DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?
“It is and has always been an American zeal to be first in everything we do, and to win…” —Vince Lombardi Zeal and passion are emotions that move you. Coach Lombardi was once described by the late New York Giants owner, Wel Mara, as having “The zeal of a missionary.” And although the Packers held a special place in his heart, my father’s passion and enthusiasm extended into all corners of his life. He could get excited about dinner at a good restaurant, a sunset, Christmas with family, and especially, a game of golf. His passion overflowed. It was an enthusiasm that could be neither corralled nor fended off. “If you said ‘good morning’ to him the right way,” said a friend, “you could bring tears to his eyes.” His emotional ups and downs as an assistant coach with the Giants earned him the nickname “Mr. Hi–Lo.” A fellow coach once chided him for working up a lather over what seemed to be a minor football matter. Lombardi said in response, “If you can’t get emotional about what you believe in your heart, you’re in the wrong business.” My father laughed and he cried. He communicated with every emotional tool at his disposal. “I’ve got all the emotions in excess,” he said, “and a hair trigger controls them.” Spontaneity was the saving grace for this hair-trigger personality. My father could yell at a player and five minutes later honestly couldn’t remember who he yelled at or why. People understood this and forgave him the excesses of his passion. Coach Lombardi never allowed his passion—and here we’re talking about his anger—to become personal. Passion and enthusiasm are the seeds of achievement. Enthusiasm is like an ocean tide, there’s a certain inevitability about it. Zeal sweeps obstacles away. To motivate people, there must be a spark, some juice, desire, zeal, inspiration. It’s tough to be a leader if you can’t energize yourself, and then your people. They need to be able to tap into your emotional energy—and you need to be able to tap into theirs. It’s called passion today. In my father’s day, it was called “emotion.” No matter what you choose to call it, I doubt you could find someone who was as passionate—and this is important—as effective, as my father. Having a plan is important, but along with a plan there must be a hunger, and a zeal to achieve the vision.
Leading with Passion – By John Murphy
Light a match in a dark room and watch as the light instantly overcomes the darkness. Observe the power and grace of that single, solitary flame dancing with life. Now light several candles or kindle a fire and experience the added warmth and comfort extending from that first, vulnerable flame through others. This is the heart and soul of leadership—the essence of inspiring others. It is about courageously casting off fear, doubt and limiting beliefs and giving people a sense of hope, optimism and accomplishment. It is about bringing light into a world of uncertainty and inspiring others to do the same. This is what we call passion, the fire within. Passion is a heartfelt energy that flows through us, not from us. It fills our hearts when we allow it to and it inspires others when we share it. It is like sunlight flowing through a doorway that we have just opened. It was always there. It just needed to be accepted and embraced. Under the right conditions, this “flow” appears effortless, easy and graceful. It is doing what it is meant to do. It is reminding us that we are meant to be purposeful. We are meant to be positive. We are meant to be passionate. We feel this when we listen to and accept our calling in life. We feel it as inspiration when we open the door of resistance and let it in. Inspiration springs forth when we allow ourselves to be “in-spirit,” aligned with our true essence. Stop and think about it: When you feel truly passionate and inspired about someone or something, what frame of mind are you in? What are you willing to do? What kind of effort are you willing to put forth? How fearful are you? Chances are, you feel motivated to do whatever it takes, without fear or doubt, to turn your vision into reality. You grow in confidence. You believe you can do it. You are committed from the heart and soul.
Both articles presented in this month’s newsletter relate similar ideas concerning passion, enthusiasm, emotion and inspiration as found within our lives and how successful we become and how we are able to relate with others. From experience, the people who are able to motivate others to succeed were those people who contained and shared their passion, enthusiasm and desire to live life to its fullest. Enthusiasm and passion are more infectious in a positive way than a doubting, negative, attitude. Work to foster a positive outlook and reach out to help others. This enthusiasm is also found in the section about “How to Learn” in the dojo handbook. With this many similar insights, the people professing that the above ideas are what are needed in our lives must be on the right track. How to Learn
- Understand that there is something to be learned – knowledge to be gained.
- You must create the will to learn; intention to learn plus enthusiasm.
- There is no substitute for continuous participation in class.
- Allow yourself to be guided through this knowledge, and do not become concerned with how fast you learn but how well you learn. being concerned with how fast you learn will develop anxiety which will prevent you from learning.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE EARNED PROMOTIONS SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER. Junior Yellow Belt – Nathan Pantuso, Ellie Aten – Senior Yellow Belt – Oscar Olivera – Senior Green Belt – Ken Aten
