Have you read Good to Great by Jim Collins? It would have been so awesome if I had read this book in High School, though, I may not have understood it. Jim says that all highly successful companies have figured out three things: 1. What they are passionate about, 2. Where they are talented, and 3. What they can make money doing. I had not figured this out for myself when Christian and I moved to Denmark. 

My first job out of college was in the accounting department of a humanitarian organization in Denmark. This was challenging for a number of reasons.

1. I don’t speak Danish
2. I passionately dislike accounting (and I’m not good at it)
3. I was paid very poorly

I loved the organization’s mission, and that is why I stayed.   What I was missing is Jim Collins’ three circles. Of the three circles, talent, passion and economics, all I had was passion.

Finding a passion that can support your economy and that you are actually good at is not always straight-forward. I love chocolate, movies, sewing, eating, running, graphs, saving the world and, on the top of all of that, Jesus. Where do I start! I decided to start with my passion. I started with poverty. I’m deeply moved to participate with man-kind in improving the situation of those in need. That’s my passion. That organization in Denmark was working on relieving poverty in Africa. I could do something I hate and didn’t understand because it supported my passion.

Knowing what I’m passionate about was the over-arching piece of my three circles. I can now figure out how to apply my talents to my passions.  I do have talent with grazing animals and organizing projects. And farming is the place to supply the economy. Can we change the world with farming? Oh yes we can!

And when you do something you are passionate about, talented at, and that provides an income, well, it’s a beautiful thing!

Rachel