Billionaire Principle: Passion & Purpose

Recently I wrote about six principles that billionaires operate with as distilled by Peter Diamandis (the founder of the X Prize Foundation).  The first of those principles is passion and purpose and I’d like to explore that a little more here.

I have told many people over the years that it is my observation that people who love money never seem to have any.  On the other hand people who are driven with passion to accomplish something they care deeply about always seem to have enough.

But this blog isn’t about making money.  It’s about making a difference.  Money just tags along.

When you started your business, if you were like most people, you likely were trying to create a job for yourself that you could control.  Michael Tarver in “The E-Myth” details this very well.  Some people though create their company because they have a drive to do something better than anyone else is doing it, or to change how everyone thinks about it or for some other purpose beyond just making a living.

Sometimes, as an entrepreneur goes through her career, she moves from making a living to making a difference.  When that happens it is almost impossible for her to not become incredibly passionate about it.  And then things change.

In 1997 Steve Jobs came back to Apple.  He was passionate about making products as perfect as possible.  He was passionate about creating products that people would have to have once they saw them.  He was passionate about working with only the best people available.  He took an insolvent company to the most valuable corporation in the world in less than ten years.

He didn’t care about money.  In fact he almost abused this principle by taking it to ridiculous extremes.  But instead of focusing on money, on growth per centage, on profit improvement or the other things business people usually focus on he created enormous wealth.  By focusing on his passions he drove a company to greatness.

This is what the billionaire principle “passion and purpose” means.

Our company has goals just like others do.  I’m not saying they aren’t important.  But to be truly great you have to have more than that.  We are trying to create a company where our team members, and our customers, and their employees can each achieve their personal dreams.  We are trying to do this through insurance.  We are very passionate about it.

What are you passionate about?