You can’t fake passion. You can’t borrow it. It’s either there or it’s not.

If you’re not passionate about your work, you’re doomed to mediocrity. People with passion will steamroll you.

Even if you rode your passion to the current high point of your career, if you lose it, some up-and-comer will win because their passion is still driving them.

It’s why some champions don’t stay champions for long. They lose the hunger, the drive, the passion that made them champion. The ones that stay on top are the ones that wake up every morning excited about the day’s work—even if today’s work feels and looks a lot like yesterday’s work.

Smart folks, when they lose their passion, they walk away. Smart folks slow down, spend time discovering where their passions went, and then give chase.

I don’t think there are many smart folks out there.

We spend so much time chasing our dreams, that we forget to reflect on whether this is still the dream we want to pursue. Or when we finally achieve those dreams, we forget to dream new ones. Which is why the not-so-smart return to their passionless work day-in and day-out.

The lucky ones get a wake up call.

A warning. For those that do slow down to re-find their passion – or those that are pursuing it for the first time, there’s a dark side to passion. Passion can be blinding. Overwhelming. Passion can get us spinning around ineffectually, throwing all our efforts into a tailspin. We crash and burn before we ever have a chance to succeed.

Passion is a powerful energy source. When handled with care, it can propel you faster and farther than anything else out there. When handled recklessly, it will blow you to smithereens.

So, what’s your passion? Are you sure?

Are you ready to (re-)discover your passion? Starting Monday, November 9th, we’ll be running a Ruzuku challenge to help you (re-)discover your passion. It is completely free to those who participate and will last for 5 days, posing a new question of reflection every day to get you thinking about your life and your passions in new ways – ways that might make you a little uncomfortable, but by the end of the week, you’ll have new insight into your passion-fueled work.

About Ruzuku. Ruzuku is a learning community built around support and encouragement. You commit to a challenge and then report periodically on your progress all the while supporting and being supported by the community going through the same thing you are. Read more here.

Take the Challenge. Change your life.

I’ll be posting more about the power of passion tomorrow. And on Wednesday and Thursday, I’ll post my interview with Dave Pollard, whose book, Finding the Sweet Spot, inspired this week’s theme.

Published Monday, November 2, 2009