Do What You Love. Love What You Do.

simple concept for complex times….

Sitting on a Delta flight somewhere over Arizona or Utah is my guess. No issues getting out of DC this morning. Nice to have the extra evening. My brother John and I pulled a couple corks on some great wine while he tended the grill with some awesome steaks.

1999 San Giusto Recolma, Tuscany
1995 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

The wines were phenomenal. Both of them. Though at first the Plumpjack scared us. It had sat out a couple days outside the cool temperature of Jon's cellar. We decanted it and stuck it in the fridge. Half an hour later and after indulging the Recolma we feasted on the tasty Plumpjack – made by Nils Venge of Groth and Saddleback Cellars fame.

Staying the extra night. It was the right thing. And it was thing I wanted to do. So when I say the following post on Dan Shafer's blog while reviewing my RSS feeds here on the plane I had to repost and quote what is a great philosophy and one I'm committed to in my personal and professional endeavors and pastimes.

[…] In 1960, a researcher interviewed 1500 business-school students and classified
them in two categories: those who were in it for the money 1245 of them
[^] and those who were going to use the degree to do something they cared
deeply about [^] the other 255 people. Twenty years later, the researcher
checked on the graduates and found that 101 of them were millionaires [^] and
all but one of those millionaires came from the 255 people who had pursued what they loved to do!

(From The other 90% by Robert K. Cooper, Three Rivers Press 2001 [Thinking About Computing]) […]

I know many people choose professions in the legal, medical or finance category because of the money — not out of passion. Or in some cases it's because of expectation — someone else's. I've always been amazed by this. I say pursue your passion. Whether the money follows or not, it's best to be happy, smiling and rewarded. And to a new friend I met this week, I send this post and message and hope it strikes a chord.

Photo: nieces and friends sharing wagon ride to Atlantic Ocean beach in Southern New Jersey (l to r) Caitlin, Samantha, Emily (niece #1), Alexandra and Anna (niece #2).