Igniting Leadership Passion: The Billion-Euro Question
If you have felt so far that your life lacked direction, it may well be that you are missing a life full of passion. Living with passion means waking up every day looking forward to facing new challenges and adventures, finding new solutions to problems. You make sure that details don't get you down because you are passionate about what truly matters.
When people become passionless or apathetic, their creativity decreases, and their capacity to deal with stress also diminishes. In other words, without passion, you won't have the energy to sustain your personal development; you won't be able to climb the hills of life without running on an empty tank.
Passion's Power: The Driving Force for Executive Success
Passion is a specific character trait that no one else but you can give yourself. Either you have it, or you don't. If you have it – great! Personal development is then all about directing your passion in the right direction – you want to do things that enhance your success and deepen your passion.
If you don't have passion, you'll have to cultivate it for yourself. It's not something someone can give you. The good news is that many authorities in the field of personal development have developed techniques to help you find, open up, and unleash your passion.
Passion: Good or Bad?
Remember that in the context of this article, I referred to passion as the fuel for your personal development. But what does that actually mean? I must admit that the word passion can evoke both negative and positive images. It's good to know that passion is a double-edged sword.
On one hand, passion can be seen as a fault. Take, for example, Shakespeare's Hamlet, who says: "Give me that man that is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him in my heart’s core, ay in my heart of hearts as I do thee." And we all know how Hamlet's fate ended: his passion was his noble fault.
Then you have the depressing remarks from Friedrich Nietzsche's book "Beyond Good and Evil," in which he says: "The will to overcome passion is ultimately nothing more than the will of another or several passions." Even the groundbreaking psychologist Carl Jung says in his book "Memories, Dreams, Reflections": "See passion as a fault." As he summarizes in a statement: "A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them."
It was probably the French philosopher Denis Diderot (1713 – 1794) who truly grasped the duality of passion when he said: 'One declaims endlessly against the passions; one imputes all of man's suffering to them. One forgets that they are also the source of his pleasures.'
Navigating the Dual Nature of Passion: A Closer Look
Passion without values, awareness, or discipline in life is the same as deactivated passion. It can lead to events that recklessly put others in danger, for example, in a marriage where one partner exits the relationship because of passion, a whole series of setbacks follow, it has the potential to influence countless lives: children, friends, family members. If passion is maintained in the trust of the marriage, and where partners are passionate about each other, then passion has the power to bring a couple to a better marriage.
While many philosophers and other prominent leaders have denounced passion, there are also others who recognize its good qualities. Author Ralph Waldo Emerson gave passion its positive charge. He believed that passion, even if it is a poor regulator, is a powerful driving force. And Georg Wilhelm Hegel, a philosopher during the Enlightenment, gave legitimacy to passion when he said: "Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion."
Passion Unleashed: The Transformative Impact on Personal Development
Yet passion goes beyond achieving a goal; it has the potential to fill every aspect of our lives with satisfaction. Earl Nightingale, widely considered the dean of personal development, said: "We are at our very best, and we are happiest when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we’ve established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile."
This is what I mean by passion: aligning your life so that your goals reflect your values, while passion is the driving force that helps you achieve what you desire most.
Changing your life is not easy. Let me clarify by saying that it is not always easy to make a positive change in your life. Life itself changes without us having to do anything. And then it pulls us into those changes. If life is a stormy sea, then we are nothing more than a shipwreck trying to stay afloat. If we build a ship to navigate the heaviest, most stormy waters of life, then it is up to us to steer the changes of life.
Jack Canfield, co-author of the successful Chicken Soup for the Soul series, says: passion makes the days fly by. It helps you achieve more in less time. It helps you make better decisions, and it also attracts others to you; they want to associate themselves with you and your success.
Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of the bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The Eighth Habit, describes passion as: "The fire, the desire, the power of conviction, and the drive that allows the discipline to achieve the vision. Passion comes up when unique human need overlaps human talent. If you don't have the passion that comes from finding and using your own voice to serve great goals, then the void is filled with uncertainty."
Sherry Lansing, a former actress and founder of the Sherry Lansing Foundation and widely regarded as the first female CEO of 20th Century Fox, one of the largest Hollywood film studios, once said in an interview: "Listen to your inner voice. Don't be afraid to try things, to step into something. But also don't be afraid to say 'this is not for me'; it's fine to change your mind. But please don't give up until you've found your passion."
Cultivating Passion: Strategies for Executive Leaders
You also have to be practical. You can't expect to be passionate about everything. After all, you also need to make a living. You have to support yourself and your family. And maybe your passion will never come from work. Maybe it comes from somewhere else. I think you don't have to stop working to explore other things to see if you're interested in them.
Maybe you're interested in people. Maybe a walk in nature. Or maybe in running marathons. The best theory we can discuss here about passion is that you may not find your passion right away. Maybe you won't discover it in a day or a week. And maybe you'll have to spend weeks or months defining your passion. And that's all fine. What's most important is that you start your journey to discover your passion.
Passion Beyond Goals: Enriching Every Facet of Executive Life
Define the facets of your life As cliché as it may sound, consider yourself as a rare and valuable gem. The rarest and most valuable gems have the most intricate facets. Think of a diamond, for example. You have those facets too. Your life has several facets.
Areas of focus, aspects of development you want to cultivate while realizing your highest potential. In this program, we will talk about the main facets you will have in your life:
Your family, like your partner, should be high on the list.
This is because modern life has become more complex in various ways, and the financial aspect is a significant part of it.
These are all closely connected to another facet of your life, and that is your material needs. This can be anything; from the car you drive to the clothes you wear.
Following that, many people have certain things they do for recreation. Maybe you love camping or skiing, or perhaps you prefer building model airplanes. While spending time with friends may seem like a form of recreation, the aspect of friendship is much more than that. It also means cultivating intimate and profound friendships that can last a lifetime. This facet, therefore, encompasses all your interpersonal relationships.
Next, you have your spiritual aspects. Many people believe in a higher power, and most feel drawn to express that through religion, meditation, prayers, or other forms of contemplation. If religion insists on daily activities and rituals, it becomes a significant part of life.
Following that, many people feel they want to give back to their community. They volunteer or engage in charitable work. This is an important aspect of life, providing space for personal development.
Finally, physical health is a key aspect of life. Your health contributes significantly to the quality of your life. The stronger your physical health, the greater your resilience, perseverance, and drive to achieve more success in all other aspects of your life.
I've briefly outlined these facets of your life. What follows is that you consider and contemplate these facets when you start unlocking your passion. It's good if your passion is reflected in every facet of your life.
Defining Life's Facets: Blueprint for Leadership Passion
The Power of Meditation
Let's look at different ways to connect with your passion. One of the ways is through creative visualization. Creative visualization lies at the core of effective self-discovery.
A great way to visualize your passion is by relaxing and meditating. Many people know how to relax best, but few have truly taken the time to meditate. To start the process, take five minutes to truly relax every muscle in your body. To do this, focus your mind on each muscle group, from your toes to the top of your head. As you begin to relax, breathe deeper and focus on your breath. Let each breath go deeper. This is important as it slows down the pace of your inhaling and exhaling.
As your breathing becomes slower and more rhythmic, and feels more natural, begin to clear your mind. Focus only on your breathing and relaxation. Rid your mind of distractions and irrelevant matters.
Practice this technique in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Your mind is most open to these activities in the morning and evening, and doing it in the afternoon allows your body and mind to recharge.
Meditation is a more specialized form of relaxation. In this busy world where stress is at every corner, there is increasingly more to be said for meditation. With meditation, you relax and clarify your thoughts. Often, you also focus on solving a problem; it's as if you're looking through a challenge or a creative block.
Creative Visualization: Unleashing Your Passionate Potential
Creative Visualization
The author of the book Creative Visualization was a leading expert in the art of intention and visualization to manifest positive things. She describes our lives as having three levels: being, doing, and having.
According to the author, 'being' is the basic experience of life and consciousness. It is the experience you have in deep meditation, the experience of being fully and completely relaxed in your own skin.
'Doing' represents movement and activities. It stems from the natural creative energy that flows through everything and is the source of our vitality.
'Having' is the state of relating to other people and things in the universe. It is the ability to accept people and things into our lives and be okay with being in the same space with them.
People often try to live their lives backward. They try to have more stuff or more money so they can do more of what they want, so they will be happier. But it actually works the other way around: you must first be who you truly are and then do what you truly need to do to have what you truly want to have.
Author Joe Vitale also says that 'having' or havingness is a significant reason why we don't attract what we most want in life. According to him, there are different levels of havingness; feeling worthy of receiving.
"If we are not open to the possibility and increase our havingness, we won't be able to receive more than we are currently receiving."
The Billion-Euro Mindset: Embracing Abundance in Leadership
The €1,000,000,000 Question
Another way to connect with your passion is by asking yourself the €1 billion question. Most people will ask themselves the million-Euro question, but there are many who cannot see the possibility in that amount. A 'Million Euro Mind' is something many people have but cannot see or focus on that dream because they cannot adopt a limitless mindset.
Therefore, I recommend starting with the 1 billion-Euro question. Just over 2000 people have a billion euros or more. This number conjures up totally different images than a million-Euro question.
Let's go through the process. The question is very simple. You simply ask yourself:
What would I do with one billion euros?
If you had one billion euros, and it was just handed to you, what would you do with your time? Would you do things differently?
Let's apply this to several different facets of your life.
If you had one billion euros, would you have the same friends? Would you be in the same social circles? Or would you break free from that and engage in something else?
If you had one billion euros, would you spend more or less time with your family? How would you spend time with your family differently? If you had one billion euros, would you still work? Would you quit your job? Would you start a business? Would you shape an invention that has been in
The financial side is your daily financial affairs.
This is because modern life has become more complex in various ways, and the financial aspect is a significant part of it.
These are all closely connected to another facet of your life, and that is your material needs. This can be anything; from the car you drive to the clothes you wear.
Following that, many people have certain things they do for recreation. Maybe you love camping or skiing, or perhaps you prefer building model airplanes. While spending time with friends may seem like a form of recreation, the aspect of friendship is much more than that. It also means cultivating intimate and profound friendships that can last a lifetime. This facet, therefore, encompasses all your interpersonal relationships.
Next, you have your spiritual aspects. Many people believe in a higher power, and most feel drawn to express that through religion, meditation, prayers, or other forms of contemplation. If religion insists on daily activities and rituals, it becomes a significant part of life.
Following that, many people feel they want to give back to their community. They volunteer or engage in charitable work. This is an important aspect of life, providing space for personal development.
Finally, physical health is a key aspect of life. Your health contributes significantly to the quality of your life. The stronger your physical health, the greater your resilience, perseverance, and drive to achieve more success in all other aspects of your life.
I've briefly outlined these facets of your life. What follows is that you consider and contemplate these facets when you start unlocking your passion. It's good if your passion is reflected in every facet of your life.
The Power of Meditation Let's look at different ways to connect with your passion. One of the ways is through creative visualization. Creative visualization lies at the core of effective self-discovery.
A great way to visualize your passion is by relaxing and meditating. Many people know how to relax best, but few have truly taken the time to meditate. To start the process, take five minutes to truly relax every muscle in your body. To do this, focus your mind on each muscle group, from your toes to the top of your head. As you begin to relax, breathe deeper and focus on your breath. Let each breath go deeper. This is important as it slows down the pace of your inhaling and exhaling.
As your breathing becomes slower and more rhythmic, and feels more natural, begin to clear your mind. Focus only on your breathing and relaxation. Rid your mind of distractions and irrelevant matters.
Practice this technique in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Your mind is most open to these activities in the morning and evening, and doing it in the afternoon allows your body and mind to recharge.
Meditation is a more specialized form of relaxation. In this busy world where stress is at every corner, there is increasingly more to be said for meditation. With meditation, you relax and clarify your thoughts. Often, you also focus on solving a problem; it's as if you're looking through a challenge or a creative block.
Creative Visualization The author of the book Creative Visualization was a leading expert in the art of intention and visualization to manifest positive things. She describes our lives as having three levels: being, doing, and having.
According to the author, 'being' is the basic experience of life and consciousness. It is the experience you have in deep meditation, the experience of being fully and completely relaxed in your own skin.
'Doing' represents movement and activities. It stems from the natural creative energy that flows through everything and is the source of our vitality.
'Having' is the state of relating to other people and things in the universe. It is the ability to accept people and things into our lives and be okay with being in the same space with them.
People often try to live their lives backward. They try to have more stuff or more money so they can do more of what they want, so they will be happier. But it actually works the other way around: you must first be who you truly are and then do what you truly need to do to have what you truly want to have.
Author Joe Vitale also says that 'having' or havingness is a significant reason why we don't attract what we most want in life. According to him, there are different levels of havingness; feeling worthy of receiving.
"If we are not open to the possibility and increase our havingness, we won't be able to receive more than we are currently receiving."
The €1,000,000,000 Question Another way to connect with your passion is by asking yourself the €1 billion question. Most people will ask themselves the million-Euro question, but there are many who cannot see the possibility in that amount. A 'Million Euro Mind' is something many people have but cannot see or focus on that dream because they cannot adopt a limitless mindset.
Therefore, I recommend starting with the 1 billion-Euro question. Just over 2000 people have a billion euros or more. This number conjures up totally different images than a million-Euro question.
Let's go through the process. The question is very simple. You simply ask yourself:
What would I do with one billion euros?
If you had one billion euros, and it was just handed to you, what would you do with your time? Would you do things differently?
Let's apply this to several different facets of your life.
If you had one billion euros, would you have the same friends? Would you be in the same social circles? Or would you break free from that and engage in something else?
If you had one billion euros, would you spend more or less time with your family? How would you spend time with your family differently? If you had one billion euros, would you still work? Would you quit your job? Would you start a business? Would you shape an invention that has been in your mind for years but never had the confidence to execute? If you had one billion euros, would you commit to a charity or initiative? Is there a charity where you would dedicate a significant portion of your free time? Would you establish a charity or foundation for something that has always been close to your heart?
If you had one billion euros, would you visit places you've always wanted to see? If yes, which places would those be, and why would you want to see those specific places? Is it for history, culture, or language? If you had one billion euros, would you go back to school and become a professional student? What kind of courses would you take, and why are they most interesting to you?
Create an Abundance Mentality A part of the billion-Euro question is about the mentality of abundance. Stephen Covey introduced the term 'abundance mentality' or 'abundance mindset,' specifically as a business concept, where you believe there are enough resources to share success with others. People working with an abundance mentality in business often work as a team because they believe there is enough success and reward for everyone.
The opposite is the scarcity mentality, where people believe there is only a certain amount of money to be earned, only a number of opportunities and promotions. When people operate from this mindset, they dig a pit for others and try to be better off than their colleagues by working smarter, faster, and better.
This mentality can hinder you from reaching your highest level of personal development. If you act from scarcity, you will fear change because you are often afraid that difficulty and challenge will prevent you from being happy. You hold onto the status quo.
The scarcity mentality greatly hinders attracting success. You are so focused on limiting factors that you don't see new opportunities. Your creativity diminishes because you use the way you think in such limited possibilities, leaving you with no room to maneuver.
Since the introduction of this concept, several books have been published describing it. It is highly applicable to the world of personal development. If you have a block on your creativity, I recommend the book "Abundance for Beginners." Author Ellen Pierson describes abundance as having what you desire in life; good things and good experiences. Abundance is freedom. Abundance is fun. Abundance is satisfaction. Life is filled with abundance. More than you need, more than you can use, and more than you can want. Abundance means experiencing all the good in life. Abundance is your birthright, a fundamental right.
Leading with Passion, Inspiring a Billion-Dollar Impact
Summary
With this, I challenge you to explore the billion-Euro question in depth. Keep a notebook handy and start brainstorming all the things you are passionate about. Apply this to all facets of your life: your family, your partner, your finances, your material needs, your recreational activities, your friendships, your spirituality or religion-related matters, your volunteer work, and your physical health.
When you can grab these ideas and allow yourself to be creative, to use creative visualization and meditation, then you begin to zoom in on your fire that you can use as fuel for your personal growth.
I hope this article has helped you, and I invite you to leave a comment below about your thoughts or experiences regarding passion. Also, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll definitely get back to you.
To your success,
Robert
