The Inner Entrepreneur

Purpose and passion energize our endeavors

This is an image from the Metropolitan Opera staging of The Magic Flute a couple of years ago, by film and theater director Julie Taymor.

She confirms how important passion is for her: “I find that I make as an artist the kind of choices that I have to be impassioned about. I’m not going to spend two years on a film or four years on an opera if I don’t feel like I can put my own self into it. That doesn’t mean it has to be about myself. That’s a difference.”

Referring to her acclaimed film starring Salma Hayeck, Taylor says, “Frida painted her own reality, her life. I’m a director and I paint many other people… Other people’s realities. But I do have to invest in it.” [From Bill Moyers Interview 10.25.02]

Also see my interview with Julie Taymor, and her book Playing with Fire.

Entrepreneur Jeanne Fitzmaurice comments in her Huffington Post / Fearless Voices post When Passion and Purpose Collide, “After journeying through my own personal trials and alternate career paths, I decided to create and dedicate a website business and its related non-profit group — Designhergals.com and the Gal to Gal Foundation — to raising funds and awareness for Stage IV breast cancer patients… My business philosophy today can be summed up by the phrase ‘purpose before personal profitability.’ … By many measures, it would seem that we’ve been successful in growing our business. But the most rewarding has been the comments I’ve received from Stage IV breast cancer patients.”

Business philosopher and coach Jim Rohn comments in his article Cultivating Your Enterprising Nature, “If you pursue money and affluence to the exclusion of other values in life, you have lost, not won…. I believe one of the greatest satisfactions of living life to the fullest is doing the best you can with whatever you have. Doing anything less than your best has a way of eroding the psyche. We are creatures of enterprise. Life seems to say to us, Here are the raw materials — your creativity, and 24 hours to use it. What splendid things can you produce?”

Actor Alice Krige points out “the greatest challenge, at once the easiest and the hardest thing for human beings to do, is to follow our passion… I can say that in following mine, I have found the world to be a most magical place. It is not for the fainthearted — it’s an arduous path, it needs commitment and discipline…. To not live by rote is a choice you have. At this moment it may feel like an act of faith, like stepping into the void — but remember there is great exhilaration and wonder in reaching beyond your comfort zone.” [From her Rhodes University Graduation address, 2004 - she received an honorary doctorate in Literature.]

Workshop leader and coach Barbara J. Winter admits there are tradeoffs, but says when she switched from a job to being self-employed, among the many things she gained was the practice of “Values in action. What I am most passionate about is what I express through my business. I never have to compromise the things that matter most to me.” [From her article Why I Will Never Have a Job]

Also see her site Living the Joyfully Jobless Life, and programs at Changing Course.

In his article Priming the Passion Pump, W. Bradford Swift [of Life On Purpose] explains “Clarifying your life purpose is a team effort between the rational mind and the intuitive mind” and he outlines an exercise to help finding that purpose, by exploring some basic questions such as “What do you love to do?” and “What kind of people do you love to be with?” and “What values are most important to you?”

Leadership consultant and writer Denis Waitley, PhD suggests that “as you consider your mission in life, you may want to use this phrase as your guidepost for the 21st Century: Chase Your Passion, Not Your Pension. Passion in your purpose will help you take control of your life, and also give you one other advantage that is not widely recognized: About ten more years of life, on average.” [From his article Create Your Own Mission Statement for Your Personal and Professional Life]

His programs such as The Psychology of Winning are available from Nightingale-Conant.

The new book Success Built To Last - Creating A Life That Matters, By Jerry Porras, Stewart Emery and Mark Thompson, is based on 10 years’ of interviews with the world’s most enduringly successful people such as Maya Angelou, Jimmy Carter, Michael Dell, Sir Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and 300 others.

The authors write, “Builders - enduringly successful people - tell us that when success just means wealth, fame and power, it doesn’t last and it isn’t satisfying. Builders insist that success may never come without a compelling personal commitment to something you care about and would be willing to do without counting on wealth, fame, power or public acceptance as an outcome.

“Builders.. become lovers of an idea they are passionate about, creating something that continually seduces them into obsessing over every detail and losing track of the passage of time… They do it because it matters to them.”

But passion and enthusiasm are feelings - which can change or deflate.

John Wesley comments in his post Overcoming a Loss of Motivation: “The natural pattern of human emotion is peaks and valleys. When we start a new project we’re filled with tremendous optimism. All we can think about is the expected benefits, and since we haven’t started yet, we aren’t aware of the difficulties involved. This natural high causes a surge of mental and physical activity.

“The peak is a great thing because the energy boost gets projects off the ground. If you’re a creative type like me, you know that this period is euphoric. You feel like nothing can stop you.

“The downside of this surge of energy is that it inevitably ends. Exerting large amounts of energy wears you down, and after the initial optimism wears off we feel extremely tired. However high you started off, you fall down just as low. This causes a loss of confidence. The combination of fatigue, scant results, and an awareness of impending adversity makes us want to give up.”

He adds that “from personal experience” he has learned some ways to “make your emotions work for you.”

Also see many personal and entrepreneurial success programs at:
YourSuccessStore
Nightingale-Conant
The Success Training Network
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03.21.07 | Share This