Unlocking the Passion: an excercise to find your dream

Successful people, really successful people, have one thing in common, Passion. A really deep emotional feeling about something.

Henry Ford loved motor vehicles, he was so passionate about them he wanted every person in the United States to have one. He set about producing cars, using mass production, he is often referred to as the father of modern mass production. In his time he became one of the richest men in America.

Donald Trump has a passion for business, the wheeling and dealing in real estate and other businesses are what excite him. Quote “I do love what I do. I really love it." He also said “passion is what gives you energy and without energy you can’t do anything.” I am not sure if that is the exact quote but it is close.

Wayne Gretzky lived and breathed hockey, he probably knows more about the game than anyone. His passion for the game made him successful.
It was passion that carried these and many others from obscurity to the realms of the rich and famous. So what is this passion and how do you get it? Passion is the real reason for doing something, note that I said the REAL reason. There can be many apparent reasons and these are what we usually see, but you need to look deeper to find the passion. When you do find the underlying reason you will get excited, it will be “of course! That’s why I want to do it.”

Take a look at some of the apparent reasons. Probably the most common one is “I want to make money.” Or “I want to be rich”. Money is usually a low level motivation, “I have to work so I can make some money to pay the bills.” This is why so many people suffer Monday morning blues, the motivation is not there.

Now you might be thinking “But I do want to make money and be rich.” Well good, money is important. Look a bit deeper, “I would really like to drive a nice luxury car.” That’s a little better, people will work a bit harder if they can envision a real reward. How about “I want a better life for myself and my family.” This is good if you can visualize that better life, can you see and feel the luxury cars, large house, expensive cruises or whatever you consider a better life to be.

If you can see it and you get very excited then maybe that is your passion. Why did I say maybe, if you look a deeper still you could find that it is the freedom that excites you. The freedom to go where you want, when you want, time to spend with your family, to do what you enjoy without worrying about cost or consequences. I think I could enjoy laughing at bill collectors and telling them to get lost.

Here is a simple exercise to help unlock your passion, it is well worth spending time on:
1. Make a list of all the things you enjoy, make it as complete as possible.
2. Extend it into the future, what would you really like to do if you had the time and money.
3. Look at each item on the list to see what excites you about it.
4. Find the common thread that runs through them.
5. When you find it you should be excited, keep working the list until you do.
6. Write down what you find in step 4, it will probably reflect your life goal.

Having a dream and a goal is one of the best tonics you can get.

So here is my passion, I LOVE to see people win. Not just my family and friends but anybody. When people win at anything they become brighter, more outgoing and friendly. When they win at something big they get all excited, jump up and down and give each other hugs, I love hugs. Winning is exciting even for the spectators, watch any sports event and see the fans reaction, they personally did not win anything but they are still excited.