I’m starting this 2009 spending quiet quality time with the family this side of the Atlantic in beautiful Wiesbaden, Germany. I’m using this time to think about the challenges that this year will pose and the dilemmas that will come once I’m done with the MBA and my first child is born (both events will almost happen simultaneously). An interesting reading has accompanied my thoughts: The Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar. The book was recommended by a good friend as I expressed him the trouble I was having figuring out whether to go back to the corporate world or embark on an entrepreneurial adventure after graduation. 

The book really addresses this dilemma and answers the important questions somebody may have when facing a startup opportunity. He makes the case for a “whole life plan” in which you have to do that thing you would do for the rest of your life versus the “deferred life plan” in which you do other insignificant things to gather the resources that will finally, after all, let you do that thing you really love and which you really feel passionate about. Particularly, I loved the distinction he makes between drive and passion, when thinking about life and professional choices:

Passion and drive are not the same at all [...] Passion pulls you toward something you cannot resist. Drive pushes you toward something you feel compelled or obligated to do.

I highly recommend this book to anyone feeling this kind of dilemmas or struggling to decide which is the best path to follow facing an important professional crossroads. Personally, I’ll do everything to find that passion in whatever I should end up doing in June of 2009.