It's our duty to obsess about our own vision

“I believe we’ve evolved as a species BECAUSE of the collective obsessiveness of individuals.”
- June Cohen

I don't understand people who don't like what they do for a living, or worse, who are indifferent. I can't stand those who are simply "killing time" until their pension.

Passion is the force that results from being obsessed with my vision. Passion powers me to overcome my fears, break through my "zone of everyday results" and change the status quo around me. And that is the prime directive of leadership, to change the status quo so that the present evolves into the vision we want.

Is what you're doing now creating the future you really want? Is that focus the full expression of "Who You Really Are?"

This spring, for a while, I lost my passion - actually, no. I lost my obsession with my vision. The vision was there all the time, but I no longer was focusing on it. What happened? The momentum of my project slowed and my problems became bigger than me. I got lost in the forest and my income came to a halt.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, thanks to surrounding myself with people who are thinking bigger and taking action, my obsession with my vision has been reignited. And with it, new opportunities are appearing that are totally in line with the Big Impact I want to create.

I now realize that I cannot see my business project as just a job... it must be a crusade. I can never let myself put my dream on cruise control. The intensity of my obsession with my vision must be so strong that it becomes like a black hole, drawing towards me all of the resources, ideas, tools and people to make it happen. My obsession must be so strong that anyone who comes in contact with me thinks that either my vision is inevitable (I want those people around me) or that I'm crazy (goodbye to those losers).

Life without passion is a life of mediocrity. If we all settled for mediocrity, we would still be sitting in cold, damp caves, munching on roots and berries. I'm so thankful for that first caveman (or cavewoman?) who decided it was time to heat things up a bit and figured out how to make a fire. That started a whole chain of changes that lead to the wonders of technology and society we enjoy today.

Every step we make in our evolution, is due to someone who is obsessed with changing the status quo, the way things are at the moment. The obsessed person burns the boats, cuts the bridges, blows up any possibility of a Plan B that could compromise progress.

Forget balance, forget being satisfied with what I have. I want to change the world. And by choosing to focus all my energies on one vision, I can break through the barriers of mediocrity and create the future I really want.




The quote is from Tara Hunt's blog, see the full text here:
http://www.horsepigcow.com/2009/02/06/summary-of-amazing-ted-quotes/