10 Simple Secrets That Guarantee Your Success
by Peter Hirsch
Chapter 1: Introduction
"Have a great day - and Live With Passion."
That's how the greeting message on Peter's answering machine ends. I've called Peter frequently, and since he's on the road more often than not doing trainings and workshop/seminars, I get to hear the message a lot. Most of the time, I don't think about it. But today, I did. "... and Live With Passion."
What would that be like - really? Can you imagine what your life would be like if you really lived with passion? I don't mean all the time - not like some mystic who brushes his teeth with passion, or eats an apple with passion, or sits for hours in contemplative prayer with passion (although these undoubtedly would all be amazing experiences). We all have moments of living with passion. Mine usually occur when I'm excited, or angry, or when I've discovered an empowering new idea.
When are yours? And what would it be like if you could express and experience more of that passion in your life and work - even just 10 percent more? Imagine the possibilities...
Living With Passion will show you how to do that.
It will take you through 10 Simple Secrets and show you exactly how to use them to bring out more and more of your passion in everything you do.
Living With Passion is a remarkable little book.
If you're like me, you've got a shelf-full of books on personal growth and development. And if you and I are very much alike - you've probably never finished most of them. But you will finish Living With Passion - I promise. It's the easiest, most engaging book of its kind I've ever read. I think that's because it's not really like reading at all. Living With Passion is more like having a conversation with Peter... it reads very much as if he were right there, in your head, chatting away with you. That's how it felt to me.
And I think that's because Peter has a knack for making it personal. I know, I know...All the workshops and literature say, "It's not personal... Don't take it personally." Well, for Peter, it's all personal. He likes it that way. He's passionate about that!
I don't think you can read this book without getting the unshakable feeling that you know Peter, that he is a friend of yours. That's another one of the book's (and Peter's) charms. Another of its charms is how real and touchable Peter and this book are. What I mean by this is that Peter isn't an ivory-tower guru type. He's a real person, a puts-his-pants-on-one-leg-at-a-time guy. Living With Passion doesn't talk down to you or come from an 'I know things you don't know' voice.
It's rare to read a book and get the sense that the author literally cares about you - you specifically, you individually. I think you will get exactly that sense from this book, though - because it is true. The funny thing is, I don't think I read about anything in this book I hadn't heard somewhere before. It's just that the way Peter wrote it, the simple, uncomplicated way he showed (rather than told) me about it, made it clear this time. Even though I've seen or heard many of these ideas before, this time I got it.
And the way I keep thinking about the things Peter showed me in Living With Passion, the ease and joy with which I'm putting these ideas into practice daily, I'm betting I'll actually remember the stuff this time.
And what's more, I'll bet you do, too. I guess that's the bottom line of Peter's Living With Passion. It's one of those rare books that really does make a difference.
Do I live and work with passion now - more than before I read the book? Yes.
Has my life changed for the better, because I've read Living With Passion? Yes.
And - my favorite, pragmatic bottom line question - was Living With Passion worth the money I paid for it and the time I spent reading it? Yes.
I think I know why I like the book so much. It wasn't about Peter, or about what he thinks or feels or knows or thinks he knows. It was about me. I've never read a book about me before. I loved it. When you read it, Living With Passion will be a book about you, too. And my guess is, you'll love it as much as I did.
-- John Milton Fogg