Saturday Musings – Finding your passion

There’s nothing quite like speaking with a person that is passionate about a topic. I find that it really doesn’t matter whether it’s science, business or even knitting….the joy for the listener is more about hearing the passion in the teller’s voice.

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I remember a number of years ago I was listening to the radio and heard a plumber expound his passion for his profession. He explained to the listeners that without plumbing civilization wouldn’t exist and the fact that we can turn on a tap or flush a toilet is a miracle.

I’d never thought about plumbing in this way before, in fact, I’d never really thought much about plumbing at all. The speaker was riveting in his passion and it was clear that he’d won the interviewer over to his view of plumbing as well.

The question I would ask you in this video is, “What are you passionate about?” In this time of COVID induced isolation we all have been given some precious time back to really think about this issue. Do you want to get to the latter years of your life with regret or have the confidence that you went after your passion with a sense of urgency and zeal?

I hope you enjoy this video as I share a few thoughts on passion. Also, don’t forget to subscribe, comment or like the video as your feedback helps me to be inspired forward in my own blogging passion.

Have a great weekend.
Michael

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Saturday Musings - Listen to Your Passion

There's more to life than drudgery....what's your passion?

So many of us have squashed our passions for the sake of paying for the mortgage or trying to just keep the lights on at home. What we end up leading is a life of quite misery as joy is replaced by a world that seems to be in darkness. We are trapped in indentured servitude and feel like we have nowhere to go to escape…..I’m here to share with you that there is a way out!

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Can you remember when you were in primary school and you had such incredible dreams for your life? You wanted to be a fireman, a doctor, travel the world or help people in poor countries. What’s to stop you from doing any of these things?

In my personal time each morning I sometimes like listening to an inspirational speaker on Youtube and it just so happens that last Friday I found myself listening to a great one. She basically said, people don’t pursue what they are passionate about because of fear.

More than that, the brain is wired to avoid challenging circumstances because they are uncomfortable, and the brain wants to keep us safe. Those people that succeed in fulfilling their passions are those that determine through discipline to overcome what their brain is telling them.

It's easy to stay in bed but atheletes get up early each morning to go through a hurtful training session. They discipline their brain to obey their desires and through the process pursue their passion. She said a lot more than this but that was my take.

Last night I had the privilege of listening to an amazing artist talk, among many other things, about her art. I found that I was listening less to the words and more to the emotions she conveyed with her voice and body language. She was a lady full of passion and her entire demeanour reflected the passion she has for her paintings….it was awesome!

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I just have to let you know that reading your blogs, One can find that it isn't hard to make a change for the better. Taking a g... Read More
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Part 2 - Building a Business - Getting Buy-in

At the end of Part 1 I indicated that this article would be focusing on how to land a business partner/investor for your great idea. I’m going to use myself as a case study but understand that every investor will have different motivations for wanting to spend their time in a new venture.

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Like any good business, it usually begins with something drawn on the back of an envelope. That spark of an idea that seems to ignite the very ether with potential and every time you think about it your heart skips a beat.

What am I looking for? In one word, passion. I’m sitting at the bar at NamesCon and you’ve come to me with your idea (I’m not going to steal it) and during your story telling about how you came up with the idea I’m looking for how much you want it. Are you going to crawl across broken glass, traverse a desert or swing across a chasm to see your idea flourish?

So many potential entrepreneurs pitch their ideas in such a boring manner that causes me to look for someone else to share a drink with. If your unexcited when your baby is about to be born, then what are you going to be like in six months when you’ve been up all night because it’s been crying? Get animated and make the story interesting!

For example, it could be like….I was having a shower the other day and it suddenly hit me. People having been trying to do “X” for so long and if I just did “Y” I could solve all of their problems. It was like a shining light from heaven! I couldn’t get out of the shower fast enough to write it all down. Have you ever had one of those moments where a whole lot of things just seem to click into place?

At this point I’m thinking this is a cool story and an interesting person that’s causing me to reflect on the times I've had my own epiphanies! Very importantly I instantly know how this new business is going to solve a problem for the target market.

At this point in our discussion, you pull out of your pocket a sheet of wrinkled paper and say, “Here’s the idea when I first came up with it while dripping wet from the shower.” I take a look at it an instantly notice that some of the writing is a little blurry from where the ink mixed with the water from your dripping hand.

I now know you’re either crazy or so passionate you don’t want to let your idea out of your sight! Let’s face it, most entrepreneurs are a little nuts as we have this inner burning desire to break new ground and build things where others have said it would be impossible.

If I believe you’re passionate then I’m next going to weigh up whether you’ve done anything since the idea first came to you. In other words, are you capable of getting the big boulder moving up the hill.

I’ve had so many people tell me that they can’t start because they need a whole pile of cash. As soon as I hear this then my mind has exited the conversation. What they’ve just proved is they can’t do anything unless someone else helps them. What am I? Your nanny?

Get a prototype together. I don’t care if it’s been made out of bits of string, lego or a picture on a power point slide. Sell me the dream! Get your phone out and show me what your wrinkled-up piece of paper is all about. I want to see you’ve begun thinking about the problems and how to overcome them.

Get off your backside and begin researching everything you need to make your dream come true. When you think you’ve done everything you can then look again. So many people are dreamers and very few are doers. I’ve even had some people try to convince me that they haven’t taken the idea forward because they were waiting for an investment so they could be paid to develop it further……now I know their nuts!

What you need to appreciate is that I'm time poor because I have no shortage of ideas to develop and projects already on the go. When you’re trying to attract me to your business what you’re saying is your business is so incredible that the returns will far surpass anything else that I’m currently working on

I know this is a really tough to understand, any successful entrepeneur will be in a very similar position to me. Remember the axiom.....if you want something done give it to a busy person. People with lots of time on their hands won't ever get around to what you asked them to do....a busy person knows how to manage their time.

If I end up making the decision to get involved with your venture then I can guarantee that I will put everything I can to get behind it. I have a lot of resources and I want anything I'm involved in to be successful.

In the next article I’m going to go through what you need to do for me after I’m convinced you are passionate and willing to do whatever it will take to get your business going.

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