Everyone tells you to follow your passion. Chase what you love. Find your bliss and the money will follow.
I did that for years. Built businesses around things I loved. Streaming, gaming tools, content creation. And what happened?
I failed. Repeatedly.
Not because the ideas were bad. Not because I wasn’t working hard enough. But because passion is fickle. Passion fades when things get hard.
Then I stumbled on something that changed everything. I stopped asking “what do I love?” and started asking “what pisses me off?”
That shift, from passion to problems, is what I wanna talk about today. Because I think most purpose and goal-setting advice has it completely backwards.
The Passion Trap I Fell Into
Here’s my story. And I’m sharing this because I think a lot of you are in the same place I was.
I loved streaming. Like, genuinely loved it. The community, the games, building something live with an audience. So I built Click Consultants to help streamers grow. Makes sense, right? Follow the passion.
And it kinda worked. Got some clients. Made some money. But there was this thing in the back of my mind that I couldn’t shake.
I wasn’t excited anymore.
The passion that got me started wasn’t enough to keep me going when things got boring. When it was 11 PM and I had to edit another video for a client. When the same problems kept showing up and I had to solve them over and over.
And like, this wasn’t unique to that business. I’ve done this pattern multiple times. Get excited about something. Start building. Watch the excitement fade. Wonder why I don’t have the motivation anymore.
Sound familiar?
Here’s what I eventually figured out. Passion is about what you love doing. But life isn’t about doing things you love. Life is about solving problems that matter.
And the crazy thing is, when you solve problems that actually matter to you, the passion shows up on its own. The same approach I use when balancing single fatherhood and building businesses.
The Problem-First Framework
So I have this document I call my TELOS file. T-E-L-O-S. It’s basically my life operating system. You can check it here.
But the key thing, the thing that changed how I approach everything, is that it starts with problems. Not passions. Not dreams. Problems.
Here are my four problems. And I want you to notice something about them.
Problem one: Society is lost, anxious, and divided because people turned from God. And the church has failed to bring them back.
Problem two: The middle class is being crushed by endless taxes, hidden fees, and a system rigged against working families.
Problem three, and this one’s personal: Family courts destroy fathers and harm children by defaulting against dads. Forcing them to fight and pay for basic parental rights.
Problem four: Most people don’t understand emerging technology and will be left behind as the world changes faster than ever.
Now notice something?
None of these are “I love content creation.” None of these are “I’m passionate about building tools.”
These are things that genuinely make me angry. Things that frustrate me about how the world works. Things I’ve experienced personally.
Why Problems Beat Passion Every Time
I spent $250,000 fighting for 50/50 custody of my son. Two years in court. Two years of my life.
That’s not passion. That’s a wound. That’s a problem I lived through.
And what? That wound creates fuel that passion never could.
Because here’s the thing about problems versus passions. Passion is fun when things are fun. But when things get hard, when it’s midnight and you’re tired and you don’t wanna work, passion goes quiet.
Problems don’t go quiet.
The thing that pisses you off is still gonna piss you off at midnight. The injustice you experienced is still unjust when you’re tired. The broken system is still broken whether you feel motivated or not.
And here’s the second thing. Problems connect you to other people in a way passion doesn’t.
When I talk about “I love making content,” nobody cares. It’s self-indulgent. But when I talk about fathers getting destroyed by family courts? Suddenly I’m not alone. Suddenly there’s a community of people who’ve lived the same fight.
Problems create tribes. Passion creates hobbies.
How to Find Your Problems
Okay so here’s the practical part. I’m not just gonna leave you with philosophy.
Grab a piece of paper. Seriously. Or open your notes app. Whatever.
Here’s what I want you to do. Don’t write what you love. Write what frustrates you about the world.
What makes you angry when you read the news?
What problem have you personally experienced that you wish someone had solved for you?
What system or process or industry feels broken in a way that actually affects your life?
Write down three to five things. Don’t filter. Don’t think about whether they’re “realistic” or “marketable” or whatever. Just the raw frustrations.
Got them?
Now here’s the filter. Look at your list and ask yourself two questions.
Question one: Which of these problems do I have credibility to speak on?
Not “which one would I be an expert in” – that’s a trap. Just, which ones have you actually lived? Which ones can you speak about from experience, not theory?
For me, family courts made the list because I spent two years and a quarter million dollars living that nightmare. I have credibility. I’ve earned the right to talk about it.
Question two: Which of these problems do I actually care about fixing?
Not “which one could make money” – another trap. Which one would you work on even if nobody paid you? Which one would still matter to you in ten years?
When I look at my list, the one that hits hardest is fathers and family court. Because I’m still living it. Because I know what it felt like to be separated from my son and have no power to change it. Because I know there are thousands of dads going through the same thing right now who feel completely alone.
That’s not passion. That’s purpose.
And purpose doesn’t fade when things get hard. Purpose gets louder.
The Bottom Line
I’m not saying passion is worthless. If you love something, great. That’s a gift.
But if you’re like me, if you’ve chased passion for years and still feel like you’re wandering, try flipping the question.
Stop asking “what do I love?” Start asking “what pisses me off?”
Your problems might just be the clearest signal you’ve ever gotten about what you’re supposed to do with your life.
If you’ve got a problem that’s been nagging at you, something you’ve experienced that feels broken, I’d love to hear about it. What frustrations are driving you? Drop a comment below.