which one should you be optimizing for in your work?

Do you follow the passion, even if it means making less money in the short term (or even the long term), because you enjoy each day doing that thing so much more?

Or do you follow the competence, even if the day to day is less enjoyable (maybe just in the short-term), because it earns you far greater economic rewards?

For me, this comes down to my two brands, the ones I’ve built and keep building, both extensions of me. On the passion side, Echo Improvement: writing, the self-help world, public learning, a possible podcast down the line. On the competence side, AI Mentorship, my recently retired AI education business, built to get people genuinely skilled with arguably the most valuable technology to date, that I am considering restarting.

I enjoy Echo Improvement more. But there’s no doubt in my mind that in the short-term AI Mentorship would yield better financial rewards.

So do I turn a blind eye to the market and optimize for play and enjoyment, and trust that maybe something comes of it? Or do I listen to the market and double down while we’re still in this AI-induced gold rush? Or both?

AI Mentorship is what I’m competent at. I’ve spent the last few years getting skilled at using AI in all kinds of ways, and this past year especially, I’ve gotten to where I understand 90% of the major AI tools better than 99% of people do, through extensive testing and teaching.

Echo Improvement is my passion. I love writing, and I might have a talent there that I still need to cultivate. I love learning more and more about the self-help world and then sharing it, so I understand it better and maybe help some people along the way.

I’d challenge you to sit with this same dilemma in your own life. I’m sure you have something you’re passionate about that you may or may not be competent at. And I’m sure you have something you’re naturally competent at that you may or may not be passionate about. So which one are you going to aim at and pursue? Why that one and not the other? Could you do both? And if so, how?

Those are the questions I’m wrestling with to help solve this dilemma in my life. And whichever one I land on, I’ll follow it with speedy action, habit building, and optimized routines. Ask yourself the same questions, and see where they take you.

Payton

P.S. From my experience, it seems listening to your gut on things like this is usually the best bet.

P.P.S. Although I still make sure to do my research.