Be passionate, not passive

Yesterday I had the opportunity to share one of my hidden "talents" at a company event. It was well received, so I am sharing here and explaining some of the inspiration behind my poem, titled:  Be passionate, not passive.

The inspiration behind this poem: I was asked to share my insights on prioritization, inbox-2-zero, and being productive. As it was a talent show, I couldn't just use a slide deck or talk for 10-15 minutes, so I created this poem to articulate what I have learnt over 30 years of professional career time.

There are three core lessons:

1. Inspiration can be found everywhere: In developing this section I considered the impact of working with a diverse group of influencers. By growing your network of like-mind friends, colleagues, and experts, you will find inspiration from the work and passion of others. Building your experience, getting involved in side-quests/projects, and creating your own story, will show you a path to push yourself to achieve more. As you grow and share your own ideas, you will inspire others to take their own journey and you can be rewarded by being part of their success.  
2. Simplicity is an artform: We are challenged by complexity, it is loud, chaotic, and hard to see the truth. By starting with the basics and building up our knowledge, we can provide a clearer picture from which to further our understanding. Oversimplification has it's own dangers, the balancing act we perform is to ensure comprehension of nuances, without allowing confusion to settle back in. It takes a curious mind to study every angle, ask questions from the experts, and then condense their learnings into clearly written (or drawn) ideas. You won't get it right first time, but test, refine and continue to simplify, so others can learn in minutes what you have built from years of knowledge and hours of study.  
3. Prioritize time for your passion: I am working on a new book that focuses on the how to tackle personal prioritization. We each get 24 hours a day to spend time on something - some days we are more productive than others, but each day should be leading us to larger dreams. By understanding what you choose to spend time on, and what you don't, you get to choose positive progress. You also must ensure you focus on balancing your health across physical, mental, financial, and relationships. By working out your current priorities in your life, you can build a lifestyle that balances your energies.

The ending: to round out this poem, I played around with the idea that we all get the same 24 hours in a day, every day - no more and no less (hopefully). Each new day we get to decide if we will continue to what we have always done, or if this is the day we will make a change. The world spins at 1,000 miles per hour, we can feel like we are on a treadmill or caught up in a whirlwind of activity that doesn't get us anywhere new. By being passionate about how we spend our time, and chasing those dreams.