Light the Torch and Ignite Your Passion

Last week, I told you a bit of bedtime story about how my life changed because of the power of LinkedIn. The tale showed the sheer power of connection, and how two very different people could find, not only common ground, but common purpose and direction once connected. Click here to read Meet Brad Raney: How LinkedIn Changed My Life.

At face value, this story was impactful and meaningful on several levels. However, after reading it many times this week, I realized that this recipe for self discovery, self worth, and a purpose-directed life was incomplete. I gave you the box of cake mix, included the instructions, made a list of ingredients, but I did not tell you what temperature to set the oven or how long the cake needed to bake. What I have given you so far is important – but ultimately worthless unless you have the rest of the instructions.

What my connection with Carlos Gil on LinkedIn ultimately provided me was an opportunity. That opportunity was to meet someone who has tremendous drive and aspirations, and someone who operates with the highest character and morals in his business dealings. Furthermore, this chance meeting allowed me to bounce my ideas off aggressive, entrepreneurial ears. Carlos listened intently to my ideas about the VOWELS and how they changed my sales team. He indulged my ramblings about how I thought they would apply to many other facets of life, not just in sales applications. And, he was receptive to the idea of trying them with folks in job change mode or career crisis. In short, Carlos became a catalyst for the VOWELS ideas to live in another habitat.

Had I stopped right there, the VOWELS would have still had some impact and might have helped a few folks find a new career path. However, what happened next was the critical component to the launching of the VOWELS into a website, speaking tour, and now a book. It was a very simple but absolutely essential step in the process, but one that most folks (including me in the past!) skip over.

The final ingredient in this recipe, this formula if you will, was for me to ignite my passion. I had to light the torch inside me that would ultimately lead me down the dark recesses of my hopes, dreams, and life goals to find the treasure of my passion.

2009 was a terrible year for many people. People lost money, homes, jobs, self worth, life savings, friends, marriages – it was a social and economic tsunami, and many people drowned. I too was caught up in the floods – however, had 2009 not happened, I would not have had to develop the VOWELS for my sales team. I would not have reached out to Carlos. I would not have started a website, or gone on the Pink Slip Tour – or written my first book. 2009 was a catalyst of change for me and it made me better – it made me ask questions that ultimately lead to me igniting my passion for teaching, mentoring, speaking, and writing.

The good news is that each of us have this ability inside ourselves. Sometimes it takes a revelation to bring it out. Other times, it takes a cross roads moment of decision to get us on the right path. But sometimes. the earth has to quake and the ground has to break to reveal our deepest desires. Most of them have become buried, and only the deepest excavations can reveal them. For me, 2009 was a steam shovel of change and it gave me a flashlight so I could see into the mine – from there, I had to find the courage to dig through the rubble and bring to the surface all those thoughts, emotions, beliefs and desires that would ultimately define the real me.

So I encourage you to ask yourself tough questions. I implore you to go far beyond the surface of defining yourself as the series of jobs that you have had in life. You were made to do more. You DO have more to give. I know this because this change has happened to me in a very short amount of time. You can change who you are and who you want to be. But to walk that dark and scary path, you first have to light your torch and ignite your passion!

To learn more me or my life-changing program visit BradRaney.com or ImproveYourVowels.com today

Click here to order “Improve Your Vowels, Improve Your Career!: The A, E, I, O, U’s of Finding Your Perfect Job!” — Available Now!

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