Turn Passion into Profit
Contributed by Marcia Wieder
In our careers, dreaming is serious business and the driving force for transformation. Without vision companies fail, and without our personal vision, our dreams, our lives can become mundane, redundant, even stagnant. When we are in touch with our passion we have more energy, enthusiasm, and creativity. In a business context “passion sells.” Wouldn’t you rather do business with people who enjoy what they are doing rather than someone who is just doing a job? Passion and productivity go hand in hand. Happy people make happy employees and happy employees go the extra mile, producing greater results.
How do you turn passion into profit? Do what matters and has meaning for you and the money will follow. But do it with passion and it may become easier to accomplish. A visionary leader articulates their vision with clarity so people understand what it is and with passion so others want to join them. Passion is contagious. It can help you sell your ideas or products to others. Passion inspires people to do great things, to go beyond normal limits and to soar to new heights.
Consider these tips for success:
- The people who are the most successful and satisfied with their work and life know that passion lives inside of us. The secret is to intentionally bring more of what you love into your daily life.
- Bring your passion to your work, and you’ll manage your team differently.
- Tune into what excites you and you will show up differently in your relationships with others.
- Bring your excitement and enthusiasm to your customers and they will buy more from you.
- Focus your passion and use it to compel your business forward. Passion without focus can be wasted energy. But passion with clarity and commitment can be an unstoppable life-changing formula for success.
Passion is the fire in your belly. It is when you are compelled to action. Passion is the juice that will help you move mountains to accomplish your dreams and goals, personally and professionally. Passion without a plan can be wasted energy, but used to move your dreams forward, it is dynamite. Also, passion is a time management tool, because when you are doing what you love, it often gets done faster. The secret to a joyful life is to schedule more things into your everyday life that have heart and meaning for you.
People are inspired by enthusiasm. Find your passion and bring it to your work and life. Here’s how:
- Find resources to help take you and your team to new heights, like my project DreamUniversity.com.
- Use passion as the barometer to say “no thank you” when you have a choice. Clear away clutter to make room for your dreams.
- Passion Quest – take a period of time a day, week, month (you don’t have to put the rest of your life on hold) to discover exactly what is it you are passionate about.
- Think of three times in your life when you were truly feeling passionate. Find a common thread. Were you learning, teaching, risk taking, helping others, and having fun, problem solving? What was it that you were passionate about in all three memories?
- Explore how you can bring more of this quality to your work. How can you make your work more fun, educational or adventurous? Bring more of what you love into your every day life.
- Proactively inspire your team to do the same. Encourage people to bring their passion for fun, success, creativity, helping others or trying new things, to their business.
On the subject of money, it does not have to be the obstacle stopping your from pursuing your dream. People often say, “I’d pursue my dream if I could only afford it.” So I ask, “How much money do you need?” The most common answer is “I don’t know… but I know I don’t have enough.” It is the fear of failure that keeps us from sitting down with a pencil and assessing our needs. It is doubt and concern that keep us from exploring other creative options such as bartering or trading services.
Grow your career, your team, your family and your own well-being by igniting your passion and sharing it with others. Increase profit and productivity by inspiring people to dream big. Demonstrate that your company is a unique and fabulous place to be, because you encourage people to bring their passion to work. When this happens, everyone wins.
Marcia Wieder, CEO/Founder of Dream University is the author of 14 books and an acclaimed speaker on goal setting, visionary thinking and team building. To receive 3 powerful ebooks go to: DreamUniversity.com/gift
When I visit successful companies there is always a sense of this commitment to uniqueness and that the company is a special place. It’s not usually about the money, although when you get it right that comes. Investment in the team pays off, I’ve got a soft sport for having fun through well thought out team building events but that’s just one of the ways that successful teams can celebrate their mission.