Passion – Part 1 

Last week I was on a school camp with my son, and had a chance to come back on the two-hour drive from Raglan with another Dad. Him and I have certainly crossed paths over sports and other activities but have never socialised and never been together in a small space for that length of time. 

I knew my passenger was in the business of ‘moving dirt around’ – his words – and I knew he had a nice place down a long tidy drive, set amongst gentle rolling hills. There is a Lamborghini in the garage. A man of few words and many of them a bit salty. I was looking forward to getting to know him better, and hoping we could fill the time without any awkwardness. 

We ended up having a wide ranging and thought provoking conversation – there were not many silences as the time flew by. We talked about upbringing, fitness, mental health and business. 

My traveling companion’s business had undergone changes over the past few years, and while talking on this he told me when the business has been at its peak he had people looking to purchase it and he was deliberating over the idea. Also, while the business was at its peak it had also become a monster with enormous overheads and expenses. As a crew of experienced and loyal staff moved on, the job of running the business was more about putting out fires and fixing problems rather than enjoying the results of jobs well done. 

Despite the interest sniffing around, the decision was made to keep the company. But this coincided with a gradual losing of interest – a loss of passion – in the dirt moving monster he had created. Within a short while the cumulative staffing issues, expenses and constant problems overwhelmed his passion. The businesses and the man behind it were in a less than ideal place. 

What next? 

From what I understand, a decision to step away was made. But here is the gem – from the rubble of this business a trio of new businesses have emerged. Much smarter, fitter and more manageable than the first. And from what I can infer, more profitable as well.   

There are so many ways this post could go – but my question is, what do you do when the passion dies?​​​​​​

​​​​You know that I used to flip apartments, right? I even gained some notoriety in this space thanks to a bit of investigative journalism. 

By the time the article in the Herald came out I was totally over it. The graphic below was front page news in Spring of 2019 – things were heating up in the property market then –nothing compared to what was around the corner but no one knew that at the time. To me, this was old news. I was no longer that guy flipping that volume of property. I was in a very reclusive state and not interested in what I was doing. Do you recall a few months back I spoke about Unlimiting Beliefs and how I used to have a goal of not seeing what I bought, renovated or sold anywhere along the process? That’s where I was. Unshaven and in my track pants all day. This disinterest, this loss of passion, allowed me to make sloppy decisions and start eroding what I had built. 
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As my new mate also found out, once you lose interest you have to make a change. If you don’t make the decision it will be made for you.