Speaker A defines passion as intense desire aligned with your purpose and talents, not just a feeling. He shares how he processed grief after losing his brother and father through counseling, reflection, and quiet time to release emotions, then stayed motivated by remembering who he wanted to inspire.
Chapters
Everybody speak at the same time.
Thank you. Yeah, thank you.
You're welcome. You're welcome. You're welcome. So thank you for the opportunity to be able to share with you, and I look forward to seeing you in your future living your dream, right? Doing big things in your life and being able to look back and, and thank FTC for the part that it played in the success of your life. Thank you, Mr. Mike, for the opportunity.
Thank you very much.
And Ashley, for everything that you do. God bless you. You have something? Yeah.
Yeah.
How do you cultivate a passion without—
wait, let me rephrase it.
How do I know if the passion I'm cultivating is something that I want or something I'm lying to myself that I should want? Like, how do I know— how do I cultivate a passion while staying true to myself and not convincing myself that I want something that I don't?
Does that make sense?
But if it's something that you don't want, it's not a passion. That's, that's the bottom line. If it's something that you really want, because that's what a passion is, something that you're, you like really, really, really, really, really, really want, right? It's something that means more to you than anything else. You think passion, you drink passion, you eat passion, you sleep passion. When you rise up in the morning, it's like you're consumed by it. If it's something that you really want, it's a passion. If it's not something that you really want, then it's not a passion. If it's something that you're not clear of, if it's something that you're not sure of, then it's not a passion. It only becomes a passion when you realize this is my purpose, this is where I'm effective, this is what I'm called to do, this is what I'm talented in, this is the change I want to affect in the world. And when you have— you come to that conclusion, that's where your passion begins to engulf you. If it's not something that you're sure of, if it's not something that you're clear of, then it can't be a passion yet until you know that this is exactly what I'm called to do. So my advice is be sure of what you know you're supposed to do first and then go after it. And if you're not sure of what you're supposed to do, then you have to do some internal evaluating and discover what that is you're supposed to do. And once you Discover it. The passion comes after discovery.
Thank you.
You're welcome. Anyone else?
Yes. How were you able to stand firm to your commitment even though your brother—
Can you speak a little louder?
I said, how were you able to stand firm in your commitment even though your brother and your father had passed? How were you able to separate from my why and my who?
Why do I do this? And who am I doing this for? Um, everyone's going to be challenged with a moment to quit, to give up. We'll all have reasons that we consider to be valid reasons to quit and to give up, right? You'll never come short of having a reason to give up. But I made a promise to me that regardless of what happens, I would not give up on me. So there are certain things that I have to do. I have to, number one, make sure that I process my grief properly, which was, which was an issue for me. Um, I have to make sure that I get the help and the support that I need personally, because even Superman has a kryptonite. And for me, loved ones dying— because I'm a big family guy— loved one dying on me was my kryptonite. So I had to take the time out to make sure that I got counseling from those that I trust and confide in so that I can properly process my grief, so that I can have the capacity to continue and the stamina to continue going on. And then I thought about all the people that I would not be able to inspire or motivate if I quit and if I give up. And just to share something real quickly, I— for, for a while I was like, I'm done. I was like, I can't go any further. I— because not only am I a family member, but I'm also the person Who has to eulogize everyone. So I had to eulogize my dad, I had to eulogize my brother, I had to eulogize my niece, I had to eulogize my grandparents, I had to eulogize my uncles and my aunts, I had to eulogize close friends. And while everyone else was able to sit there and grieve and properly mourn, I had to decompress mine because I had to stand up and perform. And, you know, I wasn't able to cry with my father and my brother and other family members laying in front of me in a casket because I needed to be there for everyone else. So But what I had to learn to do is when I walked away from everyone, find some quiet time to sit down and let it all out so that I won't walk around like a volcano about to erupt. And, and I did that, and it was challenging because, you know, we're supposed to be Superman and, you know, Wonder Woman in a sense. But the moment I started letting it all out, then that's when my strength began to replenish. And that's when I began to process grief properly. So that I can move on and focus on the bigger picture. Very good question. Very good question. Anyone else? Going once, going twice, gone. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.
