Why Passion is the key to Success! (Secret to Success, Part 2.)

In part one of Secret to Success, I discussed How SCOPE Can Change Your Life.

Hopefully at this point you have expanded or begun to expand your scope, and know what it will take to be successful in your given journey. You’re full of productive energy and now you’re ready to get down on one knee and propose a lifelong commitment to Success.

WARNING!!!

It should be noted, that there will come a point in anything you choose to do, where it will go from being fun to work.

There is the one caveat to that statement, which I will mention in just a bit.

From Fun to Work

From fun to work can happen when you go from just showing up to play basketball in the evenings, to hoisting 3,000 jump shots a week, in addition to playing.

It can happen when you go from running around the block to training for a race.

Fun can turn to a crusty, hear yourself pouting “I don’t wanna do this anymore,” job in just about anything you choose to do when the decision is made to attempt to be successful.

The caveat to this…PASSION!

20 Years of Hoops = A Whole Lotta Passion

I have put more hours into basketball, a lot of them unguided unfortunately, than anything else in my life.

I’ve taught myself to shoot (better than most). To dribble.

I’ve learned how to play defense. To pass.

I’ve learned the rules and dimensions of the sport created by Dr. James Naismith.

I started with no concept of the game and became a better than average player.

I’ve done all of this and it’s never felt like work one day of my life.

The reason is Passion.

Passion Doesn’t Matter?

There will be those that will whisper or even SCREAM in your ear, if you allow them, telling you that passion doesn’t matter.  That it’s more about the structure and the process and that if you implement the structure and do the work, you will be successful.

Guess what, they are right…and wrong.

If a well known bread company sent me the recipe for their bread.  If they detailed the process down to the best climate, water, ingredients, oven, pans, slicers and packaging, then I could produce their exact product.

I would probably do so for myself and even my family and close friends, for awhile.

For awhile, I would most likely package it up, hand deliver it and see smiles sprint across the faces of the recipients of my little bread gift.

Then I would stop.

Why Passion DOES matter!

I would stop making the bread because I’m not passionate about it.  I don’t wake up in the mornings thinking about bread or dream at night about meeting the Pillsbury dough boy.  Bread is great, but TO ME it’s just bread.

Passion matters because at the point where every other thing turns to struggle, when every other thing slows your trek forward and the shawl of doubt chills your fire, PASSION will burn through.

If you begin a journey that is filled with positive passion, that “fun to work” day will never come.

Passion Won’t Make It Easy

Just because you are passionate about something doesn’t mean your journey will now have an easy button.

It doesn’t mean success will introduce itself any quicker.

You still need the structure.  You still need to do the process.

Passion will keep it FUN.

Find the Passion and Let it Burn!

I began me vs. MJ: My Journey to Jordan Camp, because I am passionate about hoops and Michael Jordan.

Something so amazing is happening during this journey, that I never really expected.  It’s having positive results in other parts of my life.

That passion for hoops and MJ has fueled me to become in the best shape of my life.  It has given me energy, clarity, and greater knowledge as I continue to learn daily about myself.  It has gotten me writing again for this blog and connected me with some really cool people I never would I have met otherwise.

By not only identifying the passion, but letting it burn…by using it, I am changing the course of my life.

Have the Baby!

I’ve been told over and over and over again that there is never a perfect time to have a baby, but that a child will change my life for the better.

That’s the kind of conversations a 33 year old guy finds himself in when he’s been married for two and a half years, with no kids:-)

While the reasoning behind why that conversation usually comes up (people don’t know what else to talk about) is less than stellar, the message behind it is transparently clear.

The perfect time doesn’t exist.

The same can be said when it comes to making a move on something you’re passionate about. The perfect time to do so will never knock on your door, grab your hand and lead you away.

At the end of the day…JUST HAVE THE BABY!!

Expand your SCOPE in something that you are PASSIONATE about and JUST HAVE THE BABY!

You’ll be glad you did.

PS:  No Mom, I’m not having a child anytime soon 😉