“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
- Steve Jobs

Video inspired by this narrative written by Barbara Zarrella and reprinted here with permission.

Power
Just saying the word emits force. The emphasis on the first syllable, the way your mouth has to round out to form the word, the way the air pushes the word out into sound.

Power is everywhere. Consider the commercial airliner. Remember the thrust that pushes you into your seat on take-off. Think of how many people are riding with you. This huge craft can be lifted into the air by a single person! That’s power.

Power
Coveted since the beginning of time. Two generals standing in a battlefield posturing. One points to one of his men and requests that he fight and defend though it may mean certain death. That soldier runs brave and mighty to fulfill that task. The other general retreats. That’s power.

Power
Nature at her best. See the dark clouds, smell the cool dampness in the breeze. Take mental inventory of loved ones. Are they home? Safe? Check around the estate. Pick up, put away, tie down, close up. The soft dance of raindrops begin followed by battering hail, then the sound of a train. All of a sudden it is quiet and sunny as if nothing happened. The splinters and broken glass prove the devastation. That’s power.

Power
The miracle of new life. The anticipation of a new human being forming in the womb. Old life is changing forever. So many goals, so many plans, so many decisions, so many surprises. How could such a tiny creature hold our entire soul in its grasp? Nothing can match the power of a child standing with open arms looking at you. A tiny voice says “up”. That’s power.

I requested and received a free advance copy of the book Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose. I always enjoy learning how successful people get to where they are. In this book I got to read about the journey of a successful person AND a company that was recently voted 15th on the 2010 Fortune’s “Best Companies to Work For” list. That person is Tony Hsieh and that company is Zappos.com.

The first part of the book is about Tony’s youth and his important  personal career development insights are highlighted along the way. He was interested in being an entrepreneur at a very young age. The first story he mentions of beginning his own business was just after his 9th birthday…and involved a worm farm!

What I found most awesome though is that he seemed to naturally check-in with himself through his school and early career and hold his own opinion of what he wanted to do as the most important one. He was able to balance that outlook with getting others to cooperate with him and he was able to build a supportive personal network.

Especially as he spoke of his college years and beyond, he focused on people he was meeting and how they got know each other’s talents. It seems Tony always kept people in mind as he continued on his journey and would get back in touch with them and bring them on board with his projects at the first opportunity.

This is basically how Zappos.com came to be. But the main reason it came to be is because Tony became aware of the importance of passion in the pursuit of happiness. He felt when he was not getting the juice he wanted from life and he stayed alert for solutions to appear…usually through his connectedness to others that he had gathered around himself.

This story of ideas, personal connections, honesty, and success of his company is compelling. The mission he is now on to spread happiness is beautiful.

You can also find the book on Amazon.com and follow the book promo tour and activities on Twitter.

There is definitely something to be learned by studying those who find their success by following their bliss. Here are some things that characterize those kinds of people.

• They have a zest for their work which fuels their zest for life.
• Most of the time they are happy and energetic and generally a breath of fresh air.
• They seem above the fray and are usually relaxed and composed.
• They are proud of their contributions and move along with confidence and ease.
• They will talk to anyone about what they do for a living with pride and enthusiasm.

How can anyone have that?

It begins with knowing it is possible, and believing you can tap into that kind of abundance. Then move to some visualization…see yourself in those shoes and feel it in your body as if you were already there!

• Imagine that others find you joyful to be around and that even complete strangers will support you in your goals.
• Be cognizant of when you are in a zone, when things are coming easily. These “flow” experiences are major hints that you are on the right track and they will help you identify your passion. Appreciate that feeling as often as you can. In fact, appreciate all good feelings you notice no matter what observation brings them!
• Look for people who are in a groove, study their success, and imagine how you would feel if you had results like them. Focus on the pieces that feel good to you and be inspired to your next action steps then enjoy and appreciate your progress as you go on your way.

I ran across this presentation during my internet travels and wanted to share it. It is a little talk on success secrets. I especially like the part where he says you have to persist through the CRAP = Criticism, Rejection, A**holes, and Pressure. I find that so true. Many times people put off doing or exploring what they really want to do for their career. Then often when they do begin to venture out to do work they love, they might run into CRAP that they must learn to ignore as distractions. Most important, they have to learn to trust themselves, listen to that intuitive voice inside, and take action to connect to work that makes them feel good.

I have met folks on my journey who live in a state of profound resistance and burnout day after day after day. I would not wish that on anyone BUT I have found that this type of extreme mental pain is part of an evolving process. Often these people are ignoring their passion, what they really want to do for their work for reasons they may not be able to verbalize yet.

I wrote before about how being a careerillionaire is not necessarily about the money. Take a look at this little sketch depicting “The Evolution of Work-Life Balance.” Very clever! The prediction is that by 2050 we will get to life.

Here is the thing about careerillionaires — they don’t wait. They are working with passion now so work feeds their spirits and doesn’t feel like work. One reason for this is that careerillionaires make their quality of life top priority!

Yesterday something happened to me that happens all the time. I met a new person and she happened to be looking for a job. I asked her what kind of job she was looking for and she curled her lip, shrugged her shoulders and said, “anything really.”

Okay, I’ll admit this is a pet peeve for me. Here she is looking for a job and any job will do. Do you believe that? Yeah, me neither. I’m sure anybody she’s networking with feels like they have to do a lot of work to learn anything about her and her skills and ambition. My guess is her cover letters and resumes and any applications that she is putting out there are very nonspecific too. This is likely the main reason that her job search has gone on nine months so far with no offers which is certainly a source of frustration for this bright, young woman.

Of course I can’t resist talking to anyone about their career. So I asked a few more questions and found out that she was a burned out elementary school teacher who had been teaching for three years. She felt like she was a statistic because she had heard reports that so many new teachers only last three to five years in the field. I told her that might be true but most people these days are only in any job for three to five years before being let go or otherwise choosing to move on anyway. I also tried to reassure her that sometimes you don’t know if you will like a profession until you’re in it but you can always learn something from it.

As we continued to visit, finally her eyes lit up about something. What she really wanted was to start her own business! She had already done a lot of research into potential businesses and was continually drawn to ideas centered on working with children. She also wanted to continue to use her curriculum development and organizational skills. Now we were onto something! Better yet her education and time teaching would nicely support such a business endeavor which was really important to her.

So by the end of the conversation she had a new person in her personal network. I was also able to provide her with several resources to check out. We also had an impromptu brainstorming session which resulted in several business concepts that she is excited to research further.

Moral of the story: knowing what you want sure helps other people help you…even people you just met.

Millionaire Blueprints is one of my favorite reads. There are great stories in here to inspire entrepreneurs and people in traditional careers since the featured bios demonstrate a lot of creative thinking and persistence. You can also feel the passion of people in all kinds of businesses and careers which is very inspirational.

I think reading good stuff like this makes an abundance mindset more likely by helping to keep us more aware of opportunities all around us as well as our own potential based on our unique combination of personal strengths.

Careerillionaires have a zest for their work which feeds their zest for life. Most of the time they are happy and energetic and generally a breath of fresh air. They seem above the fray and are usually relaxed and composed. They are proud of their contributions and move along with confidence and ease. They will talk to anyone about what they do for a living with pride and enthusiasm.

How can anyone have that?

It begins with knowing it is possible, and believing you can tap into that kind of abundance. See yourself in those shoes. Imagine that others find you joyful to be around and that even complete strangers will support you in your goals. Be cognizant of when you are in a zone, when things are coming easily. These “flow” experiences are major hints that you are on the right track and they will help you identify your passion.

Most importantly, live in the present moment, the now. Sure, set goals and spend a small amount of time periodically thinking about what you want to get done and what you desire to achieve in the short and long term. But then get to work doing what can be done right now.