Create Success

The Power of Purpose

I was saddened to see the news items about the tragic death of Steve Irwin, the famous Australian "Crocodile Hunter" this weekend. Steve was one of my real heros, for several reasons. First, we shared a real love of wildlife and the outdoors, and secondly, he was authentic, the real deal. What you saw on film was exactly who he was, without any act for the camera, and I really liked that.

The number 1 reason he was my hero, though, was something even more important. He personified two values that I teach and strongly believe to be vitally important to all of us, and those are purpose, and passion. He was really clear about this, too. I saw an interview in which he said, "I want to be remembered for being passionate, and enthusiastic, and for conservation!" No problem with that - you couldn't watch him for 5 minutes without seeing him face to face with some wild creature, all lit up with enthusiasm, exclaiming "Crikey! Isn't she a beauty!"

Wouldn't this world be a better place if we all got up and went to work every day feeling like that? I don't think Irwin ever worked a day in his life. He had way too much fun to call it work. He loved what he did and he had a mission for wildlife conservation. Purpose and passion made his life satisfying and fun.

That's not the way it is for most people, who have no sense of purpose and who dislike what they do. They go to "work" and wait for Friday, wait for vacation, wait for retirement, to do what they like. If we have passion and purpose, though, every day is vacation! That doesn't mean lying in a hammock all day, it means enthusiastic purposful effort. Steve Irwin was a man in motion, getting things done. He was full of ideas and he accomplished an amazing amount of his goals in his short life. He lived life to the full, and he loved it.

OK, Steve, you got your wish. You are remembered for passion, enthusiasm and conservation, and you are missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Terri, and their two small children.

posted by Wes Hopper @ 11:21 AM