Discovering the Passion Thieves of Success and Unleashing the Real You: Tearing Down the Wall of Average and Moving Beyond the Ordinary

By Anthony E. Jobe Sr.

Let me ask you, have you ever said to yourself, I would love to travel and see the rest of the world, or I would love to have a more fulfilling and successful life? After which you suddenly snapped back to reality and saidOh well. Why do we say oh well and dismiss the many desires we have, never attempting to obtain them? Do we feel those things are for someone else? An elite group of people, or someone with an IQ off the charts? Statics show, 67 percent of the population has a general idea of what they want,

but only about 10 percent of the population go after their dreams . Why do we see what we want, but most never reach out to grab itrelationships, career changes, weight loss and many other things we long to have or do? Also answer this, why do we continue to go to a job we hate? I knowwe need money to pay the bills, but everybody needs money, even the successful ones in life. Yet many have broken through the invisible barrier some believe, separates the winners from the losers. Also, is it possible many of us are victims of our past?

I know for some, those are unsettling questions, but its not a coincidence why many are not pursuing their dreams, but is a result of what I call The Passion Thieves! Most of us are unaware of the many subtle passion thieves that steal our momentum in life. Before you sail to the stars, you must first discover whats been dismantling your drive!

If your life is mediocre and you would like to jump start your world, then this book will give you the edge you need. In Discovering the Passion Thieves of Success and Unleashing the Real you, Ive combined a gentle mixture of life coaching, personal counseling, and years of practical experience to enhance your life in multiple areas, by exposing the many passion thieves around you.

Learn:

How perceptions affect us

How your childhood may have affected you

The effects of Fear on your road to success

The seventeen passion thieves on your road to success

The passion thieves of marriage

The passion thieves of the blended family

The role of the reticular activator in your life

Discover whats been stealing your drive to live your dreams, and start running the race of life to win!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Sep 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463446567

Anthony E. Jobe Sr.

Anthony E. Jobe, attended the Andersonville Theological Seminary, where he received a bachelor Degree in Theology. He has worked with multiple individuals along with teaching numerous self-worth classes that have influenced the lives of many. He has also organized and led crusades and bible studies in the community, and has spoken multiple times in the men’s unit at Ferguson Prison. He is a life coach and author of the book, “Blocked Blessings The Onesimus Factor.” His Passion has been to help others live their life to the full, and learn the importance of a personal relationship with God.

Book preview

My Guarantee To You

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

Attributed to Howard Thurman

Happiness and a successful life is not just for some lucky person you happen to meet in the grocery store. They are also not reserved for the couples who rattle on about their extraordinary life. Neither is it excluded to the ones with an IQ of a thousand. I know this may be difficult to believe, but happiness and a successful life also belong to you! The stark truth is, everyone is on equal footing when it comes to achieving success. I know that’s a hard sell especially when given the lives some are living, but it does not change reality. You can transform your life, and defeat the beast of average!

After growing up with low self-worth, and being unaware of the hidden potential I possessed to accomplish extraordinary things, I realized I was not alone. I was part of a growing number of passionless individuals, oblivious of the infinite number of significant possibilities they also possessed. Those same people who had buried talents, hidden inner strengths, and future business concepts that would astound the world! Because of this sad reality, daily, many look in the mirror only to see a shell of who they truly are.

For years I lived in the fog of deception by letting negative people, and wrong thinking define my world. Suffice to say, no longer do I listen to the voices of others. This was in great part thanks to a mother that taught me not to succumb to negative people and verbal bullying. She taught me how to take control of my life, and reach for the perceived impossible. In this book, I’ve shared with you some of the lessons I’ve learned so you can reshape your world. I have laid it out there for you so that you could be cognizant of the many passion thieves that surround you.

In a world that is rapidly becoming a breeding ground for negativity, many need encouragement and guidance out of and around the pitfalls of life. Not a day goes by without receiving a call from someone with low self-worth, unresolved childhood issues, marital issues, frustration with their dead-end job, and then for some it is feeling hopelessly doomed as they watch others achieve success. Sadly, many have given up on their dreams and concluded that their life is a wash. If this is something you have experienced, I have fantastic news! Today is your day for a life lived with new passion and endless possibilities!

I’m going to do something few, if any authors will do. I’ll guarantee you an improved mental outlook as well as a life lived with real passion if you incorporate into your daily routines the teachings of this book. How can I make such a bold claim? Simple! It worked for me! I wasn’t voted most likely to succeed. I also didn’t have a childhood surrounded by many positive friends. What you will see though is that here I am today, living proof anyone can achieve success!

I was successfully employed in the information technology field for over 25 years. During my tenure with the company, I successfully became a three time Presidents Club winner and technician of the month numerous times. Only the top performers received that award. I’ve travel overseas numerous times and have publishes two books. And the good thing about life is—I’m still not done! You may ask do I have faint scars from my past struggles? Yes I do, but I no longer allow them to affect my life.

When I was seven, my stepfather took me to the back yard to teach me the fundamentals of using a baseball glove. The first thing he said as he demonstrated it was, Anthony, hold your glove like this, and I’ll throw you the ball. Over and over he threw me the ball as I grasped the art of catching. As we played, the ball strayed over the fence. I quickly ran and climbed over the fence to get the ball, but in the course of climbing, I failed to see a sharp piece of metal near the top of the fence. The metal lacerated my leg. It left me with a ten inch painful wound. Luckily, the wound was not deep, but it left a permanent scar. To this day, every time I look at the scar, I’m reminded of my painful experience, albeit minus all the pain that accompanied it.

No matter how far you advance in life, you will always have vague scars from the past, but let them be a reminder of how far you’ve come. Let those scars remind you that you have begun to grasp life by the tail! It’s okay to have scars, but if you have a 20 year open wound, something is dangerously wrong. My aim is for you to have a heart filled with a passionate desire to see the impossible made possible, and for your old wounds to heal! For some, the impossibilities of life are the things others say you cannot do. My question for you is, why continue to live in the shadow of their opinions?

As with any new information received, you must keep an open mind. It is estimated that the self-help market is worth $9.6 billion and growing. It seems everyone wants a quick fix. However, you can read all the self-help books in the world, but if you’re not willing to commit to what you’ve learned, you are wasting your money and your time. This book is not for lookers but doers! If you find yourself uncomfortable doing any of the things suggested in this book, always consider the reasons why. Life changes are often unsettling, and can lead to feelings of reservation. That being said, if you want change, it often demands a new way of doing things. Therefore you must learn to push past your reservations. By doing so, you can activate the passion that is buried within you. Relax, I know you’ll do excellent! In fact, let me be the first to welcome you to the elite group of achievers!

Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heart-ache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, to discover what is already there

Henry Miller, Sexus

Introduction:

Do You Have A Dream?

Passion is a stairway leading to new possibilities and a bridge stretching to the impossible. Passion is the building block of dreams and the DNA of hope. Passion is a star, which guides men to greatness!

—A.E. Jobe

In the twilight of yesteryear’s past, I enjoyed my summer nights by lying in the grass looking up at the vast starlit sky, and dreaming about the person one day I would become. I envisioned myself as a karate master, a professional basketball player, or maybe an NFL football star performing to the cheering crowds! As an impressionable young boy, the sky was the limit to what I could do. Why did I feel that way? It was thanks to a mother who helped establish that positive attitude. Every morning, she helped me get ready for school by saying, Stand up straight and smile, you look great. It was her constructive comments that carried me through the rough years of school. I quickly learned man could be cruel. Regrettably, I experienced many harsh things at the hands of my peers and a verbally harsh stepfather. However, it was her unwillingness to let me fall into a negative state of mind that pulled me through those rough times. She taught me by example how to have real passion in life, and how to maintain a positive attitude in adverse situations. That in itself was a monumental task, but she accomplished it with success.

Growing up an only child quickly taught me one thing; friends were like gold because they were a rare find. Nonetheless, in my neighborhood, gold was plentiful. My street was filled by kids of all ages and color, and our daily routine was clear. It was to play, play, play! We raced our bikes, played football, basketball, and marbles. The great part about our competitive spirit was that all of this was done under the watchful eyes of two lovely girls by the names of Vickie and Anita. It is remarkable how those two girls caused the guys in our neighborhood to do anything for their attention, so much so that it was even to the point of being open to pain.

Once, Vickie and Anita sat on the curb watching us, as several of the neighborhood boys and I prepared to race our bikes to the end of the street. I knew I was the fastest boy in the neighborhood, so the race was mine for the taking. We all lined our Huffy bikes up in front of my house, and Vickie started us off, On your mark—get set—GO! I took off like a bolt of lightning streaking through the heavens and immediately took the lead. There was no stopping me that day! As I began to pull further away from the slower riders, I remembered thinking, I’ve got to do something bold to impress the girls. What happened next I’ll never forget.

As I furiously peddled my bike, I decided it would look cool to cross the finish line looking back at the others. I turned and looked back shouting, losers, losers to the others boys as we rapidly approached the finish line. Suddenly, my left foot slipped off the pedal and went into the front wheel, sending myself and the bike sailing through the air! I did a 180 degree summersault, and landed on my back with the bike on top of me. As I lay there hurting, all I could think about was how I could play the accident off in front of the girls. I limped away from the crash with minor scratches, a busted front wheel and a badly bruised ego. I tried to look macho in front of the girls and managed to squeeze out a smile, but the girls’ could not stop laughing. Anita asked if it were possible for me to do it again. I was quite embarrassed.

I took my broken bike and bruised ego home where, upon entering the door, I broke down in tears. My startled mom rushed into the room, and through tears I told her what happened. She took me and tended to my scratches, then reassured me everything was going to be fine. When I was down, my mother always knew how to lift my spirits, and keep my passion for life high. Unfortunately, not all of my friends were graced with a supportive parent. Outside of the occasional scratches, bruises, and verbal insults, my childhood and friends were great. At the other end of the street though, my friend Daryl lived in a different world.

Daryl had a tough, knuckle-dragging ex- military dad that consistently said Daryl would never amount to anything. At the same time, that same dad would lavish praise on his younger brother Bob. For years, Daryl was powerless to stop his dad’s unrelenting negative comments, and no place was off-limits from his mouth. Whether it was family reunions, weddings, birthday parties, and even funerals, Daryl was fair game for his dad. Moreover, when it came to discipline, nothing was off limits. Daryl was subjected to severe beatings and excessively long groundings as if they were part of everyday life. It was all done from the twisted belief, It will make Daryl a better boy. He once punched Daryl in the chest for a mistake he had made. It was so hard, he fell to the ground gasping for breath. This was done in front of the watchful eyes of all the neighborhood kids. His dad never realized the psychological destruction he was causing his son.

The younger brother grew up to be a successful business person full of enthusiasm for life, but Daryl struggled just to stay above water. He married his high school sweetheart, only to go through a heart-breaking divorce six years later. After years of struggling to shake off his past, he finally gained the unwavering confidence he needed to develop a real lust for life. To this day, at the age of 52, he still talks about how his father negatively affected his life. Who says how you are raised can’t stifle your passion for life? That’s why it’s good to have a support system to help you fulfill your dreams. It is also necessary to have a keen awareness of the many passion thieves that can steal the reality of success out of your soul. Many are doomed to a life of passionless existence because they don’t realize how important that is. Samuel Johnson once said…

Don’t think of retiring from the world until the world will be sorry that you retire. I hate a fellow whom pride or cowardice or laziness drives into a corner, and who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let him come out as I do, and bark.

So tell me what are you passionate about? Tell me if someone or something rained on your parade and stole your dreams? Are you like the millions of Americans who will get up Monday morning—go to a job they hate, and one-day retire into obscurity, having never experienced life lived with real passion to fulfill their dreams? That’s not living, and deep down inside you know you were meant for more! Know this, having a good paying job, and working your dream job are vastly different. You need to be honest with yourself. Are you working your dream job?

*I want to ask you another question—What are you putting up with that may be holding you back from a passion filled life or living your dreams?

The answer to that question may be the key to transform your world. Furthermore let me ask you, what do you really desire out of life?

*Happiness?

*To start a new business?

*To climb the corporate ladder and reach the top?

*To love yourself?

*To defeat an addiction?

*To buy a home?

*To take care of your family?

*To go on a European vacation?

*To retire young?

*To have a great marriage?

*To have a more intimate walk with God?

Whatever your desires are, passion is a critical ingredient for success. That’s why it must be cultivated or protected from the passion thieves! Some of our passion thieves were the children we grew up with that made life unbearable. For others, they had parents that were abusive either verbally or sexually, or both. For some, it’s the spouse that berates their mate for wanting more out of life besides the status quo. Then, for many, it’s the lack of confidence to pursue their dreams. I want you to be aware that your world is and has always been filled with passion thieves.

Have you ever had an idea for a business or a desire to break a habit and attempted to make it happen? Maybe it was a new job or promotion desperately wanted. Let your mind wander back to how you felt as you pursued your dreams. I’m sure if you were like most, your mind was totally focused on your goals as you felt so alive and driven to see them take shape. That drive you felt was your passion in action! Your passion caused you to believe whatever you wanted to do in life could happen at any moment. However, in the course of you chasing your dreams, you may have experienced a barrage of criticism, self doubt and unforeseen setbacks. These setbacks may have led to a lack of enthusiasm for your dreams. That barrage of criticism, which created the lackluster drive, is what I call a passion thief. As I said, our passion thieves could be a host of things such as low self-worth, childhood abuse, irrational thinking about ourselves and others, or harsh criticism from our family, friends or coworkers. As you can see, there are different thieves that can inhibit or steal your passion in life. If allowed to have free reign, you may be subject to travel the path of average forever!

The thing that’s so dangerous about the passion thieves in our lives, is the fact most of them have been overlooked. Most of us have failed to make the link between the vast numbers of things that are troubling us, and the possibility those things have been stealing our drive for success. Unfortunately, what you don’t know can hurt you!

A good definition for passion is, a strong feeling for a person, a subject or a thing. It’s what keeps us going and drives us to new levels of success. Unfortunately, a life that is lived without passion is like a boat without a rudder or a gun without bullets which is useless. It is like a mechanic without his tools or a farmer without his farmland. If you do not have a passion for life and the things you do then you are only existing.

Henri Frédéric Amiel believed…

Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark.

In our community today, many individuals associate the word passion with sexual feelings. If you go to Amazon.com under books and type in the word passion, you will see countless numbers of books written to address intimacy in a relationship. Seriously, what about passion for life or the things you dream to do? Are we becoming a generation that is passionate about nothing other than our relationships or sex? My mother would say, Sex only lasts so long, but what are you going to do with the other 23 hours and 45 minutes of your day? She had a real sense of humor, but she was right. I’m afraid many people don’t have a clue about passion outside of the bedroom. Every day should be filled with a burst of enthusiasm for your desires in life.

Passion is what creates enthusiasm to succeed. Every famous person you know from Tiger Woods to Bill Gates accomplished what they did, in part due to passion. It is the energy generated from passion that will encourage the next exciting invention that will change the world. It will be passion at finding a cure for an incurable disease that will get it done. Passion is the engine that drives people to do what is necessary to achieve a desired goal, even if it means putting your life on the line. Passion in the corporate world will lift you to the top. Passion for your personal business will push you past the no’s, and will not stop until it hears—YES! Passion is of vital necessity for you to achieve the impossible. When genuine passion is activated in a person’s life, the world becomes their playground! So let me ask you this question again, do you live your life with real passion?

When I first started driving, I would complain about all the other drivers on the road, he cut me off, he’s driving too fast, or why are they riding their brakes? One day as I drove my mother to the store, another driver cut into my lane without signaling, narrowly missing my car. I was livid and began to yell at the driver while my mother calmly watched. She slowly leaned over to me and said, Anthony, you can only drive one car at a time, control what you have. What she said changed my outlook on life forever.

The truth is, none of us can control our surroundings 100 percent of the time. Let me say that again; none of us can control our surroundings 100 percent of the time, but we can control how we "think" and "react" to various situations. Life will always throw curve balls your way, but you must learn how to hit them out of the park. Learn or risk losing your passion for life! As a wise person once said, You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest!

Life is life and it will do what it is supposed to do. The passion thieves of discouragement, frustration, disappointment and back-stabbing are life’s specialties. You might as well get used to it. I often hear, If I could do things again, I’d do them differently. Unfortunately, life does not provide many do over’s, so we have to work with what we have. If you have not figured it out by now it should be obvious. You can’t make people love or respect you. Success will never fall into your lap just because you throw a temper tantrum. This is why you must learn to master adversity in your life. If you don’t, your drive for success will be crushed.

NOTE: The fire of passion can be rekindled, once you discover what has quenched it! Trying to learn new ways to achieve success without dealing with what has hindered your passion, is like putting the cart before the horse.

You and I are designed to live a life of joy and triumph, but people by the scores have unknowingly become robbery victims, having their dreams stolen from them. On the other hand, when genuine passion is present, it is like nitrous oxide in a car. Why is that? It is because it super charges your life! Most of the successful individuals in the world are just like you. They are normal people with an average IQ but the difference in them is, they learned how to bypass the passion thieves and refused to accept no for an answer. Just ask Jim Morris. Like some of you, I had never heard of him until a friend told me to read his story.

For years, he was a baseball coach and a science teacher in a Texas high school. His true passion though, was to play major league baseball. Prior to Jim being a teacher, he tried out for the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Association. He signed with them, and was sent to their minor league system, but after a few years, he was forced to quit due to an injury. Ultimately, he never gave up on his dream. Years later after being urged on by his students, Jim tried out with the Tamper Bay Devil Rays, and he impressed the scouts with his 98 miles per hour fast ball. Shortly after his try out, at the age of 35, he signed with the team! Jim Morris was finally living his dream because he refused to let passion stealing obstacles hinder his desire to play professional baseball!

Joseph Addison once commented…

If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, cautions your elder brother and hope your guardian genius.

You can break free from the pack of average and experience a new level of success. Along with ignited passion, you need a mixture of encouragement, confidence and a little guidance, and then I believe you will have what it takes to achieve greatness. Shockingly, the only thing that separates you from many successful people is knowledge. Most have the ability to do, but lack the knowledge of how things are done. However, knowledge can be learned. NEVER buy into the lie that the good life lived with real passion is for the other man. The fact that you are reading this book shows you still have a passion in you to go after the things you want. Take a deep breath and exhale, because you are on your way to success! Dreams are attainable—you just need a little passion to fuel your journey!

Norman Vincent Peale said…

Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture...Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.

Live Your Dreams

Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.

T. Alan Armstrong

Years ago, on a calm autumn day, while sitting in the living room I heard a child crying. I went to the front door to see what the fuss was all about. As I opened the door, there stood my neighbor’s 3 year old husky son in tears and some other children. I began to comfort him and ask the other neighboring children what happened. One by one, I was told his younger cousin hit him. As I re-directed my attention to the cousin, the look on the other boy’s face turned to fear. I sat both boys down and talked to them, and made them promise not to fight one another. After which I sent them home. Why would this story still resonate with me? Why was it even important?

For the next eighteen years, I watched that same husky boy grow up to be a towering young man. I watched him pursue his dreams to be a professional football player. He was tops in high school football in the state of Texas, and splendid in college. Recently I was fortunate to watch that same boy from years ago Brandon Williams, get drafted by the NFL! WOW! Who says dreams can’t come true! All you need is the energy of passion to propel you past the stars! So fasten your seat belt. Get ready for the ride of your life as we explore Discovering the Passion Thieves of Success and Unleashing the Real you!

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

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Chapter 1:

Unmasking The Passion Bandits

Passion bandits are an unwelcomed guest in the house of dreams. Like a thief in the night, they steal your goals and visions for the future. Stop the thieves in their tracks on your road to success, and take back what’s yours. Reach for the hidden treasures of greatness you possess, and let your passion lead you to the land of the unimaginable!

—A.E. Jobe

Several years ago I visited my friend John at the county hospital. As he sat comfortably in a large brown recliner staring into space, he appeared totally unaware of my presence. A month earlier, he had checked himself into the Trinity Springs Psychiatric Ward for the second time that year, unable to cope with life. He was extremely withdrawn and suicidal. At a quick glance, John looked no different from any of your neighbors. He was 5’11" ,175 pounds and had brown hair and eyes. John was an ordinary 25 year old man, who had lived an extraordinarily difficult life at the time that we talked.

He was the product of an unwanted pregnancy. Abandoned at the age of five and left at a local fire station by his mother. This led to John being placed into the foster care system. John never felt as if he belonged or was loved. As a foster child, he was moved from various homes to various homes. He endured verbal and physical abuse by some of his foster parents, and after reflecting over his life he once asked me, Why did God allow my childhood to be so bad? I sat there and listened as he continued to share his feelings that day.

When John attended high school he was not the coolest guy. He was often the target of practical jokes and cruel persecution. During his senior year, his foster parents insisted he ride the bus to school and that proved to be disastrous. One day, after entering the rather run down school bus, John took his usual seat and immediately several brutish boys held him down, and poured soda all over his white shirt. Everyone thought it was hilarious, but the shame he felt was unbearable. Day after day, he was the object of everybody’s jokes. John’s childhood was cruel and not much changed when he became an adult. A series of failed relationships and a set of business deals that left John broke and miserably frustrated. Johns’ spark for success was quenched by disappointments and failures. Only after learning to discern the passion stealing thieves in his life, and implementing a new success strategy did he begin to see results. That same broken man, willing to consider suicide and that life wasn’t worth living, is now married and a successful entrepreneur.

Is John’s story unusual? Not at all, in fact, in this current economic and moral climate the stories seem to have increased for individuals. Now it’s time to break free! From this day forth, whatever happened