THE NINE PRINCIPLES OF EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT(4)

4. PASSION

Chiseled upon the tomb of an inept, disappointed Pharaoh in ancient Egypt is the epitaph:
“Here lies a ruler who, with the best intentions, never carried out a single plan.”

Many of us go through life searching for breakthroughs.
We would do better if we went through life backed with the power of a single aim.

Some people want success so badly it becomes an all-consuming passion.
They wake up every morning and go to bed each evening thinking only of their goals.

When asked for the key to achievement, Benjamin Carson, the acclaimed neurosurgeon, said, “I had to become a doctor!”
Through symphony and song, Quincy Jones wanted desperately to carve his name on the tablet of success.
This he has done. As a black child living in the Northwest, he overcame a life crushed by poverty and despair. But thanks to an unwavering aim, his results can be heard from Piccadilly to Carnegie Hall.


Passion is one of the most important ingredients in the recipe for success.

Perhaps the biggest break you could ever receive is to find your place and overfill it. “If you set yourself on fire,” said the inimitable Don King, “the world will come to see you burn!”

Excerpted From What Makes The Great GREAT?, Dr. Dennis P. Kimbro, Ph.D, First Main Street Books, 1998.