In Pursuit of Passion

As Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers said in his very inspiring speech to a group of Stanford graduands recently, “You’ve got to find what you love to do…. The only way to do great is to love what you do. Keep looking and don’t settle.”

Last week I celebrated my 48th birthday – wow, I can’t believe I have actually spent 48 great years on this planet; I still feel not a day older than 28! In fact, whenever someone asks me my age, I actually have to do some calculation to work it out…

Anyway, I thank God for all these wonderful years – I have experienced so many different things in my life… acted in a movie; run a magazine for 9 years; retired at 36; went back to work at World Wildlife Fund – experienced so much and had a great time traveling the world with WWF; enjoyed myself speaking at business conventions in Australia, NZ, Malaysia and Singapore; and now, a trainer and coach! I’ve also done adventurous stuff like climb mountains, snow-skied at different resorts around the world, walk on fire, sky diving, gone up in a free-flying hot air balloon and landed on a tree... Whew!!! (I think the next thing I want to do is to learn to fly a plane.)

And I’m certainly nowhere near stopping… there’s so much more I want to pursue with passion. What I see for myself in the years to come? Continue to help more people find their passion so they can do what they really love to do instead of work 9 to 5 at a job they hate or find no fulfillment in. I also want to give back more to society and do more mission work in third world countries.

Yes, it’s all about finding your passion if you want a truly fulfilling and happy life. I found my passion early and see it continue to evolve as I myself continue to learn and grow. I remember what I wrote in my magazine column some 10+ years ago: When I pass on, I want my epitaph to read, “Someone who lived life with passion and never stop learning.” That still holds so, so true for me.