Career and business advice columnists often tell us to “find your passion in life and success will follow.” The lucky ones find it when they are young. Newt Gingrich has said that he knew when he was a young boy that he wanted to grow up to be speaker of the House. Ditto Bill Clinton and the presidency. Whatever your political beliefs, it’s admirable that both men found their callings at such a young age.
Both of these are immensely powerul, prestigious position in our society, but fame or fortune really have nothing to do with what or why someone should aspire to something. Often aspiring to something “small” can lead to greatness. As an example, last weekend I read a little blurb in Parade about Cesar Millan, host of National Geographic’s The Dog Whisperer. I never heard of Millan before, and I don’t watch his show, but I was struck by this sentence:
As a farmboy in Mexico, Cesar vowed to become the world’s best dog trainer.
Dog training is an honorable profession, but it never occurred to me that someone could be the “world’s best” at it. Cesar did, and now he’s got a TV show and is in Parade magazine. He must be doing something right. What would I like to be the world’s best at? I’m still thinking that one over. How about you?