The virtuous cycle of the passion

There’s a scene in the Oscar-winning Argentine film The secret in their eyes that I like a lot:

“A guy can change anything. His face, his house, his family, his girlfriend, his religion, his God. But there’s one thing he can’t change. He can’t change his passion.”

I’ve never been a big fan of the “follow your passion” advice. It always felt a bit fluffy, too simplistic.

But… there’s some truth in it.

When you’re passionate about something, you naturally spend more time on it. You obsess over the details. You get better. That progress brings satisfaction, which pushes you to keep going and show up.

It becomes a loop—a virtuous cycle—that leads to outsized results and deeper enjoyment.

I turned my passion for technology into a skill, and eventually into a profession.

When I was 9 or 10, I discovered tech. I learned to code at 12. And 26 years later, I still do it with the same level of enjoyment.

I’ve never called it a passion. But the more I think about it, the more I realize… it probably is.