Why is Passion so important?

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Gene Landrum the owner and creator of the Chuck-E-Cheese concept shares his thoughts on Passion...

Psychiatrist John Diamond found that 90 percent of people "hate their work." Why? Because they tend to take jobs for the wrong reasons or because the jobs are what the family deems right. They have been programmed to follow rules, punch the proverbial time clock, and do what is right. Right for whom? Those who preach order for order's sake, where nothing changes, and mediocrity reigns supreme.

Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw offered insight into the world outside that conformity box where nothing is exciting or alters the world. A driven workaholic, Shaw worked until his late 90s and wrote these profound words:

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Landrum suggests that passion is the investment of those chasing inner dreams, and one of the payoffs is living a long, happy life. Plato opened up The Academy in Athens when he was 40 at a time when the life expectancy was 36. He ran this first university, training such stalwarts as Aristotle, until he was 80. Pursuing positive dreams arms one with high energy and leads to a long, fulfilling life. Do such people end up with money? Absolutely! We keep score in capitalism with money, and for those who execute positive dreams, money will be delivered in trucks.

Three types of people amble down life's highways. They are Proactives, Reactives, and Inactives. Proactives are those intrepid warriors chasing new ideas. No matter their age, they can be found looking forward to the vast vista of opportunities in this wide world of change. They chase impossible dreams and are rewarded in kind. No way would they be found working at a job they can't stand. They make things happen by chasing possibilities, not sureties.

In contrast, Reactives have a propensity to watch things happen. They will stay in a job they hate for the money and security. They allow events to dictate their lives, and unfortunately their mental state of being suffers the consequences of living life to another's tune.

The saddest individuals of all in this scenario are the Inactives. They are the ones who show up in life with little interest other than living out their existence on this planet. As I say in my new book Entrepreneurial Genius, "Keep doing what you're doing, and you'll just keep on getting what you are getting ... If that is good, keep it up. If it's not so good, you had better change."

Proactives are in the vast minority on this earth. They are obsessed with chasing opportunities and life's possibilities and refuse to waste any energy on the inane problems beyond their control or purview. They prefer to focus on possibilities, and consequently their life is positive. For every ounce of energy the Inactives and Reactives take up in your life, you are wasting time. Life is way too short to allow them to dictate your lifestyle or to rob you of a chance for positive outcomes. Proactives tend to be those people who see the possibilities for change. They envision the essence of things, what educators call seeing the forest instead of getting lost in the trees. These intrepid change artists like da Vinci see the need for change, have the positive self-esteem to chase it, and the guts to go out and see if they can make it happen.

Focus on Landrum's 3 types of people today. See if you can identify them and then watch their lives to better understand if Landrum's descriptions ring true.

Remember...

Proactives: Those intrepid warriors chasing new ideas, and no matter their age, they can be found looking forward to the next vast vista of opportunities.

Reactives: Those who have a propensity to watch things happen. They will stay in a job they hate for the money and security.

Inactives: Those who show up in life with little interest other than living out their existence on this planet.