PASSION: How to Find It, Keep It, and Renew It

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By Blake DuBose and Mike DuBose

All of us have times when our passion is on. In his new book, Mojo, Marshall Goldsmith defines this passion, or “mojo,” and tells how to foster and protect it in business. Though it goes by many names, mojo has been exemplified for years in companies large and small like Southwest Airlines and our family of companies. Our employees seem to have fun, enjoy their jobs and lives, and look forward to work.

Sometimes, however, people lose their mojo. It is never too late or too early to reinvent yourself, restart your engine, or, in some cases, rebuild your life. It is possible to regain the enthusiasm you once had.

In his bestseller Good to Great, Jim Collins says that companies that focus on what they are passionate about, know most about, and is most profitable to them (their “Hedgehog Concept”) tend to succeed. When these three factors coincide, great things happen—but this is not only a lesson for businesses, but individuals as well.

As we examine how to create that spark that is so prominent in companies with good mojo, let’s first list things that can zap our positive spirit and throw us into a tailspin.

Mojo Killers

We know that stress is one of the major causes of “nojo” (Goldsmith’s term for the “opposite of mojo”). The more severe and prolonged the stress, the deeper into the pit we go. Dr. Mehmet Oz says that long-term stress can place our bodies into a long-term hyper-alert state, lowering immunity and increasing risk of disease.

Some top sources of stress include: death of a spouse or significant other, divorce, separation, being imprisoned or jailed, death of a close family member, injury or illness, marital difficulties, being fired from work, marital reconciliation, retirement, change in health of a family member, pregnancy, sexual dysfunction, major business readjustment, and financial problems.

If you have lost your zeal for life, first ask yourself if you are facing one or more of these stressors (and if so, seek professional help). Goldsmith concluded through his research that our personal and work lives are inseparable. When personal, home, spiritual, and work entities are balanced and things are moving in the right direction, life is a joy and our mojo is alive. Conversely, when one or more are out of balance, it impacts all aspects of a person’s life.

Which of these issues have been diminishing your passion?

Over-commitment: This is by far one of the greatest robbers of fun and excitement. We fail to say no to requests from others that rob us of our limited time and energy, and soon are drowning in an ocean of “so many things to do.” We are so busy and exhausted that there is simply no time for fun.

Inadequate exercise: The human body is designed for physical work, not to sit in front of a computer all day. The body and mind combined are like a water-filled teapot sitting on a fire. Negative events and lack of exercise throw fuel into the fire, and sooner or later, the teapot will blow its top. Then, we experience physical and emotional pain, inability to sleep, and the wrong hormones being pumped into our systems.

Poor diet: Many Americans’ diets consist mostly of high-carb, high-sodium, high-fat food from restaurant chains. We cram down this food in order to keep up with overcommitted schedules as we rush from one event to another. This puts extra inches on the old belly (and a few other places) and our egos and self-worth diminish. We pass over water for too many caffeinated drinks, which trigger the adrenaline switch and cause dehydration. We also drink too much alcohol and take too many drugs.

Distractions: We surround ourselves with electronic devices that ring and buzz, demanding our attention and fostering an obsessive desire to check communications every few minutes. We leave our office doors open, encouraging anyone to walk in and interrupt us when they have the urge. We even read and write e-mails while we drive, even though this makes us 23 times more likely to be involved in a car accident, according to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute!

We micromanage: We feel that we need to be in every meeting and participate on every decision. The implication is that we don’t trust those around us to do things in a high-quality fashion without us. Leaders who micromanage focus on too many daily tasks, making them unable to lead their staff into the future.

We employ the wrong people: We fail to hire the right, outstanding people and place them in jobs that fit their skills and experience. We surround ourselves with those who think like us, so there is little debate or disagreement. This leads to bad decisions, which leads to stress and fires to put out down the road. We expend enormous amounts of energy trying to “fix” people who cannot be fixed, rather than just firing them, or surround ourselves with people who gossip or naysay.

We do not know how to rest: We push people to prioritize work above their personal lives and take our Blackberries and laptops with us even on vacation. Even when we’re not working, we try to fill every moment seeing or doing something.

We keep troublesome clients: We lack a purpose other than chasing every dollar we can, leaving us with labor-intensive, low-profit customers who consume great amounts of our energy and make our lives miserable.

We do not prioritize our time: We put little planning into the things we wish to accomplish on a workday. Thus, we constantly react to the day’s events and leave work with little feeling of accomplishment (but plenty of exhaustion).

We fail to recharge our minds: We believe that there is no time to read publications or attend workshops that will stimulate our creativity and improve our personal and professional lives. Instead, we imagine that we know it all.

We waste time with mindless pursuits: When we collapse into our favorite chair at home, we surf the Internet or TV channels in a vain attempt to escape the day’s frustrations, rather than doing something productive.

We expect everything to be perfect: We believe that our personal and professional lives should be mistake-free. Instead of celebrating successes, we agonize over disappointments, failures, and mistakes.

We have no personal strategic plan or purpose: We don’t know where we are going in our lives or how to get there.

We allow our past to drive our future: Too many unresolved conflicts keep us from moving into the future. We attempt to resolve them without professional help until the repressed pain catches up with us and we come unglued.

We fail to stop doing things that impair our productivity, happiness, and organization or add to our stress: We focus only on what we should be doing versus what we need to stop doing. We hang around negative people who drag us down.

Time for Action!

If you want to add mojo to your life, consider taking the steps that follow. If you can break down your specific problems into smaller pieces and address each one, your chances for success are good! In “Make Happiness Happen,” (Parade, January 2010) Robert Maselle reported that “With practice, we can change our habits and even our natural disposition.”

Change your attitude: To make progress in life, we must want, as individuals, to change our circumstances or selves. Talk to yourself through the day, resisting destructive voices and disabling fears inside.

Conduct a medical assessment: Mojo cannot blossom if something is wrong with you physically, so schedule annual exams. Good medical assessments detect and treat problems before they become serious.

Devise a self-assessment: List things about yourself, other individuals, and your situation that stunt your mojo. What you can change or eliminate? Focus on that, rather than things you cannot control.

Develop a realistic strategic plan: Using your self-assessment, carefully develop a plan for the short and long terms. Decide to be happy with what you have and your current situation while also working for what you want. Disengage from the things and people that do not help your purpose, which should extend beyond money, prestige, and power.

Strive to find balance between your family, self, and work: Do fewer things really well and de-clutter your life. Don’t let work become your primary focus. Eliminate people, things, and activities from your life that prevent this balance.

Find time to rest: Designate one day per week for relaxation and unstructured fun. Take long weekends off each quarter and non-stressful vacations of at least two weeks each year to recharge your batteries. You need to rest your body and mind regularly, which may mean having “alone time.”

Strive for a healthy diet: Eat properly, starting with a good breakfast to give you energy and focus throughout the day. Eat fatty or fried foods sparingly. Get at least four to five servings of fruit and vegetables daily and switch out sugary drinks like soda for plenty of water. Also, you should take one hour each day to get away from the office and eat in peace (not to do errands or shopping). Watch your caffeine intake, stopping it at 3 PM or earlier each day to ensure you will be able to sleep.

Reduce stress: Surround yourself with people who build you up and are positive and fun. Stay away from negative, gossipy people or those who demean, annoy, or frustrate you and others. Talk yourself up when you begin to worry.

Exercise regularly: Make time for least 30 minutes of vigorous exercise five days a week. Cardiovascular exercise allows endorphins to enter the bloodstream, builds a body and mind that can withstand stress, and releases negative energy. Regular exercise increases longevity, reduces the chances of disease, lowers cholesterol, decreases blood pressure, increases happiness, and makes the body look slimmer and younger.

Eliminate electronic distractions: Turn off or silence Blackberries, Outlook, cell phones, instant messaging, and telephones for parts of the day to enhance your concentration and productivity. Check e-mail only at certain times of the day and close your office door to get things done without distractions.

Employ outstanding, experienced staff and place them into the jobs that fit their skills: One of the keys to the success of a great company is to hire the right staff. Then, teach them everything you know, define your expectations, and let them do their jobs. Help people who don’t fit find other jobs outside your company.

Resolve conflicts: Pick your battles; however, if you see patterns of inappropriate behavior or things still bother you days later, address them privately, professionally, and in person at a good time. Confront, resolve, forgive, and move on!

Disengage from troublesome clients: Stay focused on your company’s strategic plan and the activities that fit into that vision. Carefully disengage from clients that do not mesh with your plan to reduce stress.

Organize your time: Organized individuals set specific objectives each day, stay focused (preferably on one project at a time), make daily to-do lists, and eliminate distractions. Keep a master list of everything you need to do in the future (out of sight so it doesn’t overwhelm you), along with a short list each day that can be realistically completed. Small successes feel good and add fuel to the larger journey.

Organize your space: Practice keeping a neat desk and a good filing system so you won’t waste time looking for things. Handle paper items promptly so a mountain does not build up on your desk.

Expand your mind: Build time into your schedule to read newspapers, magazines, and books that improve your personal and professional self. Great books offer new strategies and ideas for creating great organizations and people. To cultivate mojo, your mind needs to be challenged into new ways of thinking and functioning. Above all, practice humility. Listen to others’ ideas and don’t be a know-it-all.

Limit television viewing and computer surfing: These are fine in moderation, but if your mojo is gone, spend more time with friends and loved ones and do something productive, challenging, and fun.

Don’t expect perfection: Keep high quality standards, but don’t saddle yourself, staff, friends, or relatives with unrealistic expectations. It can be good to make mistakes, provided that everyone learns from the experience.

Get adequate sleep: Although people are sleeping less and less, research shows that our bodies need eight hours of sleep each night. Consider visiting a treatment center like SleepMed if you have persistent difficulties getting to sleep.

Accept your past as a gift: This is toughest of all: turning a past filled with pain and conflict into opportunities to grow and learn. This requires forgiveness, acceptance, and the realization that people in your past were imperfect (and sometimes, just plain nuts!). If you feel you need to and it is possible, get it off your chest. Unresolved conflict keeps you trapped in the past and leads to bitterness.

If you are going through any of the major stressors, consider your past to be a monkey on your back, or fear that you are depressed, you may need professional help. The key is finding the right counselor to fit your needs. Usually, counseling and medication combined generate the best results. Contact your insurance agency for a list of eligible mental health providers and then ask around for recommendations.

Watch out for emotional land mines: Try to live a good, moral life. Avoid short-term, guilt-inducing pleasures that can lead to sleeplessness, anxiety, and stress.

Appreciate what you have while you work on what you want: Every day, think about the things and people in your life that are blessings. If you expect gloom and doom, chances are it will happen, but if you believe that better things are down the road in your life, then good things are more prone to occur.

Quit trying to please everyone: Win-win solutions are great, but some people cannot be pleased, no matter what you do. Do the best you can with what you have.

Save money: Freeing yourself from financial worries allows you to focus on your happiness.

Follow your passion: Look for things that make your mojo come alive. Politely decline activities that frustrate you, don’t suit your skills, or don’t relate to your passion.

Have fun! Don’t fall into a rut; loosen up some and do something wild (excluding, of course, things that will send you to jail)! Smile, laugh, talk positively, and focus more on having fun every day.

Be spiritual: If you believe in a higher power, seek guidance, wisdom, and blessings from that source.

While genetics and uncontrolled events play a role in what happens in our lives, we ultimately determine our own path. Mistakes, failures, and stumbles happen along the highway of life, but mojo is there for those who are bold enough to grab it and take a new direction. We all have a choice: be positive, passionate individuals or live miserable, boring lives. Which do you choose?