We interviewed Chappale Burton recently on the Blog Talk Radio show, The Passions and Possibilities Project.  Hear his inspiring story in archive!

At a very young age Chappale Linn Burton witnessed the tragic murder of his stepfather and biological mother while playing on the play ground in his birthplace of Chicago, Ill. He has not only forgiven the assailant, but has now dedicated his life to sharing tools and techniques that he used to overcome the would be negative effects this could have had on his life. He is also the author of How to Choose Happiness…Most of the Time: 30 ways in 30 days.

Joanna Dolgoff, M.D. is a pediatrician and child obesity expert. She is the creator of Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh: Child and Adolescent Weight Management Program.  She has been featured as a child obesity expert on WNBC News, WABC News, Fox 5 Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, My9 News and WPIX News.   She shared her Passioneering interview with us in mid-December 2009:

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

A passion is an enthusiastic interest in anything.  Somebody who follows their passion is able to spend their days doing what they love most.

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

I am passionate about helping overweight children and families.  I practiced general pediatrics for a number of years, feeling unable to truly help all of my overweight patients.  In order to make ends meet, pediatricians have to see more and more patients in a limited amount of time.  Generally, pediatricians spend about 4-7 minutes with each patient, during which time we have to cover all of his/her healthcare needs.  Clearly, there was not enough time for nutrition counseling.  I finally couldn’t take it anymore.  I had to do something to help the increasing number of overweight and obese children.  In our country, one out of every three kids is now overweight or obese and at risk of medical illness due to weight.  So, eighteen months ago, I invented a child weight loss program, abruptly quit my stable job and set out to open a practice devoted solely to child weight issues.  Everybody thought I was crazy but I was determined.  As it had always been an interest of mine, I had been researching the topic for a number of years.  I spent a few months fine-tuning my plans and then opened up shop!

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

My biggest challenge was getting up the courage to leave a stable job and enter a new field.  There are very few (if any) doctors in the country who solely specialize in child obesity.  I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make a living or if parents would be willing to acknowledge their children’s weight issues.  But I felt so strongly about the need for a child obesity pediatric office that I decided to ignore my fears and move forward.  Within weeks, I had a thriving practice!

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

The greatest part of my success is the success of my patients.  Over 90% of my patients have lost weight.  Even better, they have decreased their risk of medical illness due to their weight and have significantly increased their self-confidence.  There is nothing better than the look on a child’s face when he realizes that he is in control of his health.

Since I started my new career, my child weight loss program (http://www.DrWeigh.com) and I have been featured on WABC News, WNBC News, Fox 5 Morning Show, My9 News, and WPIX News.  I have also filmed segments with the Today Show, NightLine, and Extra and I am a featured blogger for the Huffington Post.  My book, Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right, will be published by Rodale in December, 2009.  Children from 44 different states are losing weight with my online weight loss program (http://www.DrWeigh.com) and I have since opened a second practice in Manhattan, NY.

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

That you should be sure to follow your passions.  If you love what you do, the money will follow.  Regardless, you need to be happy every day of your life and the only way to accomplish that is by doing what you love.  Nothing else matters!

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

I am very lucky to have a fabulous support system.  My grandfather first gave me the idea to leave my pediatrics practice and start a child weight loss program.  My parents and my husband supported the idea from the very beginning.  Everybody knew that this was something I was truly born to do and that it was something the country really needed.

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

I kept telling myself that in the worst case scenario, I could always go back to what I had been doing previously.  But if I didn’t take the chance, I would regret it for the rest of my life.  You don’t want to look back on your life and regret not trying to follow your dreams.  Particularly if those dreams help other people.

SO: What’s your next big milestone?

My book will be released in a few weeks!  I am excited to see how that does.  And then I plan to open Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh practices all over the country!

Thanks Joanna and Happy Passioneering!

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

That which you believe in to your toes whose pursuit gives your life purpose, meaning and fulfillment; something, that once you find it, to live without it, would be to not live at all.

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

I love inspiring others into believing in themselves and in their own abilities to affect change in their lives. For me, it was about informing others and inspiring them to make changes in their health and the health of their families. Allowing them to accept that “good” is great! And to not make “the perfect” the enemy of “the good”. To embrace an 80/20 rule, where you do an awesome job 80% of the time, and allow yourself the grace of the everyday world the other 20% of the time. In a world that very much feels like it has been thrown into a cuisinart, there are so many opportunities to be part of the solution. And it is so important to believe in our ability to inspire change.

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

The biggest challenge was believing in my own ability to overcome challenges and to affect remarkable change – in a world that constantly messages otherwise. It is a challenge to silence the noise and the headlines that are constantly pushing the status quo and to hear the internal dialogue in your heart. It therefore requires tremendous discipline, strength, courage and tenacity to silence the cultural “noise” in order that you may hear the message that is inspiring you from within. As a result, I try to take time to exercise everyday as it gives me clarity and focus – and the ability to process the everyday “noise” so that I may better hear the internal dialogue. I also had to “de-friend” those around me with negative messages, the “naysayers” and choose to surround myself with positive people and positive energy, as it helped provide positive “fuel” for & to nourish my passion!

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

The complete fulfillment that comes in knowing that you are doing what you are here to do. Realizing that your life and every stage in it has prepared you for this work – every accomplishment and every setback, a lesson to be learned, making you a better “passioneer” as you evolve in your role of advocating your passion and message.

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

That it will scare people that are close to you which can pose perhaps the biggest risk of all. Those around you may feel threatened by the energy and emotion that you feel towards your life’s work, having not found that same energy themselves. They may feel threatened or displaced by your newfound “love affair”, as jealous as if you’d betrayed them with a newfound love. The risk then becomes that rather than risk alienating those that are close, you choose to forgo your passion and risk alienating your heart’s work. As a result, I have found that it is very important to share with others that your passion makes you more complete, more of a person, more “whole” – which in turn gives you more to share with those you care about. There is nothing special about me, I simply found something that I was so passionate about, that I cared for so deeply that to live without it would have been to cease living, and then I had to shelter myself from a world that told me that I couldn’t make a difference, that my work wouldn’t matter, and take active steps to shield my passion and my heart’s work from those with condescending and destructive words and messages.

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

I had to distance myself from the ‘naysayers’ (which was incredibly difficult at times, as it sometimes included close family members) and surround myself with positive energy in order to have the strength, endurance and courage to pursue work that can be so consuming. As a result, I spend less time with those that are negative (including family) and have also learned to avoid the topic with these people, and I spend more time with those who share passionate work. I find absolutely joy in being with other ‘passioneers’ as there is an energy and life to the work that provides constant nourishment. I also take time to nourish myself, not only through good relationships, but also with nourishing, healthy food and nourishing exercise, which gives me the fuel for my passionate journey!

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

Hope is the knowledge that change is possible, even when it seems hard to imagine. And while the world favors the status quo and conformity, there is so much fun to be had in the experience of living what you are here to do. It won’t be without challenges and growing pains, but it is those very challenges and your ability to overcome them that will give you such a tremendous sense of LIFE. As you weigh the pros and cons of whether or not to take this leap, ask yourself “What do I have to lose?” Perhaps you’d lose “face”. Then ask yourself “What do I have to gain?” A sense of purpose, of being, of fulfillment, of energy….that will inspire your life and the lives of those around you in such a way that you have made the mark on the world that you are truly here to make! And it’s so important when taking the ‘leap’ to not make “the perfect” the enemy of “the good”. To embrace an 80/20 rule, where you do an awesome job 80% of the time, and allow yourself the grace of the everyday world the other 20% of the time.

SO: What’s your next big milestone?

I continue to learn from my readers and invite them to be part of the journey to change our country’s health!  While we can’t change the beginning, we have an incredible ability to change the end.  So I am engaging many with whom I work in new projects going forward: we are working on films, online forums and other tools that “we the people” can use to help create a healthier home, and I am so humbled and constantly inspired by the remarkable stories that readers have shared and look forward to highlighting them in my future work!

 Thanks Robyn and Happy Passioneering!

Les Jensen has mapped the energetic nature of our human experience and founded New Human Living to provide proven, tested material and resources to those that desire a better life for themselves.    His web site is a result of his life purpose coming into service to others. Les makes his home near Denver, Colorado. USA.  He shared his Passioneering interview with us in mid-December 2009:

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

Hmmm, nice question. I really feel like it is several things all tied in an experience. I would say things like. Actually using your talents without regard to the outcome. Opening and following your heart. Feeling the Joy of honoring your life, and then doing it again at a higher and higher level. Seeing the potential of others, when they can’t see that for themselves, and then bringing your intentions to help them grow themselves. Promoting Love, Peace, Joy, Power, Grace, Harmony, Wisdom, Laughter and Abundance for all mankind, however you possibly can.

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

Creating tools for others to discover their truth. Writing books, speaking, creating CD/mp3 audio, holding online teleclasses. Laughing in public. Smiling. Continuing to heal and grow myself. Notions of bigger efforts coming into play in my life.

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

Actually DOing it. By loving myself enough to discipline myself.  Mastering my ability to focus for hours at a time. Letting go of the big stuff and taking all the little steps that are right in front of me. Surprise, that’s how the big stuff happens. Letting go of the old thinking. To finally be able to stay in a place of Joy. To REALLY get that I alone decide what I have or have not in my life. Completely owning that. Loving myself enough to paint my life big and beautiful.

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

More than anything, an overwhelming feeling of Joy in my heart. That is priceless. A sense of actually being alive and really participating in my life. A sense of ease when you know that you are always provided for. Drinking the nectar, that juice, that flows from your heart. Living in the heart.

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

A couple come to mind. Honoring myself. Showing up for myself. Honoring my talents and gifts that I have to offer others. That helping others is the most rewarding thing you could ever do. To give unconditional Love whenever the opportunity arrives. To remember my struggles, and the overwhelming feelings of despair I have had, and when I see that look on the face of others. To be there for them. So they can learn to shine their own light. Teaching them their truth.

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

My support system starts inside of me. My Soul, or higher Self, totally rocks. I get recharged when I go inside and connect with my Soul. It keeps getting brighter and brighter. Works anywhere at any time. And lifetime friends that I have had. As well as new ones that have come along.

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

Trust in your own power. It will show up for you, when you show up for you. It can not, and will not, over rule your fears. You need to step forward, and it will likewise. The more you trust it, the more it shows up. When you feel fear, take the steps forward anyway. The fear will start to leave you. Keep walking and the fear will wash itself away. And get clear about your dreams. Think of a future that gets you excited for yourself. Love yourself. See yourself living a prosperous life. Get that vision crystal clear and spend time there, in your thoughts, often.

SO: What’s your next big milestone?

Growing my platform to a global level. Creating multilingual material. Create more in depth material that people can use on their own. Things that support them throughout their journey.

Thanks Les, and Happy Passioneering!

Keith J. Davis Jr. is the founder of K. Jerrold Enterprises, a personal empowerment company that empowers, educates and motivates youth and teens to become future leaders through thought-provoking seminars, writings, networking functions, mentoring and more. Davis is the son of marketing innovator “Mr. D-MARS” (Keith Davis Sr.), owner of Houston marketing firm conglomerate D-MARS.com. Davis is a 2009 high school graduate of Cy-Springs High School in Cypress; he is currently enrolled at the University of Houston Main Campus. In his 18 years, he has launched a youth magazine, is a sought-after speaker, publisher, actor, model, and now the author of Young? So What! 10 Steps to Become a Successful Young Entrepreneur. Visit www.keithjdavisjr.com for more information.

Danielle Herb, 15, “The Horse Listener’ is an author, pioneer, inspirational speaker and the Founder of Drop Your Reins, a holistic experiential training company that provides alternative healing techniques to ADD/ADHD and Autistic diagnosed children through natural horsemanship and equine assisted activities. At the age of 5 Danielle was diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and overcame her diagnosis and label through natural horsemanship and natural healing techniques. Danielle began a modified diet, eliminating food and environmental stressors, building her confidence and self esteem and now shares her knowledge to advocate for other children along with the support of her mother, Marianne St. Clair. She can be reached at www.dropyourreins.com.

Cynthia James is a transformational specialist guiding thousands of people as they make changes at a spiritual level for lasting healing in their lives. Her inspirational message graciously lights the way as lives are transformed to an experience of magnificence. Cynthia is the award winning author of “What Will Set You Free”, creator of the Cynthia James Support Network and a sought after lecturer, teacher and internationally renowned performing artist.” She can be reached at www.cynthiajames.net.

Sam Schmidt is a former Indy Racing League driver and now owner of Sam Schmidt Motorsports. In 2000, he became paralyzed due to a racing accident. Just 14 months later, at the urging of his wife and parents, he created his motosports company. Undeterred by his injury, Sam travels over 120 days a year on behalf of the team and the Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation. In 2004, his team captured the Menard’s Infiniti Pro Series Championship. Quite an achievement for anyone, but an extraordinary achievement for a quadriplegic. You can reach him at www.samschmidt.org.