Welcome to issue #013 of Unicorn Parents. Each week, I share practical insights and reflections to help you build a profitable business without missing the magic at home. If you’re serious about winning at work while raising great kids, you’ve come to the right place. This is a community built for ambitious parents who want both.
Everyone tells college students the same thing.
“Follow your passion.”
But passion is fickle.
One year it’s politics. The next it’s soccer. Then YouTube videos.
Build a life on passion alone and you’re building on sand.
What doesn’t shift so easily?
Skill. Natural ability.
The things you can do unusually well, even when you’re not trying that hard.
Most people don’t get paid for passion.
They get paid for what they’re good at.
Think about it.
The gamer who dreams of building the next Fortnite might think their destiny is coding. But if their real gift is sales, the billion-dollar path is closing deals, not writing code.
The painter who chases passion might starve. But if they’re a natural storyteller, maybe they build Pixar instead.
The irony? Passion usually comes later.
It follows mastery.
Competence creates confidence.
Excellence creates passion.
That’s why chasing passion first is so dangerous. It sends our youth running in circles, trying to ignite a fire that won’t stay lit.
And here’s the tricky part for parents.
When kids are little, the rules change a bit.
The answer isn’t pressure. It’s play. Not grind.
Dedicate the first 7 years for gift-discovery.
Dinosaurs. Soccer. Finger painting. Dance obsessions.
It’s all fair game.
Our job isn’t to push. It’s to love, to watch, and to notice the small things they do unusually well without trying.
THAT’s where the sparks of giftedness hide. It’s supposed to be fun.
The same trap shows up later in business.
Founders get caught chasing trends or what feels “exciting.”
But the smartest place to start is always your unfair advantage—the thing you’re already better at than most. From there, you map it to real-world problems.
THAT’s where traction lives.
So whether it’s our kids or our companies, the principle is the same.
Don’t chase passion.
Nurture strength.
Build on what’s real.
Passionate about what you do? That comes later.
First, do what you’re good at.
That’s how passion becomes more than a feeling.
That’s how it becomes a calling.
I believe a gift goes hand in hand with passion.
But I understand that something may only seem like passion, while in reality it is a series of short-lived states, easily replaced with something new and “more exciting.” A good example is constantly chasing novelty or ways to “dopaminate” oneself. This is probably the most common denominator among people with ADHD: the need for constant novelty to feel happy.
It can last forever, which is not ideal, or it can last until the gift is discovered or a special focus is found. That can then evolve into something truly great.