How to increase the chances of success in what you do………

I recently attended an event at Entrepreneurial Spark and was bowled over by the palpable passion of the early stage or start up business owners.  It was inspiring and infectious and if you could bottle that stuff up and sell it you could make a fortune!!

It got me thinking about passion…….. There are many ingredients that contribute to an individual’s success, but at the heart of it lies passion. There are countless examples of this in history eg Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Beethoven (did you know that he was deaf!!)…… And in business today…... James Dyson, Richard Branson and Alan Sugar…….

Each and every one us of is capable of extraordinary things if we tap into our passion……..  A really inspiring example of this is Amy Purdy. Her passion was snowboarding, but aged 19 she lost both legs below the knee…… Many people would think that this was the end of the dream but Amy didn’t and went onto to win Gold medals as a pro snow boarder…….. her passion compelled her to see beyond her challenges and as she would say it made her ‘get creative!’

Passion in action is wonderful to watch. It translates into conviction and consummate belief in what you are doing and the difference that you are going to make in the world whether through a product, a service or an organisation. Passion helps us see obstacles differently, without it we tend to give up and the obstacles become roadblocks that mark the road as a dead end. Passion means we persevere, we take risks, we get resourceful, we don’t accept no for an answer and we keep striving to move forwards towards our goal. Passion takes courage, courage to overcome fear, courage to overcome setbacks..... To see a vision bigger than ourselves......and to keep moving towards it......

When we align our passions with our goals we can go far……. This is particular true in business.  Passionate people who believe in what they are doing convey an authenticity that can’t be faked….. A person’s passion can often inspire us. I often hear the phrase, ‘people buy from people’. 

So….how can you increase the chances of success in what you do? Be passionate about what you are doing. It will come across in your energy, your language and your body language and in business those who are passionate about what they do are much more likely to be successful than those who are doing something without heart……. What difference are you making?