I receive response from people who have never made the
connection between "fire" and "focus".
Some of them have tons of passion. They have a dream, a
vision or mission and they are on fire for it. From their
emails I imagine that they are up early, working and trying
all day long, struggling endlessly to "make this happen."
Unfortunately, they often contact me because they are
profoundly frustrated that their hard work has produced
so little in terms of lasting results. They lack "focus".
The other group are people who have defined their goals,
created plans and know precisely how to achieve their
objectives. They have mapped their lives, complete in
every detail. They typically write to tell me they've
accomplished a lot, but are bored, restless or just tired.
They have successfully reduced life to a "paint by the
numbers" routine. They lack "fire".
Sometimes we map our lives so carefully that, in reducing
risk, we remove all the mystery, all the drama, romance and
wonder. We get up, get dressed, go to work, run errands,
come home, have dinner and do it again tomorrow. That
stability may be rewarded with money, promotions, even
prestige, but it often lacks a sense of being "real life".
It's like reading the lines of a play, in which we are
assigned the role of an executive, entrepreneur, parent,
or whatever. Boring!
The opposite, of course, are the "drama queens", whose
lives defy any sort of organization, consistency, or
tranquility. They live for the flash and the fire, every
day. They can see and do amazing things, but are always
under the gun, scrambling to stay on top. If they are good
jugglers, they may also be rewarded with money or fame, but
the secret is that their lives are stressed to the max and
they fear that one day they'll drop the ball and everything
will fall apart.
It seems to me that the key to long-term success is a
balance between these two extremes. Highly successful
people DO have a sense of fire. They are passionate about
their goals. They are excited, determined, creative and
restless, but they are also focused.
They are able to discipline their energy and finish
projects on budget and ahead of schedule. They know that
systems and routine and simplicity are the keys to
productivity. They know that in the fable of the tortoise
and the hare, the slow, steady, predictable turtle wins the
race.
There is a reason we love roller-coasters, suspense novels
and scary movies. We NEED adventure in our lives. When we
are too careful and reduce life to a formula, we deny
ourselves the wonder of pushing the limits and pursuing our
dreams "flat out", full-speed-ahead. If life is boring, go
faster, aim higher, stretch yourself!
But if life has become too dangerous or too stressed, don't
be afraid to slow down, to "drive safer" or even stop and
ask directions. A life based on too much fire, passion,
and drama may create short-term success, but I'm told it
also leads to heart attacks, strokes and tragedy.
The trick is to balance the twin pillars of fire and focus.
Honor the fire in your belly! Trust that your passion,
your dreams and your imagination know where they are going,
they know better than your logical brain what you are
capable of achieving. Trust that and go for it! But, be
smart. Get a map, know your objectives, have a plan, and
day by day, work the plan. Inch by inch, step by step,
anything's a cinch!
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