Greetings my beloved friends. Today, we shall be discussing one of the hidden secrets of most successful people if not all that ever lived on the planet earth. If you care to know, that secret is passion. Passion is an uncontrollable force fueling the bloodstream of a determined being.  Without passion, it will be difficult to be successful in any productive venture. Passion can be likened to spiritual strength because it can’t be seen but it can be felt internally while power can be likened to physical strength.

According to Oprah Winfrey  “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” For me, I’m able to discipline myself to write because I have joy and fulfillment in writing. If I don’t have passion in writing and researching, I won’t be consistent in writing every week. My passion is not only limited in writing, I also have passion in leadership, youth empowerment, public speaking and serving humanity in any little way I can.  That’s the more reason I agree with Mia Ham when she said: “If you don’t love what you do, you won’t do it with much conviction or passion.”

During the course of this article, we shall be looking at how passion can influence and empower us to be successful; how we can discover our passion. We shall also be studying the relativity between passion and love; passion and money; passion and talent. We shall end the discussion with some great quotes that can keep you focus as you follow your heart by pursuing your passion. Since this article is about passion and power, it is pertinent to note that successful people know that passion is energy. It is what drives people to succeed. Without passion towards what you are doing, you do not have a WHY and when you do not have a WHY then HOW  is hard to find.

One of the most difficult thing in the world is knowing oneself. A lot of people struggle with this feeling and this has really affected their success both their personal and professional development. It’s an indisputable fact that identification of a problem is fifty percent solved and the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step in the right direction.  Discovering your passion is not really easy, but it can be easy if you know yourself.

It’s worthy to note that without passion it will be hard to succeed in any business or profession. Passion is more than ordinary strength, it is the energy that fuels the blood.  All the great people that have ever succeeded in life were passionate about their cause in addition to believing in themselves. It is because of this belief that made John Sculley the former CEO of Pepsi to leave his job to join Steve jobs who was still building his company. He believed in the works of Steve Jobs in addition to seeing how passionate Steve Jobs was in his product and today, the rest is history. If you have a passion, please don’t allow it to die.  According to Deepak Chopra “In all my research, the greatest leaders looked inward and were able to tell a good story with authenticity and passion.” Be informed, You are capable of changing the world with your dreams if you allow it to come through. According to the former president of South African Nelson Mandela “There is no passion to be found playing small–in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

The big question is how can passion influence your success? If you are passionate about a cause, you will not only spend quality time on the task, you will go the extra mile trying to know more about the cause. You can even volunteer or pay to attend a workshop, seminar or an event of interest. There’s a saying, people see people that participate. When you spend valuable time trying to know more about a cause, people see you and when an opportunity comes up, your name normally comes first to mind.  It was because of the passion Americans saw in  Ocasio-Cortez  that made her constituents to elect her as the youngest female in Congress on November 6, 2018.  Successful people know that you can’t do everything at the same time.  Just focus your energy on one particular task and believe your turning point will come through. In our contemporary society, the world is being governed by perception. People see what you do without you knowing and that’s why it’s very important you scrutinize what you share on social media, and the people and causes you identify with.

The next big question is how do you discover your passion? As mentioned earlier, knowing yourself is one of the most difficult tasks in life. A good way to know to know your passion is to ask yourself “If I have everything in the world, what will I do with my time”? Another way of knowing your passion is by discovering those things you like to do with relative ease. Your passion is that cause or work that makes you happy. You can easily do it any time of the day. Once you are passionate about any cause, you look beyond the pain. Let’s look at the relativeness of passion with other relevant words of interest.

Passion and Love: Passion is a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion, a compelling enthusiasm or desire for something. Love is all about what you feel to care about, that comes along with affection, desire, and pleasure. Passion is the energy that keeps us going, it gives us meaning, and happiness, and excitement, and anticipation. Passion is a powerful force in accomplishing anything you set your mind on.  Once you are passionate about something, you will love it.  According to Barbara Corcoran “You can’t fake passion.”

Another way of understanding passion is by looking at a lady in love. Any lady that truly loves a man will go all out to fight for the man. She will date and even marry him for true love as opposed to martial possession regardless of the pressure and circumstances facing her. There’s a saying that there are two people you can’t advise:  A rich man with money and a woman in love.  This is because a woman in love won’t understand any other language except the love language of the man in question which according to Gary Chapman can be words affirmation, physical touch, gift, time or services.

Passion and Money: One of the fastest ways of making money is by solving a problem.  If you don’t have money, it’s either because you are not solving problems for the right people or there’s a fundamental problem with your product. Once you provide the right services, opportunities will locate you. Many people have the mentality that following your passion might make you broke because it might take a long period of time to achieve success.  I strongly disagree with that school of thought. This group of people believes that one might be broke in the guise of being passionate about a cause. According to them, they would rather take whatever is available just to put food on the table.  I have a good news for them, handwork doesn’t kill, what kills is laziness. As an optimistic being, if you know yourself and know your product, all you need is consistency, perseverance, and patience. Trust me, It won’t be long for your breakthrough to come through. One of the great ways of knowing a passionate being is by looking at the time the individual spends on the product. A typical example is the lifestyle of an entrepreneur. They will grind and grind to the extent they might be mocked, they will get so many no’s and rejection, but the moment their product is accepted or endorsed the story changes. If you are in this category, my advise to you is hang in there. All you need is just one yes.  Steve Jobs was definitely right when he said “You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out”. Also according to Harriet Tubman “, Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

Passion And Talent: Passion is different from talent. If you are talented in doing something you really love, you may want to meditate and see if that’s where your passion lies. Talent is similar to gift with a slight difference. A creative mind can combine his or her talent, gift and skill to his/her passion to create a product or service. The idea is that the key to finding a great career is to identify your greatest interest – “your passion” – and pursue a career involving that interest. Moral: Just commit to following your passion, and you’ll have a great career. It is been said that when you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life. Isn’t it true that when you do what you love, you can make a real difference in people’s lives. With your passion, you can inspire others to find their dreams too. Passionate minds believe in paying now and playing later. They are never deterred in what they are facing. They strongly believe in what they have in their mind in addition to seeing the bigger picture. The Book of life States in 1 John 4:4 “ He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world.”

In conclusion, If you will agree with me, passion is the driving force behind success and happiness that allows us all to live better lives. It is because of passion that many people decide to go back to school to study a major that interest them; It is because of passion that a lot of people decide to have a Non-Government Organization to affect humanity and the list continues.  I end this article by leaving you with four great quotes to meditate namely:

“Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.”-Jon Bon Jovi.

“If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it.”-Wanda Skyes

As you spend time with passionate, successful people, success skills will start to manifest in your live too. Successful people understand that in order to achieve, they must love what they do. So find something that you love to do and you will be following your passion. Passion is the fastest way to massive success. British Statesman.

A person can succeed at almost anything they have unlimited enthusiasm- Charles M. Schwab.

Finally, what’s your passion and what are you passionate about? Will you agree with me that passion is greater than power?

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He can be reached via henrous@gmail.com