Notice how this statement does not talk about “following your passion”, or reach goals like “win an olympic medal” or “become a millionaire”. This statement instead specifies excitement as a condition, and double-checks that with a self-actualising term, “do my best work”.

Why shouldn’t we follow our passion? Why is “excitement” more important than “happiness”? And, how much does it matter to us that we are doing our “best work”?

I went through a couple of drafts, and thought that the best way to answer the above questions is with the my actual life story.