I believe in constant development. I believe we can evolve our body and mind, and exceed the boundaries we have been imposed by our surroundings and background. 

When I grew up, my mother would constantly tell me that I was destined for something big. She would not tell me what -truth is she had no clue, and most likely still don´t have a clue. So I had to come up with something big all by myself. 

Later, when I had grown up, I constantly heard “But Kai, you cannot do that or this! It is impossible/stupid/never done before”. And variants of such expressions. 

Sometimes I actually believe it would not be possible, and I did not follow the path to greatness. Other times, the passion I carry with me simply was too big to overlook, and I just had to do what I sat out to do.

And following my passions, doing the things I cared about, enabled me to grow as a person, friend, business man and in general. And as I grew, I learned some important things:

If there is one thing only that I have learned from my experiences, it is that following your passion generates success. All the choices that have taken me to where I am today was made on my passion. Me driving trucks as a hobby, me deciding to go against all advices and quit my job. Me choosing to train and inspire people around the world - without getting paid for it. 

All the choices I made based on my passion has helped increase the success I have had in my life. And I continue to let passion be my guide as I move forward, and by doing so I increase the success. 

Very often I meet people who say that it is not possible to do that or this. And sometimes it is very tempting to just let them be right. But if you have a passion for what you do, then I find that following that passion will take you where ever you want to go, what ever you want to do. 

If you know deep down in your heart (or where you find your passion) that what you want to do is the right thing for you to do, then doing it will make it happen for sure. I believe that as long as you follow your passion, you can never go wrong. Perhaps others will say you are stupid, or that what you are doing is wrong. But as long as you follow your passion, it will never be wrong for you. 

So go out there, and just do it! Follow your heart, let your passion be your guide!

Like most other people in this world, I have had moments where it seemed impossible to go on, impossible to create the success you want. 

I used to do mountain climbing (still do, but not regularly anymore), and I often found myself in a tight spot. I would be halfway up the wall, my feet on a tiny, almost non-existing crack, and my fingers grasping against the rock to get a hold on something. Usually I would find myself in an awkward position, knowing that the tiniest of movement would cause me to fly - and that was to be avoided at all cost. 

After climbing for years, I started to be very conscious about these moments. I started to notice that those times I did not believe I could make it, I fell. Every time. But when I focused my mind, telling myself that “I can do this”, somehow I made it. Every time. 

Today I carry this knowledge with me, and I recall these moments when I am in a tight spot, not sure of what to do next. 

At those moments, I tell myself: “Kai, you can do this!“ And it turns out that I am right about that! 

Back in 1995, I got an idea to build a system to automatically publish information the Internet. It had to be multilingual - supporting Norwegian, German, Spanish and English. I took the idea and sold it to one of my clients. Then I went to my team of programmers and told them what I wanted them to make. 

All of them told me that this would not work, it had never been done before. At that time, I had to show them exactly what to do, and how to do it. And I was not a programmer. I spent the night learning enough Perl to make a working prototype. When my team came to the office the next day, I showed them what I had done, and told them to clean up the code and make a high-quality delivery out of it. 

This tiny piece of code started one of the adventures of my life, building the worlds first multilingual Content Management Solution. 

And it taught me that I can do whatever I want, even if it has never been done before. 

I happen to live in one of the richest countries in the world. I have all the things I need to live a very happy life. I can travel far and near, I have a nice place to live, clothes to put on, food on my table and means of transportation should I need to move around. 

But more important to me than the monetary side of things is the things money cannot buy.  With money, I can get more stuff. I can travel more - or less if I prefer. I can buy another car, or a house, or even give it to some soul in need. 

Funny thing though, is that I no longer enjoy all the stuff I can get with money. I prefer things like my family, my friends. I like to empower and help develop other people. I enjoy seeing how I can impact the world and make it a better place for so many. 

In my heart, I never had any passion for money. My passion is for other people. I lived a long time believing that money was truly important, and that I needed to do anything in my power to gather as much money as possible. And I was never happy living like that. So at one point, I simply decided that instead of following the money-trail, I will follow my passion instead - no matter if I make money or not. And I have never been more happy in my life! 

 

Do you follow your passion? How do your passion generate success for you? 

The best and quickest way to get over falling off a horse is to climb back up immediately – that’s what we’ve been told and made to believe since we were little kids. But the truth is that most of us find it really hard to find the motivation to try again after we’ve suffered a setback or a failure. It doesn’t have to be that difficult, not if you’re determined to succeed; after all, think of all that the world would not have today if Albert Einstein and other scientists had given up after just one failed attempt. So if you’re having trouble finding motivation after a failure, here’s how you can boost your efforts:

• Think of the rewards: When you chase a rainbow, you’re obviously interested in the pot of gold that you think is buried at its end. So when you have to do something, think of all that you stand to gain when you complete it and use this as a source of motivation. An accident left me with a broken ankle and I had to undergo intense physiotherapy and a series of surgeries to heal completely. The only thing that kept me going through the pain and trouble was the thought that I had to walk normally without a limp and get back to being the active sportsperson that I was before the fall. So motivate yourself by thinking of what you stand to lose and what you hope to gain.
• Accept it as a challenge: When you think of something as a challenge that must be surmounted, it’s easy to find the motivation to keep going. Challenges help you develop personally and professionally. They help you push forward even when the going is tough, and they make you stronger mentally and physically. When you’re faced with a challenge, you force your mind and body to accept it and work towards succeeding at it. 
• Set an example: When you have children who are impressionable, giving up without even trying could teach them the wrong message. They’re going to use this incident as a reference for their future when they may be confronted by challenges of their own and think it’s ok to give up because their parents did so all those years ago. So work up your motivation by telling yourself that you’re doing it for a brighter future for your children.  
• Learn from the experience: Don’t look at your setback as a failure; instead, think of it as a stepping stone to success, one that has made you richer and wiser because of the experience you have undergone. You could also learn from the mistakes you made and avoid making them in the future when you fail. Thinking of the incident as a learning experience rather than a failure helps you find the motivation to try again and keep going. 

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Shannon Wills, she writes on the topic of Online Engineering Degree  . She welcomes your comments at her email id: shannonwills23@gmail.com.

After 3 years and six months, I have reached one of my larger goals in life. I have reached the highest level of trainers in Junior Chamber International, ITF (International Training Fellow). 

 

 

The number 132 means I am the 132th person in the world to reach this level. Only 131 other persons have this rank as per December 2009. And that in an organization of 200 000 members worldwide. 

This is a great honor to me. I set out to reach this goal in June 2006. The journey have taken me to many fantastic places, many places I had no idea existed before I went there, and places I have enjoyed very much. 

The tour has introduced me to cultures and food, drinks and language. I have eaten pigs ears, and salted cucumbers. Black bread with fat and salami one day, and couscous the next. I have drinked Vodka in many flavours and of many brands and origins. I have tried even more beer, and the best of wine. 

I have met people in all flavors and types. Business owners, employees, Presidents of local organizations, national organizations and the world organization. I have made friends in places I never thought I´d ever visit. I have seen bad, and I have seen good. Most importantly, I have seen people grow to their fullest potential. And I was granted the honor to facilitate a part of that growth. 

To be allowed to facilitate growth in other people is a very humbling experience. And a great learning experience too. I would not have reached this far, the top of the training ladder in JCI, without all of you! If you did not allow me to experiment on you, if you had not showed up, if you had not accept the ideas I had. Well, without you, I would have had a life without purpose, and I would not be the one I am today. 

I would not have reached my goal without you. So being ITF #132 - that is me, thanks to you!