I’d pick a passionate amateur over an uninterested professional any day

The secret sauce to any interesting story is passion. A story told without it is just boring. I can listen to someone talking about sand, dust or pavement for hours if they are really passionate about it.

I remember seeing a musician perform when I was a kid. I was mesmerized and couldn’t take my eyes of her. My mother looked at me and and asked me whether I liked the music. I said “I don’t even like the music that much but there is something about her that makes me want to watch her”

My mother smiled at me and told me “It is her passion. She is totally devoted and full of passion. That is what makes her stand out from everybody else.”

She was totally right and I have seen it ever since. I would pick a passionate amateur over an uninterested professional any day.

Passion for what you do makes all the difference in business too. My work doesn’t feel like work because I’m passionate about it. When a server goes down in the middle of the night I don’t complain but get right to fixing it. That is because I’m passionate about delivering our services to our users.

The first thing I want to know when I meet new people is what they are passionate about. If they are entrepreneurs I want to see that passion in their eyes when they talk about their business.

I had dinner with professional solo sailor Ricardo Diniz in Portugal one day. Now here is a guy who radiates passion in everything he does. He could hardly keep his eyes in the food because he was either passionately talking about his travels or passionately and visibly loving his girlfriend who was sitting next to him. I was clearly the third wheel but it didn’t matter because it was just great to see someone live his life with so much passion.

Some people think that passion is embarrassing or something to hide. Almost as if you should be ashamed of it. That is just such a waste. Communicate your passion with your partners, friends, readers and clients and you will win their hearts.

Photo credit: krivenko via Shutterstock.