Delivering Happiness Entry #2

I finished the book yesterday. As excited I was to get to the end of it, I also didn't want it to end. One, it had become a refuge. It created a place for me to escape from my daily boring routine, to dive into the inner workings of a clear and preset genius in the very much alive body of Tony Hsieh. Two, finishing the book scared me. It meant I'm done with my first step of learning, now comes the greater task of making something out of it.

The final two chapters of Delivering Happiness focused on long-term happiness and harnessing it. Tony pointed three types, two of which were discussed at length as he told his story, PROFIT & PASSION. He feels they've achieved both fairly well in Zappos. Profit was $1B in 2008, two years before their projected 2010 target. Passion was customer service excellence, and believing that "customer" wasn't limited to those who paid cash to help them achieve $1B, but literally everyone.

Now, he's on the path of fulfilling their 3rd degree of happiness. PURPOSE. Tony and his team believe they work not just because they have a responsibility to their investors and board of directors. They work because they're trying to be the forever-guinea-pig role model of great business and great living. They work because their work helps change lives for the better. His only wish is they started doing it sooner.

I don't believe a person necessarily has to achieve profits first before getting to passion then purpose. Maybe it can all happen simultaneously, or maybe even profit can wait.

So the question is... what is MY passion... and to what purpose do I want to work towards. Inasmuch as I'm afraid to admit that I have absolutely no clue... I realize my cluelessness is just a for-now concern. Nothing happens overnight. Zappos' success was all through a 10 year process, and it's still going. I guess it's okay for me to be a bit scared now... I know this will someday turn to confidence and bravery once I've secure my footing and started working towards my happiness.