With out passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing. ~ Donald Trump
Think about that for a second…
Energy is regulated far more by our mood and drive than it is even the nutrients we consume.
Anytime I’m excited about a new project or the prospect of a new adventure or if I step off a plane into a new land, I’m filled with a rush of energy that time can’t dampen.
It doesn’t matter what I eat or what I do with my time, if I’m engaged in something I’m passionate about or excited about I have the energy to do it at a high level and for a long time without fading.
In reading about great men I can see that they’re the same, except their passion is their life. Their energy in endless and many of them aren’t even the healthiest fellas around.
Napoleon had a burning desire for greatness. He despised the rich kids at his war college for wasting the head start they’d been given. Born into a conquered nation with no status in the land of its captures, France, Napoleon wanted to be great.
He studied while others played and partied and when it came time to lead in battle he had a Rolodex of battle formations in his mind from all of his studies leading him to quickly recognize the correct move in response to whatever advancement his adversaries made.
Theodore Roosevelt was born sickly. He was born with a lack of energy and physical ability. His father’s solution was to beat it out of him by working out everyday.
Later in life as Theodore grew up it was his thirst for knowledge and masculine adventure that allowed him to write dozens of books, become President, become a war hero and a renowned hunter and adventurer. (Read This: The Key to Becoming a Better Man)
It wasn’t an innate energy that he had that led him to greatness and to accomplish wondrous things, but a passion for the outdoors and for war and for his country.
What Are You Passionate About?
This isn’t something we can all readily answer. Heck, it’s not something I can readily answer until I ask it from the opposite end.
What in life gives you energy; what gets you excited?
That’s an easier one to answer.
My work. Writing. Prospects of a better future, a big goal that I want to conquer.
Outside of work, travel, new challenges, new adventures, and often things that scare me a little. Heading into bear country. Trying something new, like shooting a new kind of gun or the bow I picked up a few months ago or kayaking like I did this past weekend.
FEAR
Fear is powerful, and many of us attach an “evil” aspect to it, but fear is often good. It’s fear that we should navigate toward rather than running from. (Read This: Embrace Your Fears)
What are you afraid to attempt at your work?
For me, the book I’m working on frightens me a little. Imagine putting all of this time into something and it failing miserably?
It’s the big things that scare us, and it’s these same things that we must pursue.
A lack of energy is often a lack of excitement and a lack of courage. It’s not always about what you eat or how you train (though both of those things are important), but about whether or not you have the guts to go after what your soul is begging you to hunt down.
Reflection
The more I learn the more I realize the necessity for silence and reflection, for thinking. We don’t think enough, we’re constantly trying to be busy, and often with things that really shouldn’t be taking up our time.
Spend at least a couple hours a week planning and reflecting. Answer the questions in this article. Figure out what your soul is begging you to chase. Figure out what scares you. Determine what in your life gets you excited.
Heck, it may be your kids or your family, it doesn’t have to be an adventure. But you have to be real with yourself. If you ask these questions and ignore something because you deem it unsafe or unrealistic, you’re doing yourself a massive detriment.
You’re ignoring and even stomping out those things in life that will allow you to experience that act of living.
Life is an action, it isn’t an existence – no matter what those silly little hippies will have you think. Life is found not only in thought, but in the pursuit of something you love, you’re scared to do, and something that exhilarates you.
So take a couple hours this week and think, plan, determine what you should pursue and let fear guide you not deter you.
I’ll leave you with a quote on the necessity of following your ambitions…
Ambition, I have come to believe, is the most primal and sacred fundament of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act upon that ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and on the reason for our existence.~ Steven Pressfield, Turning Pro
