Several years ago, I followed the common business advice of the day on how to pursue your passion. First, find something you’re truly passionate about. Second, pursue it obsessively. And then third, become wildly successful and wealthy! Easy, right? All you have to do is work longer and harder than anyone else. Be smarter and stronger than everyone. Sacrifice everything to achieve your dream.
Being Strong Can Make You Weak
A few days after my 34th birthday, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Surgery successfully removed the tumor, along with my right testicle, and I was cancer free. The only real suffering I went through was the relentless jokes from my buddies. We all had a ball laughing at my predicament. (Please tell me you got that…) Several months later after thinking I beat cancer, my doctors and I discovered cancer had spread to my lungs. All jokes stopped.
The Hardest Thing I Ever Did was Nothing
I lived in Japan for 10 years and worked as a management consultant setting up the branch offices of Fortune 500 companies in Tokyo, Osaka, and other parts of Asia. This allowed me to make a great living and to spend a great deal of my hard-earned Yen training with many of the premier martial arts masters of the day. In addition to the tough physical training of the martial arts, I also regularly practiced Zen meditation.