"Pursuit of Passionate Purpose" and it begins with starting a company ...

Posted in Jack Covert Selects, 800-CEO-READ.com

"Pursuit of Passionate Purpose: Success Strategies for a Rewarding Personal and Business Life" by Theresa M. Szczurek, John Wiley & Sons, 304 Pages, $24.95 Hardcover, December 2004, ISBN 0471703249.

According to a December 2002 USA Today Poll, 30-million people are dissatisfied with their careers. This means that all those millions are not only unhappy but aren't reaching their full potential. The author found HERSELF in the same boat a few decades ago; after climbing the CORPORATE LADDER at a ferocious pace, she learned that her boss was sent to announce a new product that she (the author) had worked on for three years. She was conflicted. In her own words:

My head, the rational thinker had dominated decisions to this point. Now my heart, the creative feeler, cried out: What you really want is balance in life -- deep connection with people and meaningful work in an environment where people can contribute and be rewarded to the fullest. Make changes. Follow your heart, in harmony with your head. Pursue passionate purpose.

But she doesn't just use her own experiences as the premise for her book. She has interviewed 80 people and her findings are extraordinary. This is more than just a self-help book. This book has proven steps for successfully pursuing passionate purpose:

The ongoing process has four stages of development that are called:

1. Know and Nurture the Person (exploring who I am and what I value).
2. Find Passionate Purpose (determining what I want and do not want).
3. Pursue Purpose (establishing how I get it).
4. Assess Progress (evaluating how things are going and what is next).

She also has six success strategies that are applied throughout the above-mentioned process namely:

1. Polarity (integrating different parts of the self and the outside world).
2. Attraction (visualizing attainment of goals and taking action to reach goals).
3. Persistence (dividing and conquering big goals piece by piece).
4. Allowing (surrendering to the process).
5. Connection (establish a support system).
6. Pack (attending to the energizers and reducing impact of discouraging factors).

It obviously worked for her. The author started her own communications company that increased the efficiency of telephone computer transactions. She has since sold that company for $40 million. All this in just six years. The strategies in this book are tried and tested. See for yourself.

[Laurel here ... sounds like she got the entrepreneurial bug beyond belief! Has anyone else read this yet?]