What's Your Passion? What do you enjoy doing, or what would you like to do, more than anything else in the world?
I ask this question because almost without exception, successful people are usually those people who follow their passion. They're doing what they truly enjoy doing. They're pouring their heart and soul in to a project that means everything in the world to them.
So I ask you one more time. What is your passion?
For many, this is a tough question to answer. After all, passions can change are we go through life. Another thing to take in to consideration is that just because you're passionate about one thing doesn't necessarily mean your spouse or family is too.
While growing up on a ranch about 20 miles outside of Tucson, my passion was riding and racing motorcycles. I enjoyed getting up early in the morning and riding out in to the desert and later on, racing on the local tracks. There was nothing I enjoyed more than the thrill of racing and challenge of learning new riding skills and techniques.
When I started college, my passion changed to flying hang gliders. I loved spending my weekends flying for hours above the tops of remote mountains or ridges in Southern Arizona. Our flying trips to Merriam Crater in Northern Arizona will never be forgotten.
After college and while living in Lake Tahoe, I began to enjoy windsurfing on the beautiful high mountain lake. The sport was relatively new at the time but my friends and I quickly started competing (and winning) the local races which included some crazy times on the San Francisco Bay.
Then I started law school. A new passion began to fester deep inside my core. The courses I was taking taught me how to help people with their legal problems. After graduating from law school and becoming a trial lawyer, I was able to apply what I learned in class to helping clients win their cases in court.
I liked helping people. I really enjoyed winning trials and making a difference. These core feelings continued to mature and grow inside me. I can now say that 25 years later, the passion I have to help others is the most powerful passion I've ever experienced. It's really cool. It's fun and despite the long hours, it really doesn't feel like work to me.
As a lawyer, I'm living my passion each and every day. With the NewWorldLawyer project, I excited and passionate about the fact that with the power of social media, we're going to be able to share 25-30 years of success tips with others. For me, it just doesn't get any better than this!
So I ask you again, what's your passion?
Whatever it is, start to design a life around it. Begin to modify your behavior and goals to include your passion in to your daily activities.
Here's an example… Let's say you're a lawyer (insert your job or occupation here) and your practice involves helping people start new companies. Each week, you normally prepare new corporations and update LLC operating agreements for your clients. You might counsel them on tax issues and every once in awhile, help them with their litigation needs.
The problem is, you feel overworked, under appreciated and slightly burned out. You don't really enjoy what you're doing. You need to shake things up a bit but do not know where to start.
The internal problem that your dealing with is that you love baseball (again- insert any word that best describes YOUR passion) but you're pushing corporate paperwork. You enjoy watching baseball but don't have the time to take in as many Angel games as you'd like.
Truth be told, your perfect Saturday morning is coaching Little League. There's nothing you'd rather do than teach kids how to field, throw and hit the ball. Baseball's in your blood and being in the office all day long doing paperwork is starting to become a bit draining and monotonous.
The Solution… Here's what you do. Incorporate your passion about baseball in to your everyday life!
Keep in mind that I'm using baseball as an example. This approach works with any type of passion you may have. Whatever your passion- photography, knitting, dancing or writing, it simply doesn't matter. Simply insert your passion for the word "baseball" and take off running. Here's what I mean…
Start a blog about baseball. Share your passion in the blog using videos, audios, and articles. Post video interviews that you do of local coaches and players. Write articles about the big weekend game. Baseball tips and tools—put it all in your blog.
Baseball teams and leagues all need legal counsel. Most leagues are corporations and many have more legal issues than they care to think about. Incorporation services, updating minutes, and resolving litigation all require good legal counsel.
On your blog or website, include a section about baseball and the law. Offer viewers an opportunity to watch your videos (or listen to your audio podcast or read your uploaded articles) discussing the latest liability waivers or about how incorporating a league can save money via tax deductions and accounting procedures.
Find and then genuinely interact and comment with other top baseball blogs. Setup social media sites and link your Facebook and Twitter "Lawyer Baseball Pages" with your main blog and in your email signatures. Offline, share your new resources in your monthly newsletter to clients and friends.
Work on your new baseball passion each week. Heck, turn off the television and work on it each evening. Live your passion in your site or blog and good things will start to happen.
What you'll find over time is that you'll begin to engage with other people who have a similar interest and passion about baseball. New relationships will be formed. Clients will gravitate to you because you share a common passion about baseball or sports in general. The synergistic passion model will probably result in you closing your next big deal in the bottom of the sixth inning at this year's Angels vs. Yankees game in Anaheim. Design your life and then live it my friend!
And when you follow your passion there's even more good stuff to come!
If you do things right and follow your passion, all of the work that you put in to building your new lawyer/baseball project will not feel like work. In fact, you're going to have so much fun putting your blog and social media sites together and building your new empire that you'll wish there were more than 24 hours in a day.
When it's all said and done, that's how you follow your passion. You think outside the box, develop a plan and then execute it with relentless passion.
Now don't get me wrong. Hard work is what separates the successful from the "could haves" or "would haves". But when you're doing something you really enjoy, something you're extremely passionate about, it's usually interesting and fun. You're doing it for you and it will not feel like work. You'll catch yourself smiling on a daily basis!
Incorporate passion in to your life and you'll be a better lawyer, spouse, parent, neighbor and friend. Don't wait any longer. Take action and start following your passion today!
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http://newworldlawyer.com/whats-your-passion/ Remember to make today your masterpiece and to remind your family and friends to do the same!
Jon Mitchell "Mitch" Jackson, Esq.
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