Passion without action is disrespectful. It’s disrespectful to yourself and to those who depend on your productivity and success. If you’re confident that you’ve found your passion, you’ve completed an important first step; but you can’t stop there.
No one is going to make things happen for you and you can’t impose your will on other people in order to put your passion into action (not talking about healthy delegation). Going beyond passion is totally on you.
In sports, successful professional athletes have passion for their sport but they take it further by expressing that passion through consistent training and performing. This is action.
ACTION
In my personal branding book, O.P.E.N. Routine (aff), I write about taking ACTION (Active Change That Ignites Our Now). Here’s an excerpt:
While it’s important to plan our moves, over planning can leave us stuck. Before you know it, your big idea has been done by someone else. Then regrets and excuses might proliferate in your mind. Regret can yield doubt in future goals and lead to a dangerous cycle of underachievement. This isn’t taking it to the next level. This is regression.
Jump feet first into the ocean of next level branding if you feel ready but aren’t quite clear what to do. Now, I’m not saying take random action. Action without purpose is pointless. Take ACTION that will lead you to your desired destination.
Here are four ACTION steps you can take right now:
1. Think big (but not for too long).
2. Attack your big idea by breaking it down to smaller tasks (aka “chunking”).
3. Identify new team members who can help you take your brand to the next level. Also better utilize your current team members’ strengths.
4. Track, measure, and improve the efficiency of all your activities. Excellence at the next level requires strict time management. Have you ever noticed that Steve Jobs wore the same outfit (black shirt and jeans) during his many Apple keynotes?
What about failure?
Failure isn’t a temporary stumble along your journey. Failure is when you quit being active in your pursuit of your passion (and excellence) for no good reason. Sometimes waving the white flag is the best decision for you and your family. I’ve done it. But you just better make sure you have a valid reason for doing so.
So what do you do? Don’t give up. Make your dreams come true by getting and staying in motion.
