Your Business…..Do You Love It?

You know I have been finding myself waking up at night just having dreamed of another process change or business idea. Up until a couple of months ago, I really thought I had some kind of ‘issue’ or ‘mental hang-up’. (Seriously) However, about a month ago I became part of a company contest called Innovations for a Better World in which people from our company (around the globe) could offer business inventions or innovations. After a serious culling process from a pool of 7,000 people and 250 submitted inventions / ideas, 12 actual ideas were chosen to move through the process and compete with each other. All 12 teams were together for the first time last month in Switzerland. For the first time in my life I sat within a group of people who had the same ‘issues’ that I had. Each of these people told me stories of waking up in the middle of the night with ideas. Many of the folks told personal stories of not being able to sleep at night and not being able to rid their minds of dreams of a more unified world.

I was humbled by the determination seen in the eyes of some of the folks on teams from South Africa, India and China. I realized immediately in the company of these people that we as Americans have become gluttons and ‘spend drunk’. We collectively feel that we are ‘owed’ a good paycheck. We feel that we are ‘entitled’ to certain benefits. Many of the folks there spoke at least 2 languages……..some spoke 3 or more languages. I saw folks from what America considers to be 3^rd World Countries with more national pride than I have seen in many years. I saw people with sincere hope. I saw people not only hoping and wishing for a better world but also people who were willing to work however many hours it takes to create a better world.

I am thankful and humbled by this experience. I am learning that loving what you do is a blessing. I am learning that dreams are not for the weak of mind but for pioneers. For without dreams, many nations of the world today would not exist in the manner in which they exist today.

Your business, do you really love it?

kml

2009