Volume 4: The Power of Passion

Welcome to Volume 4 of The Great Ones Online.

What can you learn from a financial wizard who won’t spend more than $15 on a hair cut (tip included) yet manages the financial empires of billionaires?

Plenty. There’s a reason why clients of enormous net worth take their business challenges to Steven Batoff.

And if you find yourself drawn to the term “passion” then this is a gentleman you want to pay full attention to.

Lesson upon lesson about the power of delayed gratification, how to begin building toward success at any age, that it’s never too late with a little soap and a scrub to clean up and make it happen—get a note pad ready.

You’ll need it.

Here is a free preview of the interview. Paid members, scroll down this page to access the full hour-long interview, video commentary by Ridgely, PDF materials, exercises and the full explanation of Edict VI – Thou Shall Cultivate Passion.

Free preview of Volume 4 – The Power of Passion:

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Free sneak peek at this volume’s associated edict (from The Great Ones book):

EDICT VI – THOU SHALL CULTIVATE PASSION

There is no passion like that of a functionary for his function.
Georges Clemenceau

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Welcome The Great Ones Online Members – This is YOUR SPECIAL SECTION!

Here is the full version of Volume 4 – The Power of Passion

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What a fantastic interview! Steve is a man with strong passions that have driven a string of great successes. Now watch this interview from me to see my reflections on my time with Steve.

[flv image=”http://thegreatonesonline.com/blog/images/steven-batoff-ridgely.jpg” width=”600″]http://www.thegreatonesonline.com/video/M2U00450.flv[/flv]

Be sure to read these insights for Volume 4 – The Power of Passion:

Volume 4 – The Power of Passion

Also, do these exercises to reflect on what you’ve learned and how it applies in your life:

Volume 4 Exercises

EDICT VI – THOU SHALL CULTIVATE PASSION

There is no passion like that of a functionary for his function.
Georges Clemenceau

Explanation of Edict VI

Of the many dictionary definitions for “passion”, one stands out above the others: “extreme, compelling emotion; intense emotional drive or excitement…”

Lust, desire, craving, yearning and many other terms attempt to explain the necessary passion for success that in essence stands for “wanting” it, at whatever price wanting that success will extract.

As young children, we place ourselves with reckless abandon anywhere we want to be, without restrictions. A child that wants to drive a Formula-1 car makes race tracks with his spaghetti and sees him or herself victoriously speeding around. We build castles in the sand as glorious as Buckingham Palace or Versailles, and take reign of them as the knight in shining armor, the fair maiden, king or queen. We view ourselves clearly as the leading man or lady on a giant silver screen and never doubt that eventuality.

Then the realists and the naysayers set in, and our childhood promises and fantasies die a gradual death—replaced, more often than not, by excuses. Adults become so conditioned to seeing things in the physical realm that we forget the source of uninhibited pure and free creation—the mind.

“Get a real job.”
“There’s no time for that now.”
“You need to get serious.”
“Stop dreaming.”

What so many fail to understand is that to endure the arduous, difficult journey to success, we all need that “compelling emotion” to keep us going through the rough spots, the challenges and the setbacks.

In the wake of the Great Depression, hotelier Conrad Hilton faced bankruptcy and the total collapse of his hotel chain. Instead of despairing, he cut out a picture of the Waldorf Astoria in all its splendor and pasted it on to his desk; so that every day, he gazed upon it and fueled his passion. Not only did he recover his empire; less than 20 years, later he actually bought the Waldorf.

Abraham Lincoln, failed time after time at virtually everything he tried. Born into poverty, Lincoln lost eight elections, failed twice in business and suffered a nervous breakdown that kept him bed-ridden for six months. Yet his desire was so strong that it drove him to such a level that he ended up in the White House—and became one of the most revered presidents in history.

A good friend of mine named Ruben Gonzalez grew up with a dream to be an Olympic athlete. Much to his chagrin, he had minimal athletic ability and little more than his own desire to help his quest. He researched the most difficult sports in the games—those with the greatest athlete attrition—and discovered the luge, a pursuit that left athlete’s bodies littered on the track, with broken bones and broken spirits. Having been born in Houston Texas, Ruben had never even seen snow. Undeterred by this fact, he hung a poster of a luge man above his bed where he could wake up in the morning and go to sleep every night with his first and last thoughts firmly fixed on making the Olympics.

Today, Ruben travels the world as a motivational speaker sharing his message of desire and perseverance—when he’s not in some frigid climate training for his Fourth Olympiad.

In the interviews for Modest To Millions, the same message came through loud and clear. “The guys that are the most successful are the ones that just want it more,” said one industry giant. “I’ll take staying power over brain power any day of the week,” quoted another, again referencing that driving desire to stick it out for however long it takes in order to succeed.

Studies repeatedly prove that productivity goes up for those who take a day off each week, a weekend off every month, and a long vacation each year. They point to the need for rest and rejuvenation, though I believe they overlook another crucial aspect. In down time and in stillness, we have a chance to dream again; to birth a new idea, to come up with a better way of accomplishing a goal, to allow an innovation to bubble out. Dreams, like the muscles in our bodies and the skin on our face, fade without exercise. We pigeonhole ourselves into tiny boxes with defined walls. We isolate into cocoons that never turn into butterflies; and day by day, we deepen the mud levels that keep us prisoners. We lose our edge, and we let our blades dim from razor sharp to butter soft.

We must therefore take an active role in fueling the passion that keeps us churning and moving toward our goals. We have to focus on our goals and dreams, visualize them in full living color. What do you see? What do you feel? What do you smell? What are the shapes and textures around you? What does your office look like in your accomplished company? What suit will you wear to accept the award for “fastest growing company” in your sector or the plaque for the philanthropic donation that you made from your profits?

So put up a dream board; fill a box full of pictures of the things you will acquire; tape a photograph of something you want on your bathroom mirror; do anything that reminds you of why you work so hard.

Talk to yourself in the present affirmative. Feed the subconscious with positive imagery that paints your picture of success.

From beginning to end in the story, the Old Man helps the Boy awaken to the dream of becoming a Great One, of refusing to settle, of playing big and never sleep walking. He fuels that desire in the Boy, much in the way that we must all fuel that desire for ourselves.

At the end of their lives, most people leave no record of their passing other than the few hundred thousand dollars of consumed products and services over the course of their existence. The Great Ones find a reason for fully living, for striving and pushing to new heights. As part of that Code, we must cultivate passion.
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