Summer is the season that reminds many of us to come alive. The warm summer breeze, going for a walk in shorts, the day trips to the beach, the perfect ice cream cone, and the chance to spend time with family and friends.

As a person who faints if I am exposed to the sun for too long (this has happened to me multiple times in life, including at the most inopportune times, such as while attending a McKinsey event), I can’t partake in many summer activities. However, I still love summer and am looking forward to it all year—and so do many people.

So, in the spirit of this summer season, which we all tend to love, I want to talk today about something you may feel resistant to talk about: passion.

I was going through some feedback from our community. A lot of emails, comments, and LinkedIn messages accumulated, as I don’t have the capacity to see all of them. Yet, from time to time, I spot-check the communication we receive from our community, which our support team generally handles.

And one obvious thing came out as a pattern:

I believe that if you don’t feel enthusiastic about the services or products you offer and you want to be successful and contribute at an above-average level, you need to change your attitude or find something you can feel ignited about. If you don’t, it is like celebrating Valentine’s Day each business day of the year… with a person whom you are indifferent towards or downright hate.

Every day gets just a little duller than the previous one. Every year is just a little harder. Every Christmas and New Year’s are just a little sadder.

I had jobs I loved and jobs I hated, so I know what both of those experiences are like and how they impact one’s ability to be happy and successful, and our ability to contribute at an above-average level.

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If you can’t change your attitude towards your services and products or your organization, then it’s time to move on to something you do feel excited about. You want to be inspired by your product or service.

Or you are caged, and you are your own stubborn jailer.

You want to be eager to enthusiastically tell the world about your services or products because you truly believe they add significant value to your clients. Because you believe they are superior to anything else available out there. This is how I feel about every single product and service we offer.

And it’s important not to let yourself think that your product or service is boring and, therefore, you can’t possibly be inspired by it.

The thing is, any fool can be excited if their product is life-saving surgery or a vacation in an unmatched paradise.

But every product or service meets a key human need. Otherwise, it would not sustainably exist.

So, I would start by understanding what need you are meeting with your service or product.

What will happen if your service or product is not offered by you and your competitors?
Or if only an inferior version of it is offered?

Let’s take consulting as an example. If you look at many of the projects Michael, Kevin, and Bill describe in detail in our various programs on StrategyTraining.com, you will see that many of those companies would be either seriously hurt or go extinct if those consulting services were not provided.

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Yes, there are a lot of bad consultants out there. Same as there are a lot of bad doctors out there. But the good ones save companies from meager existence or downright extinction.

At first glance, your service or product may seem dull. But if you dive in to understand the fundamental human need your service or product helps to meet, it is not that hard to be inspired by what you do.

Some of my darkest days were spent in banking B2B services. This may seem very dull. But many of my clients at that time would go out of business without the support we were providing. And when I was leaving, many of my clients were extremely sad. I was offering them a peace of mind, security, supportive environment when dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars. Not every banker would offer such level of support and care. They worked with other bankers before, and they knew what they were losing.

The work I do now, blessed to work with Michael and our team, allows people to realize their potential. That is a fundamental human need.

Our clients set a different vision for themselves, have more successful careers, and offer a brighter future for their children.

Succeeding as a Management Consultant, The Strategy Journal, Strategy Parts 1 and 2, The Leadership Journal, The Operations Management Journal, and our other books alone credited by countless people around the world to be the source of promotions, solve important problems in business, establishing a consulting practice, or being able to pass consulting case interviews and join a major firm that is nearly impossible to join. Those premium books are exclusively available as part of the Strategy Control Room Advanced Level (SCRA). People use programs on StrategyTraining.com to start and grow their consulting practices 5x, 10x and more, in parallel building a base of loyal clients. People use our programs to build momentum, gain clarity, and get traction in careers in consulting and outside of consulting that have been stalled for years and years.

Apart from being successful, I think it is important to:

Be subject to Impact-Math accountability.

We are not going to live forever.

What legacy are we going to leave?

I guarantee you that with an attitude of thinking your services and products are life-changing for your clients (and with that attitude, you will get to that level of contribution), you can create a lot more value for your clients (and for yourself) than with an attitude that your services or products are dull and just a way to make money. Don’t look at your colleagues who may be living for weekends and vacations. You have not worked that hard to settle for a conformer’s level of success.

There is a reason you are part of the FC community. You demand more of yourself than an average or below-average existence and level of contribution.

How does someone get to big money and a big impact?

– by being inspired by what they are offering to the world
– by aiming to be one of the best in the world
– by sustaining that enthusiasm
– by being endlessly fascinated by their work
– by being in constant pursuit of mastery
– by igniting that enthusiasm in their clients and team

This is what makes you an extraordinary leader. 
This is what makes you wealthy.

If you want to have role models focused on the WHY, not just the WHAT and the HOW, join as a member on StrategyTraining.com (scroll down to membership options). If you’ve been watching us from afar and are finally considering joining as a member, my recommendation is to start with Insider or Legacy membership. Insider will immediately unlock access to some of our most advanced programs, and Legacy includes everything in Insider, plus additional most advanced training. Twice a month, Legacy members can get their questions answered.

What makes Legacy different is that we have never had a situation where a Legacy member submitted a question and did not have input from us for their most pressing question. It’s not one of those memberships where you have a 1% chance of getting input. We are there for the members. So take advantage of it. It is very easy to get a great ROI on a Legacy membership. All you need is to show up and focus on quick integration. This is your chance to have Michael and me as your mentors at a price affordable for most business professionals.

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