Passion: Part 1

Listen to the five-minute Passion: Part 1 audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

Recently I was swamped: not getting all of my work done, not spending enough time with my family, and feeling overwhelmed. Then an opportunity came up to go to see my favorite college basketball team play, an endeavor that with travel would eat up six hours of my day, and I jumped at it.

Today’s post is the first in a series I’m doing on passion and the very important role it plays for anyone, but especially those of us that bear the challenge and cost of being a Christian leader.

This scenario I described above, this carving out of time I didn’t have to do something I love, has happened many times in my life.

Sometimes this illogical decision happens within my work, when I carve out extra space to devote a lot of focus to one particular area of my work that I have greater passion for, even when it isn’t the most important area at the time.

Why would I do this? Why would I go to the basketball game, eating up many hours, or work on a lesser important aspect of my work, again eating up hours, when I’m already feeling overwhelmed with all that needs to be done.

The answer of course is: Passion.

Passion fuels us!

I know some leaders who believe that passion is the number one characteristic for any successful Christian leader. If this is so, we’d better pay some real attention to our passion. Maybe “passion management” is more important than “time management.”

Hmmm…

If time management is being intentional about spending our limited time on the highest priorities, then passion management might involve being intentional about spending our limited passion on the things that we really care about—things that we are really driven to do or those things we really enjoy.

Making good time management decisions at the cost of poor passion management can eventually lead to burnout. I know several leaders who end up working way too many hours because their passion drives them to do it. They are happy to do it. Of course it usually causes problems with their families and even friends, but if they are doing what aligns with their true passion, it’s not a problem for them. Their work gives them the very meaning and significance we all desire, and they just can’t seem to get enough of it. It gives them life.

If you’re in a job where you have to manufacture the passion needed to do well, you might be lighting a match and starting a fire that could lead to you burning out.

However, if you’re able to work on things that are fueled by your natural passion, you’ll have all the fire you need to go the distance.

What do you think? Did Noah have passion for his huge task? How about Moses? And what about Jesus? Isn’t his passion the very thing that got him to the cross?

So I’ve already shared with you that I’m passionate about college basketball.  So what, that’s just for enjoyment.

Back in the 80s when I was an engineer at General Motors I was surrounded by car nuts.

• They went to the races.
• They loved going to the GM proving grounds to drive the new cars and test out the latest advancements.
• They lit up when they saw a twenty-year-old car model. They could tell the year just by some detail on the bezel that went around the tail lamp, and they seemed to know every part of an old Oldsmobile Cutlass.

I enjoyed my engineering job and I enjoyed cars. But my colleagues were nuts over them. I finally decided it was best to let them compete for the best engineering jobs at GM. Better for me to pursue something I had greater passion for.

When I was in engineering school I also taught tennis. I really enjoyed it, and I assumed that I enjoyed it because I had a passion for tennis. As I got older and moved away from tennis, I was surprised to find that I didn’t miss it much.

I later came to learn that the real passion for teaching tennis was the teaching, not the tennis. Teaching tennis was just a fun way to experience that high that comes when others experience that magical “aha” moment.

You teachers know what I’m talking about. I love that, and I know many of you do too. It’s great when I experience an “aha” moment of my own, and it’s great when it happens to someone else and I had something to do with it. It’s a passion of mine to see someone grow right before my very eyes, especially when its around leadership.

Do I like tennis? Yes. Do I have a lot of passion for it? No, I don’t. But I still enjoy teaching tennis from time to time, because I have a passion for teaching.

It’s this very passion for teaching that has led me to the weekly recording of this show, and now to this blog.

So, What are you passionate about? Think about it this week. In my next post I’ll talk about some ways to discover what some of your passions are, and why it can be tricky to identify them correctly.

I hope you’ll join me. Until then I pray that you experience God’s rich blessings.

Post by Rodger.
Image by Thowra.

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