Being Great In Life Is About Pursuing Your Passion

What is "Passion"?

My favorite definition is "boundless enthusiasm".

My own passion is personal and professional growth and leadership. And for those of you that don't know me personally, believe me when I say that I live, breath, eat, and often sleep thinking about them - often at cost of other things in my life.

It was and still is my passion for these things that drove me to become a coach - to give up what most would call a great occupation, a good life, a secure job, making good money and in the name of trying to do what I knew I was called to do - to help others pursue their passion and make it a reality.

So, do you have a "passion" in your life? For your job? For anything that you do?

When you are gone, are people going to look at you and say, "He pursued his dreams" or "He gave the world his best and he lived a Great Life. He may not have created exactly what he wanted, but he had passion and he did every thing he could to make his dreams come true."

Or are they going to say, "He worked hard and had a good life."

'Good' is a product of doing what you are supposed to. But 'Great' is a when you harness your passion to create something special - something that no one else can do as well as you.

We are all good at something - many of us are good at many things. And most of us live very content lives being good at what we do. But I'm not here to be good - I wasn't given the most precious gift that anyone could receive - LIFE - just to live a good life. And neither were you.

We were put here to pursue perfection - and doing anything less, is, in my humble opinion, not appreciating the gift we were given.

One of the greatest gifts that I got in my Junior High years came from my Seventh Grade Social Studies Teacher, Mr Crismond. Believe it or not, it was a homework assignment to read a book - that at the time, I thought sounded very childish. But nothing could be further from the truth. It is a book that walks you through the life of a creature that decided to leave the ordinary to pursue perfection - TO BE GREAT. That book was Jonathon Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach.

If you haven't read it, your missing out.

If you have, I recommend reading it again. It's that powerful.

Jonathon was a seagull that dared to pursue something out of the ordinary - he dared to learn how to fly faster and higher than any other seagull had dared before. And it was his pursuit of these lofty goals - his vision - that is the story.

Are you living a good life? Is that all that you want? If you continue down the path that you are currently on, and you look back on your life, how are you going to feel? How do you want to feel? Are you going to be happy that your life was "good", but that maybe you could have been something more?

In the book, it's not the achievement of perfection that separated Jonathon from the rest of the seagulls - it was his desire to pursue it.

So, take some time out of your busy weekend - in between running the kids to sports games and sleep overs - and ask yourself, are you living a good life or are you chasing your passion and doing your best to live a Great Life.

Do You Love What You Do?

People always ask me "Why do you do what you do?" The answer's easy - and it's not because of the money (although I do believe the money will come). I do what I do, because making a difference in someone's life by teaching and empowering them to reach their full potential is my passion - it is my dream.

How about you? Are you pursuing your dream - your passion? Or are you just putting in time at a job that pays the bills?

Do you think that chasing your dreams is just fanciful idealogy? Do you think "It'll have to wait for the next time around?"

I've got some bad news - there may not be another "time around". This may be all you get. And its a tough reality to face - but it may not last as long as you wished hope it would.

So you have a choice. You can either, live your life, content with having a good life, where you go to a job you don't hate, and pay your bills on time - knowing someday you'll get to retire. Or you could take a chance and commit making your dream a reality - making it happen, while risking the chance of completely failing - and maybe losing everything you currently have.

The choice is obvious to me. Greatness is born from risk not safety. Take a chance and go for "Great".