Building a Thriving High Potential Growth Business – it starts with passion and desire

This recession has been tough and the recovery is progressing very slowly.  This turbulence that we have experienced over the last 18 months has led to many struggles and challenges in all sectors of the economy.  These struggles and challenges have come in waves.  Your sector and position in that sector determined which wave felt the strongest to you.  These waves will continue during the recovery and you need to better position yourself to experience them as small waves, and not tsunamis.

It is a great time to build or re-build a thriving high potential growth business.  The path for success with the high potential growth business starts with passion and desire.  You might have succeeded at some level, prior to this past recession, without strong passion and desire for your career or particular business.  However, the odds of real success now without them are drastically reduced.

In our interactions with individuals and organizations, we see two approaches to dealing with the turbulence and uncertainty.  The first and more common approach by BOTH individuals and organizations is the fear-based approach.  Individuals and organizations fear losing their current status or situation and thus reluctantly make any changes and/or decisions to build a better path forward.  The second and less common approach is to accept that turbulence and uncertainty are a greater part of our current reality.  Those individuals and organization that have this acceptance then see the opportunity – they can align their life, their work, and their organization more closely with their passions and burning desires.

Life should be fun.  It can be fun no matter the general circumstances.  That does not mean that life will be easy.  The seeming ease of success is experienced on the backside, not the front-side, of the mountain you climb!  The climb on the front-side of your mountain can be short, fun, and rewarding or it can be a long death march.  The absence or presence of passion will determine how you perceive that climb.

“You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you. If you don’t have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing, you’ll stop at the first giant hurdle.“
– George Lucas, Film Director and Producer

If you don’t pursue an opportunity that is in line with your personal passions, odds are you will have a tough time during your tough times.  The fact is, there is almost always someone, who is smarter, wealthier, better connected…and the only differentiator you may have is your willingness to work hard.  If you are working hard at something you are passionate about – it won’t feel like work, it won’t feel as difficult, and it will be much more fun!

When you have this perspective to start, you can translate your passion into a burning desire.  There is a subtle but important difference between passion and burning desire.  Passion is a powerful emotion that can be generated through one’s own initiative and efforts in something or it can be generated through other people’s initiative and efforts.  Just take a look at all the passion generated on a football Saturday at the Alabama, Texas, Florida, Boise State, Ohio State, etc… football stadiums during football season.  Burning desire must come from within and it can’t help but activate the initiative and efforts from those within which it resides.

“Back of all this demand for new and better things, there is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it…Remember that all who succeed in life get off to a bad start, and pass through many heartbreaking struggles before they ‘arrive.’  The turning point in the lives of those who succeed usually comes at the moment of some crisis, and through which they are introduced to their ‘other selves.’”
– Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich

There is no better time to align or re-align your life with your passions and burning desires.  Take this opportunity and experience the benefits the rest of your life!

© Copyright 2010 Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D. and Rich Langdale