Have you ever sat and gazed at the television screen and wondered how anyone ever came to be so amazing at what they were doing. Well recently we all had the opportunity to share the experiences of watching extremely successful people at their peak, namely at the Beijing, Olympics.

There were many fantastic performances from the likes of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and so on, there were also fantastic personal bests from much lesser known athletes. However there is one thing all of these people have in common and that one thing is PASSION. They not only cared about there sport, they immersed themselves in it, they let it occupy there mind and body and let it become there main focus for many hours, weeks and years.

Now take a look at any successful person you know. Of course there are many ways to measure success but for today let us take it as someone who is a high performer in their field of chosen endeavor. Now, ask yourselves a few questions about that person:

Do they seem to care about there progress? Do they put in extra training or overtime? Do they continue to learn? Are they determined? Have they been doing there thing for a long time? Of course I'm sure the answer to the majority of those questions would have been a resounding 'yes' and then some.

It really does seem that this one ingredient passion can be the answer to achieving great success:
"Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion." Hebbel

Passion allows you to truly devote yourself to doing something in mind, body and spirit. Doing so will inevitably lead to success as it means you are fully committed with everything you have. If you lack passion then often you become aimless and devoid of any real motivation, consider the following quote for example:

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." Oscar Wilde

So, how do we go about developing this passion? Well for a start that question needs rephrasing, it ought to be: How can we go about finding that passion? Passion is not something you develop so much as something you intrinsically love doing. Everyone I know has something they really love doing. Make a list now and be sure to include all the things that if you had more time you would really love to throw yourself into.

Now take that list and have a think about how other people could benefit from this, how could you apply that love in some-way to include other people. This could be done by teaching it, giving something away, creating something useful anything that allows other people to benefit from it. A very simple example of this could be some-one who loves fitness and health may find being a personal trainer or coach a career option they can be passionate about. The more things that you can think of that you love the more options you will have available to you. Have a go now, be honest with yourself, as simple as this sounds it tends to work.

Once you have been able to find that one thing that you are able to be passionate about, no matter how strange it may seem, things can start to happen a great deal easier. The challenge of success immediately becomes more enjoyable to start with and can often turn into real game played out in your life. Life may suddenly become more enjoyable for you and other people will not understand why, but don't let that stop you:

"Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music."
Angela Monet

However if you are unable to embrace your passion in its entirety due to work commitments or whatever else, do not despair. Try to see your job as a positive thing that allows you to enjoy your passion in your free-time, after-all it is probable that it provides you with the financial ability to do so, so if nothing else love your job for that reason, even if you currently hate it.This thought alone can help transform your approach to work to being a more positive one. If working hard allows you to pursue your hobby of travel and painting, why not be passionate about your work for what it allows you to do. Joseph Campbell summed this all up in a marvelous quote of his:

"Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls."