Shelly Rachanow comes from a long line of butt-kicking women.  She is the author of If Women Ran the World, Sh*t Would Get Done and What Would You Do If YOU Ran the World?, two books that celebrate all the amazing things women do.  Her mission is to inspire and empower women around the world to recognize how fabulous they are.   She joins our radio show today at 5pm PST.  We welcome your input, questions, and comments by dialing in to (347) 205-9038.  .  She can be reached at www.ifwomenrantheworld.com.

SHELLY’S PASSION Q&A

SO: What’s your definition of “passion”?

I think passion is that sense of aliveness we experience when we give ourselves permission to pursue our dreams.  I know I feel the most passionate when I am doing what I love and living how I want to live.  For me, it’s the opposite of that stifling feeling I experience when I’m trying to please others at the expense of what’s really important to me.

SO:  What are your biggest passions for serving others, and how are you expressing them (also include hobbies and volunteering)?

One of my favorite quotes is Eleanor Roosevelt’s, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”  My dream was always to be an author who writes books that inspire people and help them recognize that anything is possible, which is what books have always done for me (reading is one of my biggest hobbies).  It’s really through my writing and speaking engagements that I’m expressing my passion and serving others.

SO:  Your biggest challenge(s) in leaping into your passions for serving others, and how you have addressed them?

I originally worked as an attorney, but I was really unhappy in that profession.  A few years back, after a friend in his late twenties died instantly of a heart attack, I realized I didn’t want to live the rest of my life doing something I didn’t love.  That’s what gave me the courage to pursue my dream.  I made a promise to myself that I would never again live with any regrets or what if’s, and once I made that decision, there was no stopping me!

SO: Your experience of “prosperity,” as you define it, in making the leap?

I see prosperity as being able to do what you want to do when you want to do it. Giving myself permission to pursue my dream of writing books has helped me be able to do just that.  I’m no longer slaving away at a job I dislike.  Instead, I wake up everyday excited about the projects I’ve chosen to work on.

SO: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in making the leap?

To never settle for less than what I really want.  That I am worthy and deserving of the life I want to live.

SO: What’s your support system look like; how did you create it?

Richard Bach once said, “Argue for your limitations and sure enough they’re yours.”  I’ve made a point to surround myself with friends and family who remind me that I can do anything I choose, and who never let me tell myself otherwise.

SO: What wisdom do you have for someone who’s scared/discouraged about their own leap?

Sometimes a fresh start really can be the start of something amazing.  You don’t have to make major changes all at once if you’re not ready.  Just be willing to take that first step.  It’s the only way you can get somewhere new!

SO:  What’s your next big milestone?

Beginning my next book!

Passioneering Tip #11

“I would say take the plunge! You have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain. Ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen?”

Passioneer™ Dr. LaVerne Adams

Quote

“If we’re growing, we are always going to be out of our comfort zone.”

John Maxwell

Weekly Passion Challenge

Take at least three baby steps out of your comfort zone this week.  Bonus points for requesting support from someone else.

*****************

Enjoy and Happy Passioneering!

I’ve always told myself that I would rather die instantaneously in a head-on collision with a Mack truck than deteriorate slowly and painfully by an illness like cancer (as my father did).  Then why did I spend most of my life (until 2008) in sap-sucking j.o.b.s. in Corporate America?  Did I know better?  Perhaps.  Did I still blindly stumble around in a chamber of gaseous mediocrity?  Absolutely.  Honestly, the “why?” doesn’t really matter at all.  What matters is that I finally stopped the insanity.

Now I could spend thousands of dollars for a great shrink who could shed some light on my childhood wounds, issues, problems, barriers, blockages, ego development, rejection, or other “baggage” from my past.  I could also blame my father who died a relatively young man at the age of 67 from esophageal cancer, one of the worst ways to go.  What really killed him were years of resignation, cynicism and playing small as a Department of Energy bureaucrat.  Every day, he awoke at 5:15 am, left the house by 7:00 via his carpool, headed to downtown Washington D.C, returned by 6:15 pm, ate supper, watched a few hours of TV sitcoms, and then went to bed by 9 pm.    He did this every weekday for over 20 years.  Government Ground Hog Day.  Granted, he did obtain a senior DOE muckety-muck designation, did provide his family with more than we needed (thank you Dad!), and did stay married to my mother for over 30 years (a feat unto itself).

Earlier in his life, he co-founded an aeronautical engineering start-up, invented a satellite antenna, and was a freelance photographer (“took pictures of naked women,” as my mother puts it).  If he were alive today, he would tell you that his familial sacrifices were well worth it.  Yet, I have to believe that he would have been happier, if less financially secure, had he remained an entrepreneur and enjoyed more of his favorite hobbies.  Instead, he allowed his passions to be sucked Sahara-dry in order to fulfill his commitments to others.  While I’m extremely grateful to him for my being on this planet and for all that he shared, I would have traded middle-class America for penny-pinching Top Ramen-hood any day, if it meant that he could have fulfilled his own dreams.  For his many years of steady-eddy government service, my father never got a gold watch, plaque, or even a visit from one of his colleagues as he lay dying in the hospital.  Not one of them came to his funeral.

You would think that, after my father’s death, I would have learned to live in unlimited passions and possibilities, yes?   Not!  Instead, I numbly retraced my father’s footsteps, albeit in a different industry (financial services).  For nearly 15 years, I leaped from one corporate hamster wheel to another, reaching for juicier tidbits each time:  a bigger paycheck here, a fancier title there.  Throughout, I knew darn well that I wasn’t making a real contribution to the world, let alone leaving a legacy, and I was feigning passion like a rotten actress.

Fast forward to 2008:  I was blessed by a well-needed and expected severance from a cushy, comfortable job at Washington Mutual, as it belly flopped into bankruptcy: my jailbreak from cubicle nation into entrepreneurship as a business coach and founder of this Passions and Possibilities Project.  Now, with integrity and an authentic voice, I can honestly say that I’m having a blast and making a real difference in the lives of others, as they unleash their own passions!  The facade of pretending to love the mundane has vanished, and there’s a resurgence of vibrancy and enthusiasm that laid dormant for way too long.

So, what did I glean from my father’s life and his death?  Far more than one blog can hold, AND below are three points to consider on your own journey:

1) Don’t settle for dispassion – it’s poison in your veins.   Even rats get used to rat poison, if it seeps into their bloodstream slowly enough.  You’re meant to shine in this world, to sing, to dance, and to rejoice every day.  If you’re not, look around. Either you’re choosing the life that you want to live, or others are choosing it for you.  It’s really that simple.

2) The acorn can fall far from the tree, if it sprouts wings. You don’t have to be bound and shackled by the stories of your parents, grandparents, family trees, or other genealogy crap.   If you don’t like the stories that have come before, rewrite your story going forward.  You’re the author of your life.

3)  There is absolutely nothing worth sacrificing your own bliss for. Period.   So please stop pretending to love what you don’t.  Quit rationalizing a mediocre life that doesn’t honor who you really are.  The resentment will build and build until….pop!

So get very clear and very real about what you love NOW, before it’s too late.

Sign up for our weekly Passioneering Tips, share your own Passioneer story or be a guest blogger!

Happy Passioneering!

At 3:12 last Thursday morning,  I woke up in a sweaty panic attack.  Really.  I saw myself running out of money, living on the streets, and desperately trying to find a home for my two senior dogs, Max and Tasha.  While the reality is very different - I DO have everything I need and more to succeed, I still had the attack.   My stomach in a vice, my mind racing, I wondered “How can I coach others to leap fully into their passions, if I still get so afraid at times?”

What was my fear about?  It is longstanding:  the fear of the unknown, the fear of change, and the fear of staking a claim in a happiness zone, instead of a comfort zone.  Good ole comfort zones, yuck!  Up until 2008′s exodus from Corporate America, I lived a veneered life of sincere inauthenticity.  You know, that resigned, nauseating complacency where you pretend to be “just fine,” “OK,” “good,” or “not so bad,” with your life, and that’s just about it.  Sure, I had passionate moments of explosive bliss here and there, but somehow I had lulled myself into believing that I was expressing infinite possibilities.  Not!  For years I convinced myself, and tried to sway others, that my mediocre joy was “enough.” Not even close!   For me, true happiness finally emerged when I shattered the veneer, clarifed my passions, and told the truth about my lack of commitment to expressing them.  Can you relate?  

After decades of self-deceit, I am now plugging into the maximum kilowatts of possibilities and committed to unleashing them in myself and others.  Let ‘em rip!  When I’m playing full out in joy, delight, love, and connection, miracles crawl from the woodwork (think cockroaches: “for each one that you see, there are hundreds more”).  Last week I interviewed Dr. Joon Yun on our Blog Talk radio show, The Passions and Possibilities Project, who reminds us that the golden key is to “fall madly in love with the world.”  That is, to discover what you adore, where you lose yourself completely, where time stands still, and you forget everything else. Barbara DeAngelis calls them “real moments”.   When was the last time that you created a real moment for yourself?  For someone else?  What did you embrace or release to allow it to unfold?  After all, real moments are available to everyone, anytime and anywhere.  Dr. Yun shares a thought-provoking approach to creating real moments on a daily basis:  he leaves his schedule empty at the start of each day so that he’s available to follow inspirations as they arise.   Wow!  For me, an appointment-free Google calendar is a vast, uncharted, terrifying terrain.  Yet, the idea deeply compels:  Perhaps in focusing my time on unleashing infinite possibilities, I wouldn’t worry so much about getting my “to do” list done.  Panic attacks be gone!  Now, that is true power. 

Passion Challenge #1:  Create at least one hour of unscheduled time today where you can do or be whatever inspires you.  Share with us what you discover! 

Happy Pasioneering, Sue Zeal

Whitney Washington is a student attending Full Sail University, studying Entertainment Business.   She started her company, Puzzle Piece Promotions,  4 months ago for a project for school, and is talented videographer. 

Check out her archived radio interview with us on Wednesday, March 31st, 5pm PST.

Thanks Whitney, and Happy Passioneering!

They say that when you do what you love, the rest follows.  Our hundreds of interviews with those who have leaped fully and prosperously into their passions (aka “Passioneers”) attest to this quote.  Each week, we summarize the insights and wisdom of these Passioneers into tips, quotes, and affirmations, that you can receive weekly…all spam-free, simple and self-empowering. 

If you or someone you know would like these weekly tips, please sign up via this Constant Contact link or by emailing us at passioneers AT yahoo.com.  Below is our fifth Passioneering Tip for 2010, and we’ll be sharing these every week to subscribers on Tuesday mornings.  Happy Passioneering!

Passioneering Tip #5

 …It is not as scary as it appears. You’ll plan, but at some point you need to make a leap and have faith in yourself and your abilities to make your dreams come true. I always felt that if someone else did it, I can do it too.

 ~Passioneer Brian Peters

Founder, NoDebtTravel.com

Quote

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.

~ G. Patton

Affirmation

This week, I make time to plan my upcoming steps…AND I keep taking the necessary leaps, boldly and courageously.

The first thing that I ask a client who wants to create an extraordinary life is “What’s your purpose? That is, why are you here on this planet?”   Some of them will tell me that they’re here to make a difference, to love, to be a healing force, or to help others.  Most of them simply don’t know.  Here’s the thing – if you aren’t sure why you’re here and where you’re going, you’re never going to create an amazing life….plain and simple.   Without a vision for your life, it’s like driving with your eyes closed:  you’re never sure if and when you’ll arrive at your destination and you’re certainly going to get banged up along the way. 

Nobody’s got the key to why you are here, except you.  Sure, some of your loved ones may think that they know where you should be heading and what’s best for you.   You’ll get plenty of feedback on what you should be, especially from mass media.   You’re probably already getting way too many messages from TV, the movies, radio, internet, magazines, etc.  AHHHH – thanks, but no thanks!

If you really want to tap into your life’s purpose, it’s very very simple, if not easy: think about what you love to do most.  Your passions point to your purpose and are its rocket fuel.   Ask yourself, “What do I love to do so much that I lose track of time…literally lose myself?”  Most people can come up with at least one or two areas.   If you’re stuck, try a technique that Ellen Whitehurst, founder of The Empowered Lifestyle, suggests:  remember what you loved to do as a child.  Me?  I loved reading, writing, and listening to my friends.  These passions underlay my purpose of being an inspirational coach.

Your purpose is the key to a fulfilling life.  So it’s worth your investing at least one hour a week to reflect upon and clarify it.  Try journaling about it, using the visioning tool that I learned from Rev. Michael Beckwith:  Ask yourself these kinds of questions:  “What’s the highest and best for my life?  What does it look like, feel like, sound like, smell like, even taste like?”  Take time to allow the answers to come forth, freely and uncensored.   Consider forming a visioning team that conducts this inquiry as a group.  This is powerful stuff!

One of my clients confidently told me that she certainly did have a vision for her life, thank you very much!   “Can you describe it?” I asked.   She actually could not, except to say that it involves her having more time and money.  I suggested that she purchase a journal and spend at least one hour each week describing her higher purpose.   Vision boards and treasure mapping are other tools to help clarify your purpose. 

These resources, coupled with the many many excellent books, videos, movies, and articles, leave you with absolutely….no valid excuses to not clarify what you want to create in your life.  It’s been said that the people perish without a vision (Proverbs).  You may not die without a vision, but here’s what I do know – your life will be much fuller and satisfying when you get clear on your purpose and when you keep it front and center.

Here are some of my favorite books on the subject:

Marsha Sinetar’s Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow:  Discovering Your Right Livelihood

Bob Griffith’s Do What You Love for the Rest of Your Life

Barbara Sher’s Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Love

Henriette Anne Klauser’s Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want And Getting It

Your 3-part challenge for this month: 

• Create a 1-2 sentence summary of your life’s vision. 
• Spend 1 hour each week creatively expressing this vision (e.g., journaling, painting, singing, etc.).
• Share your vision with at least 3 people whom you trust.

Brian Peters is a respected and well-known travel blogger who keeps
travelers informed about the least expensive ways to travel around the
world.  He is the author of the e-book, No Debt World Travel: The Ultimate Guide to Traveling Around the World – Even in an Economic Downturn. Peters’ blog, NoDebtWorldTravel.com, was recently recognized by BootsNAll Travel as one of the “Best Round-the-World Travel Blogs”
for 2009.  We interviewed him earlier this month: check out what he has to say about expressing his Passions!

SO: What’s your definition of “passion”?  

Passion is what you THINK about day and night, an idea or concept that drives you forward, inspires you, gives you hope.

 Passion is when you would do ANYTHING to have a particular action or objective achieved.

 SO: What are your biggest passions for serving others, and how are you expressing them (also include hobbies and volunteering)?  

After losing my job, I decided to travel around the world. When I got back I had so many questions from friends and family about how to do it, I decided to put it into an e-book. Then I decided to add audio and video to help those who learn in different ways.

 Guest blogging, conducting interviews and other ways of getting the message out that travel does not have to be expensive and it is not just for ‘other people.’ People sometimes have such a inferior feeling of themselves compared to other people. We need to help each other break out of our mostly self imposed PRISONS by encouraging others and showing our successes to prove it can be done.

SO: Your biggest challenge(s) in leaping into your passions for serving others, and how you have addressed them?  

The biggest problem is passion may not immediately show a way to translate into putting food in your mouth and keeping a roof over your head. Pursuing your passion often means you need to leave a large organization to focus specifically on your passion.

 Let’s be clear. There is no security when you’re working for someone else, whether it is a large corporation or a private family run business.

 Everyone wonders, “How can I make money doing this?” Because as much as we love our passions, you’ve got to eat. The ideal life situation would be to make money from what we love.

SO: Your experience of “prosperity,” as you define it, in making the leap? 

The prosperity of time and opportunity. I lost my job and received a severance package. As opposed to picking up the want ads, I decided to pick up a plane ticket. I didn’t know when I would get another chance like this.

 At that moment that was prosperity. I felt like the richest man in the world. I had the time AND the opportunity to fulfill a life long dream.

 SO: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in making the leap?

That it is not as scary as it appears. You’ll plan but at some point you need to make a leap and have faith in yourself and your abilities to make your dreams come true. I always felt that if someone else did it, I can do it too.

 The other thing is that when you make a leap, other opportunities appear. Because you are stretching yourself, meeting new people, taking on new skills and projects, a whole new universe of OPTIONS becomes yours. Now you can be proactive, choosing what you want, as opposed to being reactive and letting the world exert its force on you.

SO: What’s your support system look like; how did you create it?

First my family is my most immediate support system. Without their love and encouragement I could have never done any of this.

 The other important support system are the other travel bloggers and entrepreneurs doing the same things I am doing. Having that in common with other people keeps me motivated and encourages me to move forward. Writing a book and being a blogger means I work by myself. But I can connect with people anytime and all over the world with the use of the Internet. Technology like Twitter, Facebook, email and Skype mean I don’t have to be alone unless I want to be alone.

 Communities of like-minded people are online everywhere, can encourage, support and keep you accountable. I searched out these groups and became a contributing member. What I contributed I have received in turn.

SO: What wisdom do you have for someone who’s scared/discouraged about their own leap?

Every day you are dying!

Every day you are dying!

It’s morbid, but it is the truth. Every day we are all approaching the end of our lives. What will you regret? What will you wished you had done? Most people never said, “I wish I had worked in the office more.”

Understand that for anything we want to do or learn, there is a website, magazine, book, e-book, blog, podcast, online class or school for whatever we want to learn. The only thing that holds us back is our own fears. Our personal prisons, as I like to call them.

 SO: What’s your next big milestone?

 My next big milestone is releasing my own e-book package on round the world travel. After that, creating income so that I can travel indefinitely or live anywhere I want in the world without being tied to a particular location

 Thanks and Happy Passioneering Brian!

Making a Difference: The Role of Realism, Perseverance and Requiring Less

By Donna W. Hill

http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885

Song written by Donna about Passions (Click here)

Making a difference means challenging assumptions and expectations. To endure while bucking the tide requires Realism, perseverance and the ability to thrive with less support than others require.

Realism is embracing the negative and the positive. If we wear rose-colored glasses, we miss the things that are calling out for change, the places where we can truly make a difference. If we only see those places of lack, we miss the foundations upon which change can and must be made.

My quest is to challenge assumptions about what it means to be blind. Decades of technological innovation have enabled some blind people to excel in careers never dreamed possible like engineering, chemistry and auto mechanics. Nonetheless, unemployment remains stuck at seventy percent, Braille literacy has fallen to ten percent and society seems comfortable supporting most blind adults through government programs.

My weapon in the struggle is my ability to write about the people in the trenches who are slugging it out against low expectations and apathy. I challenge myself to be a better writer and a better editor.

The odds are against making much progress. Nonetheless, I proceed, because I know that there are many talented blind Americans who want to contribute to society and are turned away before being given a fair chance or an equal education.

I also know that Braille has inestimable value. I was one of those legally blind kids who was supposed to act sighted, even though it meant I read so slowly, that, had I wanted to finish my homework, I would have had time for nothing else., I had constant headaches from having to get so close to the book. Audio learning, which I began in college, is not literacy. Listening was what humans did before the written word. It took decades to repair the holes in my education.

When I began this journey several years ago, I would have never dreamed that the New York Times would feature a blind Wall Street executive calling for Braille’s abolishment! Nonetheless, it happened. Who am I to argue with someone who has achieved so much using no Braille whatsoever? Her secret is that she has assistants to read to her and to take her dictations and put them into English. Most of us don’t have funding for such luxuries, and many who do bristle at the thought of being so dependent. Nonetheless, that article was a springboard for discussions among blind people as well as for me to use in my writing.

If I don’t stay grounded in reality, I could easily fall into the trap of believing that my efforts are pointless. In order to persevere, to continue to be an advocate at the highest level of my abilities, I must set aside my need for immediate gratification. Certainly, things happen that encourage me, and people express their appreciation. I admit that I need that. I know, however, that I am capable of proceeding with a lower than average amount of re enforcement

Last week, we spotlighted 16 tips from our Passioneer(tm) interviews about how to leap fully into what you love, as you serve others in the world.  This week, we’re continuing to share tips from our bold, talented interviewees, with the intention to inspire others who may be scared or discouraged about their own leap. 

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. 

• Nearly all of our Passioneers cited courage as a critical element for leaping fully into what they love.  For them, courage is NOT the absence of fear, but rather the moving forward REGARDLESS of fear.  What a huge difference!  A great book on this topic by Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.
• Passioneers have a relationship with their challenges of “Bring it on!”   They welcome challenges as opportunities to deflate their egos, toughen their skin, AND open their hearts.  Rather than avoid challenges, Passioneers embrace them fully.
• Making the courageous leap into your passions requires a strong faith – knowing that you are supported by a giving, abundant Universe.  Remember that the Universe (or whatever you call your higher power) IS on your side, even when it doesn’t seem like it.
• The Passioneers who we interviewed are bulldogs when it comes to perseverence:  they do not give up and are fiercely tenacious in moving forward regardless of their circumstances.  Vince Lombardi said, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win!” (Other Lombardi quotes)
• Successes are always right around the corner, even if you cannot see or believe them yet.   

It Takes a Village to Raise a Passioneer.

• The concept of rugged individualism is dead when it comes to unleashing your passions.   If you think that you have to go it alone, think again.  Passioneer Vitamin C = Collaboration, connection, cooperation, and community. Your booster shot for thriving!
• The most successful Passioneers create powerful support networks that call them into greatness, challenge their comfort zones, and believe in them through thick and thin.  So, go build an “A Team” of cheerleaders who believe in you 200%, when no one else will.  The first step to building your team is to ASK.  The second step?  Be ready to RECEIVE!
• Passioneers also proactively build a “B” team of cheerleaders who they actively recruit to their A team.  They have a positive state of mind to attract and grow strong supporters.
• Build upon your strengths, rather than struggle to strengthen your weaknesses.  Delegate to experts in areas which are not your strengths or your passions.
• Stop renting out mental real estate to naysayers.  The more that you resist the “dream dashers,” the more that they will persist.  What you resist persists.  A great video on this topic.

Do What You Love, Not Just What You’re Good At.

• How do you know if you are following your true passions?  When in doubt, ask yourself, could I do and be this for the rest of my life..and not get paid?  If your answer is  unequivocally “yes,” then you are on the right track.  Or try the Passion Test.  Marsha Sinetar’s book, Do What You Love; the Money Will Follow, is excellent.
• Your passions point to your purpose – that is, why you’re on the planet at this time.  Pay attention to them and give them space in your life.
• Passion = contagion.   When you are on fire about something in your life, you are contagious and unstoppable. 
• Some Passioneers unleash one passion, solely and fully, during their life, while others are “serial Passioneers,” who pursue many different ones.  There is no right or wrong path to pursue your passion. 

Happy Passioneering!

During this year, we have interviewed over 200 bold, talented individuals who have leaped fully into what they love, as they serve others in the world – we call them Passioneers ™.  Our intention is to inspire those who are feeling scared or discouraged about their own leap into service.  Based upon our inteviews so far, we have synthesized the following passioneering tips, and will be blogging on them, and many others, each week in 2010.   If you  have any tips or know of any Passioneers who would like to share their story in our blog, please send us their contact information.

Be A Visionary.

• Dream big.  To create a bigger life, you must have bigger dreams.  Without a vision, the people perish.  (Proverbs 29:18)
• Cordon off at least one focused, quiet hour, each month, for the visioning process.  If you Google “life visioning tools,” you’ll see lots of great visioning tools.   We highly recommend using Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith’s approach. 
• Share your life’s vision with those you trust, and watch how much faster that it grows!
• Keep your vision front and center, where it can inspire you everyday.  A vision journal or vision board is a great tool for this purpose. Check out vision journaling workshops by Robbi Firestone. 

If You Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail.

• Create a business plan, even if it’s on the back of a napkin.  Richard Gabel’s tips on this: http://bit.ly/2102E
• What gets written down gets done.  Plain, simple, if not easy.  Journaling is a great tool for this.  Or try writing down the top three things you must get done each day  on an index card; let that be your day’s focus.
• As with your vision, share your business plan with others for input, ideas, and support.
• Try our complimentary PowerLeaps LLC Express Business Plan.

If You Believe, You’re Halfway There.

• Napoleon Hill said “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” (more quotes from Napoleon Hill).
• If you don’t believe in your vision, very few others will.
• Even on those days when you really don’t believe in your vision,  try faking it until you make it.  It’s amazing how contagious “acting as if” can be!
• Faith grows over time, one demonstration at a time – kind of like a stairway that you climb, with each step being a small success.  Rome was certainly not built in one day.

Just Do It!

• My good friend Pete DiSantis says, “Do is half of done.“  Talk is cheap, and analysis can cause paralysis!  The boldest, most successful Passioneers move forward regardless of their circumstances.
• Take baby steps, no matter how small they are.  In the midst of feeling overwhelmed and stuck, your taking even ONE small step forward will jump start your inspiration and momentum.  A great article on this approach.
• There is no right or wrong way to express your passions, so avoid comparing yourself to others, especially Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, celebrities, your next door neighbor, etc., etc.  You get the point…
• Explore and experiment.  Take some risks and try on different approaches.  Most importantly, have FUN!!

 Happy Passioneering!