Tag: passion

Passion

Posted on by philipdodson

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I was at a meeting recently of an organisation that is relatively new and is there to be a voice for an emerging industry.

So we kicked off with the usual intro’s ‘Hi I’m Mary (there wasn’t a Mary) and I’m an accountant (Mary wasn’t an accountant either)’.

By the time we were half way round the table, there was about as much enthusiasm in the room, as there would be, if I’d asked people to volunteer to work a 7 day week for the rest of their lives.

When we’d done, the person next to me pointed out the lack of enthusiasm, and I suggested we went back round, only this time we all said why we do what we do. After the initial looks of horror had eased, we set off.

Interestingly after the first few, people slipped back into talking about their product/service and very little ‘why’, with the exception of the passionate ones, who were able to articulate clearly their reason why they leapt out of bed in the morning.

If you want a head start not only tell your why first, but add your passion to it.

When I left, I was waiting for my colleague at reception, and was talking to Cristal (not Mary) and she asked me what do you do? I said I’d rather tell you why I do what I do, then how I do it and then what I do. She said that was really interesting (clearly being polite!) and then I explained why I answered that way. She replied saying ‘but what you do is important to know’.

I asked her what do you do? ‘I’m a facilities manager’ – so I said she was like 100,000’s of other facility managers all over the world. She obviously didn’t like that idea. I then asked her ‘why do you do what you do?’. She replied with real animation and passion ‘I love people and I am passionate about doing a good job, I like to organise things, variety and serving others….’ Immediately she had changed how I now understood that person. I knew her values were passion, people, variety and structure.

Before all I knew was she managed facilities.

So do not sell yourself short, because when you talk about what matters you will be animated and passionate. If you’re not, then it is not what matters.

Life is about what matters and people connect with genuine passion.

It’s time for something new

Posted on by philipdodson

I am starting to make some changes in my business and life. Changes that mean stepping out of the discomfort zone that I have been in.

It means putting myself in the ring, it means overcoming some fears and it means becoming vulnerable.

Every change is risky, however in today’s fast changing landscape, it is more risky to be ‘safe’ with your business, than it is to change it and be rebellious, to be different.

‘Playing safe’ is the new risky.

I’m already not ‘playing safe’, as I have been running my own businesses for 12 years. But I now want to take it further.

Inspired by many things around me, including reading many books, blogs etc, especially Simon Sinek’s outstanding book ‘Start with why’, I have decided to make the step into the ring, overcome some fears and put my ‘why’ into everything that I do, not just parts of my life, all of it.

I have been kind of doing this anyway (herein lies part of the problem, the ‘kind of’ bit). However, I have been a little sheepish about going the whole 9 yards. Mainly out of worry that it might effect my business, it might not sit well with all and I might lose some customers. I know that the ‘not doing’ is more risky and will lead to regret.

You start something and after a little while, the ‘why’ you do it gets a little bit clouded, a little lost and you can end up just focusing on what you do. Doesn’t mean that your business is a failure, but good enough just doesn’t cut it for me.

I realise now, that when I have put my views, my passion, my ‘why’, and inspired, it has massively helped my life. I am now more inspired than I have ever been.

So now is the time to step into the unknown and make the jump to do what this life of mine has lead me to. The journey has lead me to this point, all the knowledge, learning, experience of 48 years is at my disposal.

To be honest I have never liked the status quo, never liked the ‘established’ order, I have always been a rebel. I have blogged about this many times, about the need to change the old school world. I have also recently blogged about the need to not simply criticise what is there, but to actually start creating alternatives. That is why I already love coworking, as it is an alternative way of working. But the coworking is the ‘what’ I do and is not why I do what I do.

I am already taking the steps, along with others, to build an alternative, I am starting the New World Project and whatever small part I can play to create some alternatives to our current world is my driving force, to be part of helping to create change that is based on human kind. A world for the many not the few.

With my blog, I am going to share the journey going forward. I am going to be posting on the changes I am about to make, as I want others to be a part of it. I am going to be thinking out loud and sharing the journey. This is not a one person mission, this is the start of a change, a movement, a cause for a better world, however small or big it becomes.

The size of something does not matter, as worthiness is not defined by this, as I have learnt from reading & listening to Brene Brown, she’s right, we are all already worthy enough, good enough, no matter what we achieve.

If I inspire just one person to help, to join, to be part of making a difference, then that is progress towards a better world. The famous saying ‘a journey of a 1,000 miles starts with just one step’.

That’s it for today, I will be sharing more over the coming weeks plus still posting my blogs as normal. I am going to be taking my stuff over to my business website from next week, so you can catch up with my posts there.

#NewWorldProject