“Im divorced from the most beautiful woman on the planet. I still love her unbelievably. But we lost the passion.”
In 2024, after Manchester City lost 2-0 to Juventus at Alliance Stadium, Pep Guardiola shared a deep message to his team. He mentioned how his love for his ex wife has not changed even a little bit, but losing the passion removed the core and fire of their marriage.
He wanted the players to understand that he didn't want just great players on the team, he wanted players with passion.
Do you think you have passion?
They say follow your passion and you'll never have to work a day in your life. While that sounds glorious and dreamy, is that really true? Because in the big picture that sounds pretty straight forward. If you enjoy playing football become a professional footballer and you'll never feel like working.
But if you check a lot of professional footballers who have the privilege to say that, but they'll tell you the exact opposite. They'll tell you that they lost that passion and feel like it's a job more than passion. So was Pep Guardiola right?
What's the passion Pep Guardiola is talking about?
Passion doesn't have restrictions. It comes from the heart, you don't have social pressure. Passion revolves around fun. And most of all, you’re drawn to it by nature, and you can spend hours and hours working on your passion without ever realising. Because you absolutely love it.
But as soon as you hear that word, there’s something whispering in your ear.
“I dont think i have passion in my life”
Let me show you that everyone does. But for some it's not as obvious as the others. Because Passion is drawn not from the conscious but rather the subconscious.
Why passion is important
Passion brings us excitement. It makes us happy. When you think of your childhood. Your childhood is all revolved around passion.
It is important to find passion because it helps you be in that level of excitement most of the day.
Especially with the constant baggage of work stress and the chaos of everyday, passion gives you the opportunity to be in a childlike state again. Being fully present and curious.
How to find passion
If you’re struggling to find passion and if you believe you don't have any, there are a lot of ways to find them. One of my favorite exercises is picking your favorite movie of all time. Take time to think about it, because there can only be one. And once you’ve picked your movie, I hope it's just one. Think about the main character of that movie. Now, the reason why that movie is your favorite of all time is because you can imagine yourself as the main character of that movie. Think about their traits, personality, and skills. Those are some of the beginning points you can start on with your passion.For example, your favorite movie could be Shawshank Redemption. In that case you might find the main character's traits like long term thinking and relentlessness intriguing. So your passions might revolve around things that are hard and take a long time, like building a race car.
Liking Shawshank doesn't mean you have to be an alleged criminal in jail
If you take things literally with this example, you might get stuck in the weeds, because it's about the why. Why do you love this movie? Why is it your favorite? Mainly focus on the traits of the main character and you’d uncover the why.
other ways you can find passion
your web history: see the common repetitive things you keep on searching about and consuming.
Your youtube watch history: see what videos you have been consuming almost daily without even realizing.
IF you read books: look at the pattern of books you’ve been buying, the type of books and the contexts of them.
Ask your friends: Ask them what's the topic that you talk about with them the most. If it's something you're passionate about, you might yappaty yap about it for hours on end.
There’s so many ways to find your passion, but beware, since I gave you a lot of ways you might overwhelm yourself by wanting to experiment them all. But pick just one, explore it very well, and you might be amazed by the immense progress and what you learn about yourself.
The right balance to passion
How do you find the right balance to passion? How do you in your busy schedule take the time to actually play your passions and spend time on them?
The 15 minute rule
I have a passion for reading and slowly hit a rut , a reading block recently. And i wanted to finish this amazing book i have been reading called the body keeps the score. At the start I was reading a lot and felt like I could finish the book in a couple of days.
But then, I hit the block and now it's been 2 months since I have been trying to finish the book. I know I am capable of reading for 1-2 hours straight as well. But that thinking is not reasonable for the brain as the brain would see it as too much to take on. But 15 minutes is fairly short enough for the brain to be tricked back into habit.
But once I started to read for just 15 minutes, it seemed that even on the busiest days where I really cannot read for that long, just reading for 15 minutes made impossible seem possible. And oftentimes it always goes beyond the 15 minutes mark because I start to get hooked on the read. So play the 15 minute rule. And heck, set a timer for 15 minutes and stop if you have to after a 15 minute period. As I'm writing this part of the article, I've set a 15 minute timer so that I can write as much as possible without procrastinating.
At the start, even 15 minutes may sound like a lot of work. Because with everything, starting is the most difficult part. But don’t even promise yourself too much like “I’ll do this everyday for 15 minutes" because that's also some level of pressure.
Stop thinking and just do your first 15 minutes, and after that, think about the second 15 minutes. Not long before you know it, your mind will ease up and you’ll have made it a habit.
Is passion permanent
I believe that none of the passions are permanent. Yes, some would stick to being in your life for a very long time, like I have loved football ever since I was little. But most of the passions change and evolve as you grow older. I was never into reading when I was little, now it's one of my biggest passion. I never thought I’d write, snorkel, or the other fun passions I've picked up at my age.
It also gives you a reason to not chase perfection especially when you're finding out or discovering what your passions are, because none of them are permanent. So you don't have to dig deep deep into the rabbit hole to find that one passion that you have loved ever since you were little. The how-to's I've recommended will help you a lot in finding what your passions are, but also stick with what you know and start from there.
So before we lift off, lets summarise what we learned;
What is Passion?
It's the things that naturally intrigue you, and they heavily revolve around fun.
Why is Passion important?
It brings excitement to your day and helps you become more present.
How to find Passion?
Take your time to find your favorite movie of all time, and learn about the main characters traits.
The right balance to passion?
15 minute rule. Set 15 minute timers and spend just 15 minutes a day.
Is Passion permanent?
Just like how people evolve, passions evolve too. Don't be restricted to just one, always explore more.
And for someone who loved passion deeply, Pep Guardiola reconciled with his wife later on, and they’re happily back together. Do you think he played the 15 minute rule?
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