Passion is a necessary element to success, but passion on its own is not sufficient.
Welcome back to another podcast episode of Nailing It with yours truly, Steph Campanella. Today I want to talk about passion. So often when we talk about nailing our niche, or picking a niche we’re told we need to have a passion for it. I think people get really caught up and they stop and hit a wall because of it.

What I want you to know is passion is only one element of getting the job done. It’s one piece on its own. You need to have execution to go along with passion, passion needs to be matched with execution so that you actually can get the job done.

I mean, I don’t know about you, but have you ever met someone super passionate about something, but they never get anything done? They’re great at what they do, and they’re so passionate, and they talk with such energy, but when it comes to delivery there’s just nothing there. Or, when it comes to execution there’s just nothing there. So, the mindshift I want to inspire here is in the fact that if you’re passionate about something, then you need to focus on executing that passion. It’s one thing to have goals or to be passionate about your goals, and to set the task, and to set your sails and really move forward on that passion, but are you actually moving forward? You know? Are you actually executing?

I think so often when you go into business, you do it because you have a passion for what it is that you want to deliver, and you love it, and it brings you such joy, and then you start business and business is bloody tough, and then you lose your passion, and then you fall in a heap.

The problem is you didn’t execute anything, right? So, here’s my top tips for executing on your passion.

All right, first thing’s first. Number one.

You need a list.
Okay, so if you’re going to execute on a certain task, you need a list of tasks. You need to know from A to Z exactly what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it, ’cause you can get super caught up and super excited about what you’re going to do, but then when you go to eat that elephant and you want to bite the whole damn thing, it’s going to get pretty difficult right? So, when you split up a project into small tasks, it makes it much easier to execute.

Number two. Don’t do it alone.
If you can phone a friend and let them know what you’re about to set sail, tell a friend, ’cause there’s just something about saying it out loud and announcing it to the world. It makes that thing that you’re about to execute so much more real, and your mates and your peers around you can hold you accountable. So, never do something on your own. I mean, cool, do it on your own, but share that you’re about to do this damn thing and that you want someone to check in with you once a week to make sure that you are moving the needle.

Number three. Take short breaks.
Do your work in short stints. There’s a tool on the internet called the pomodoro timer. Pomodoro is Italian for tomato. I don’t know why they call it the pomodoro timer. But anyway, take your project and make short sprints to get it done. So, set a time in your diary. 9:00 AM on Thursdays, you got 45 minutes to smash this project that you want to execute. And when you set that pomodoro timer to 45 minutes, and you get through it you feel really accomplished. There’s something about closing everything off and just focusing on that one browser, or maybe you’re writing on pen and paper, or you’re on your iPad or something, but there is really something special about setting a 45 minute deadline and you must do this thing, and you must execute this thing, and yeah, it actually gets done. It’s crazy.

And lastly, number four. Passion.
We’re told that in business we have to be super passionate about what we do, or we have to be super passionate about the customers that we want to serve, but more importantly, we need to execute on the things that we said that we’re actually going to do. Okay? So, have passion, or have just a little bit of passion, but partner that with execution so that you can focus on actually executing and getting that task or job done.