My mother said to me, ‘If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.’ Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso – Pablo Picasso.

Nowadays, many young people can be found working hard at degrees and careers that aren’t within their own fields of interest, but something that has been imposed on them by their parents or society at large. And soon, they become so engrossed by trying to live up to expectations of others that their own passions are buried.

What matters here are a degree and certificate rather than skill, proficiency and skill. Knowledge and creativity cannot be judged by limited hours exams. Einstein says, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” I believe if someone finds he or she has a passion for art, music, or anything else that might not be considered a conventional career path, they have a great responsibility to follow this passion through, regardless of what others expect. There is a reason, a purpose that we all come into life with, and the very fact that you are inclined towards this particular thing means you will probably excel at it. If Pablo Picasso was forced to be a doctor, instead of an artist, could he achieve what he did like he did in art? Definitely not.

When you love what you do, your productivity and creativity naturally goes up a thousand fold. The most creative concepts and discoveries in the world have come from people who were passionate and crazy about their work, even if the rest of the world might have seen them as neurotic, even a misfit or crazy. Take Albert Einstein, who turned science on its head. Or Picasso. Would our lives be the same had these people bowed to pressure and taken up conventional jobs? Or, as a more recent example, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg who dropped out of college, but have completely changed the way we communicate in today’s world? If there is no passion and dream in your life, then have you really lived? So, find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happening for you. Be gutsy, break out all the limitations, go for your passion, be crazy in it and see the magic it brings.