I had a passion, but...

http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_smith_why_you_will_fail_to_have_a_great_career.html

This video did me a great service. It helped reaffirm my position on putting career before a family, as well as to reassure me that the risk I'm taking is worth the reward in the long run. To roughly paraphrase: people who actually find their passion, something they love, always find an excuse not to do it. It's usually the risk involved. Or the work. Or fear.

I will not allow myself to be the kind of person that will say "I have a passion and want a truly great career, but I'm afraid of the educational debt."
Or, "I have a passion and want a truly great career, but I'm afraid of the competition."
Or, "I have a passion and want a truly great career, but I got too caught up in being afraid of failing, that I never put my best effort forward."

Sometimes,  for many people who have found their passion, their excuse is that "I have a passion and want a truly great career, but I want to be a great friend/parent/lover."

And what do you tell that child of yours when he comes before you saying he has a passion, he has a passion he wants to be a magician. "Oh that's risky"? "Oh I had a dream once too, but it was too risky and I wanted to be smart about it"? "I had a dream once too... but then I had you"?

How can you justify being a great parent when that is all you can say? How can you justify being a great parent when you can't even set yourself up to be a great role model. I've gotten a lot of slack, especially lately, about the fact that I plan on putting my career before my family. That the "vanity" of career is taking over "good ol'fashioned family values." 


But in my opinion, every great parent should have followed their passion before having kids. Every great parent should be able to say, "Follow your dreams kid, just like me."

And this is why I will never be ashamed to say I put my career first, before I decide if I want a family.