Passion Drivers
How passionate are you? Are you driven to continuously learn, or satisfied with where you are?
Do you get goosebumps talking about your job; your goals; your aim in life? Or do you accept you’re at a comfortable stage and who needs the extra work that goals bring?
I’m driven by passionate people. When someone talks to me and their eyes light up, I get excited too. I’m excited both by them and for them.
If someone is so passionate that you feel breathless with excitement and giddy with anticipation of what they’ll say next, that’s one heck of a strong statement about that person’s desire.
Here’s an example. I met with Shannon Boudjema for coffee a couple of days ago. Shannon describes herself as a “media maven, globe trotter and socially inclined”. I couldn’t have picked a better description myself.
Based in Ontario, Canada, Shannon works for one of Canada’s leading lights in marketing, advertising and event management. She writes an excellent blog, is a livewire chatterbox on Twitter and is also socially conscious (she’s said she’ll donate $100 to a local charity if a good cause reaches 500 followers on Twitter).
We met to chat about the digital space and ideas on how companies can leverage that space. Now, I like to think I’m passionate about all that emerging media has to offer, but as soon as I started talking with Shannon, her energy just flew out. She showed me slide shares she’s put together; case studies; learning ideas for multi-employee companies; and much more.
Simply put, Shannon is a one-person emerging media whiz. Her passion isn’t fake – she genuinely loves (and is excited by) all that our current space has to offer now and soon from now. And anyone she talks to can’t help but feel the same way, even if you’re skeptical of all these tools and their benefits.
Businesses need people like Shannon. There are so many that are just doing the rounds and crunching the numbers that they miss out on the real bigger picture – passion and drive. If you can harness these two qualities and combine with knowledge and reach, you might just start to wonder why you thought previous results were good.
If you want an idea just how driven Shannon is, check out this slide deck from her. Then ask who your passion driver is. Is it you, or are you currently a passenger? If it’s the latter, how will you change seats so you’re the driver? Do you want to?
9 Responses to “Passion Drivers”
I love hopping over to your site because I always find a great, thorough new product review, or a great post about someone extremely inspiring to you. You have such a way of introducing them to the world (even if we've already met them), we can't help but get excited. SO happy to be introduced to Shannon and all her passionate energy for what she does.
We could all use some of that! Thanks, Danny!Sounds like a plan – and it's always the passionate sharing of ideas that resonate the most.
Hey there Teresa,
Thank you!
Hopefully I can keep introducing you to new people and ideas – although folks like Shannon do make it a lot more easier! Danny,
Excellent blog!
Where does one gain their passion, how does it evolve? I can tell you one of the things I am most passionate about is raising awareness for Adrenoleukodystrophy and other rare diseases and disorder. It comes from first hand experience and is fueled by at times anger, frustration and most importantly it is fueled with the hope that one day no other children will have to experience ALD's rath or other disease for which there are no cures for presently.
I am hopeful that by simply raising awareness for Adrenoleukodystrophy other families may be diagnosed early and give their boys a good chance of a normal life.
Driven I am to gain more knowledge of many things and share what I have gained with others and I'll provide the knowlege I've amassed a no cost. Knowledge powers passion.
Personal experience and wish for change is often the biggest passion driver there is, Kevin. And when it's preventable reasons as well…. can quickly become a no-brainer.
Thanks for sharing your passion – look forward to learning more through you.
Good question… I think I am both passenger and driver. You say, “how can that be?” I am very passionate about learning everything I can in PR and Marketing. I just wish I had a brand to back me up and I was working full time. Which I am working on but I seem to get derailed a lot but I am sure I will make some head way eventually.
I prefer to live the rest of my life doing something that I love. It feels fulfilling to be passionate about something and putting all your abilities on it, and then, the most important: sharing it with others.