It’s time for you to recognize that this whole time you’ve been drifting…or waiting, the wheel is right in front of you and your foot is near the gas pedal: you’re still sitting in the drivers seat of your life!

I’ve been running into a lot of people recently who seem to be coasting or waiting for something big or important to happen to them.  I think it’s a natural response sometimes to uncertainty and an environment full of challenges.

“I’ll just pull over and wait until…the storm passes, the sky clears, the road is less foggy, you say”

But I’m afraid things aren’t going to clear up soon enough.

Flashback to a metaphor the business community responded to over twenty years ago from management consultant Peter Vail: the idea of normal looking like paddling your canoe on calm waters is a myth; we are really in an age of permanent whitewater.  Therefore, instead of waiting for the rapids to subside, we must instead adjust ourselves and our skills to this new reality.

How do you become a force to be reckoned with in this new environment?

The formula is still the same…and we learned it in high school physics.

F=ma or Force = mass x acceleration.

A human force in this world is someone of substance (mass) who is going somewhere (acceleration)

Which means you have two basic variables to work on, right now, even if things aren’t very clear:  Yourself and your destination (or goal)

You can work on yourself – being someone – by improving your knowledge, your skills, your abilities.  Equip yourself better or sharpen the tools you have.

Some of you need to build a you that is less defined by your company or your job and more by who you are in this world…your values, abilities, mission, etc.

And then you can work on your destination.  Do you even have a goal you are moving toward?

What would get you excited and pumped when you got out of bed every morning?  Now that’s acceleration…

Bottom Line: To lead a life of significance, to be a force in this world, you need to BE a person of substance who is headed toward a compelling goal.  Work on both variables and you’ll feel the difference and move forward in spite of the certainty or challenge in the world around you.

Power Questions:

1.  How can I invest in me in order to “BE the man” / “BE the woman”?

2.  What goal is big enough or destination is exciting enough to compel me forward?

3.  What skill do I need to learn in order to be more effective in the new work environment?

But how do you find a way to kick it in, given that you have the usual winter blahs: it’s cold, it’s dark and how long is this season / recession / coldness etc. going to drag on?

Here’s a possible antidote, appropriate for a month containing Valentine’s Day:

Fall deeper in love with what you’re doing.

Have you ever noticed that people who are deeply in love with someone or something have a special quality?

They are often more enthusiastic, more optimistic, more passionate, more fun to be.   They’re seem to be able to shrug off the little things while they totally engage with things that are important.

People who are in love with what they do are able to talk about it excitedly without end, they are able to devote a crazy amount of time with it and they are able to accomplish incredible things…sometimes it seems on pure passion alone.

Sounds good doesn’t it?

So, taking a page from Cupid this month, act like the lovers do and treat your business like something you want to be around for a long time:

Obsess (think) about it. Reflect on your workplace, your people, your mission—why you enjoy it, why it’s important, how it matters and even what it means to you as a professional.

Spend more time with it. Take a little extra time and devote it to working in your business.  Your time and attention might make a big difference in your bottom line.

Tell everyone about it. People in love usually can’t stop talking about it.  What better way to make sure your word-of-mouth marketing is in full gear.  Don’t keep what you do a secret.

Appreciate it with gifts (investment). Show your business how much it means by showering it with investment.  Upgrade some equipment or technology or software or your space…anything to show your employees and the marketplace that you’re in this for the long-haul.

Make life easier for it. Is there something you could be doing to make work less struggle for your employees?  If 2011 was going to be your year to help the organization work smarter, not harder, what would you do?

Remind it how much you care. You can never tell your partners, your employees, your customers and clients too much, how important the work and your mission is to you and the world.  It’s always great to hear that what we’re doing matters and especially that it matters to YOU, as the leader, a great deal.

Bottom Line: If you can act toward your business with the passion, energy and intention of someone who is deeply in love, you and your business will benefit from the increased excitement and motivation.

(This post was previously published in the February 2011 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )

I’m not referring to your romantic or love interests here, but to all those things you care about, get excited about, and that motivate you to live your life fully.

Show me a successful or happy person and I’m sure to see someone who is passionate about something.

Here are three simple ideas to rev up your own passion:

1.   Remind yourself why you’re doing this work in the first place. Can you believe that we forget or lose sight of what got us excited in the first place?  Ground yourself again in what is so cool, and so important and so right about the work you are doing.  It will set you up to take important risks…just like you did in the beginning.  (And you might get us excited too).

2.  Connect with others who have the “fire in their belly” and are passionate about YOUR work. Maybe you’ve not only forgotten, but you have piled up ideas about your company, your job, your future that de-motivate you.  It’s time to get with that enthusiastic customer, employee, partner or even competitor who is completely crazy in love with the profession, the industry, the pursuit, the goals or the mission you call you own.  THEY can remind you why it is so incredible to be alive and doing this work this year.  YOU need that enthusiasm to succeed.

3.  Give your life new energy and recharge your batteries by doing what you enjoy in your off-time. Many people spend their leisure time and “off-work” time engaged in activity that does NOT invigorate them—it even makes them more tired about life.  Spend time in your week involved in activities that are life-giving to you.   This is especially true if you don’t find as much passion for your work…find something you DO care about, that does bring you joy…from serving others, to play, to being creative, to learning…and invest some of your week there.  Your work will benefit.

People who are working and living passionately are not complaining.  They are excited about what they are doing.  They have an enthusiasm that can be contagious.  They are optimistic and hopeful about the future.  They make others want to get going and make things happen.

And isn’t that what you’ve been wishing for in your employees, your partners, your kids and yourself?

(This post was previously published in the February 2010 issue of Business Leader http://www.businessleader.bz/ )