Stoked!

I talk and write a lot about passion. I have been described as being passionate about my work, music, surfing, cooking and family. But “stoked” is something quite different. Passion is something you love to do but to be stoked is to feel love for it while you are doing it. On a Sunday afternoon when I am cooking in the kitchen, football on TV with the sound muted so I can hear my music playing throughout the house, I am stoked. While I am passionate about these activities, I am stoked about the situation. My kids probably don’t know it but it is Sunday afternoon when I am most likely to say “yes” to any question or desire they might have.

Stoked is a term born in the surfing world. Watch someone ride a wave and see the look on their face as they are it doing it and you will see the look of “stoke”. It is an immediate feeling and response to the rush you feel from the activity.

Several years back in my career, I watched the movie Riding Giants many, many times. I was attracted to the passion the surfers demonstrated as they talked about their art/sport. When sitting on the beach describing what it is like to ride a 40-foot wave it is easy to hear their passion. Talk to someone who has just ridden a 40-foot wave and you will experience her stoke. In fact, if you could interview her during the ride you would experience the true essence of stoke.

The challenge becomes how to take the pleasant experiences of passion and stoke into the business world. Some would argue this is counter-intuitive, but I wonder how someone can possibly put so much time and effort into something that doesn’t get them excited or evoke real feelings? Most of our adult lives are spent at work and with our coworkers. Choose both carefully, failure to do so will ensure you nothing but your own discontent and ultimate failure.

I have heard senior managers say people don’t have to “drink the Kool Aide”, but I have never felt comfortable with this expression. Beverages aside, I’ve never understood what they were talking about. Managers, employees and staff should be excited about their work and why they do it… well beyond the paycheck.

Look at any successful person and they will say they love their work and how it feels while they do it. You will hear this long before they talk about their new house, boat or even their title. If they had to say why they were successful, oftentimes they would feel uncomfortable and might have difficulty explaining their answer. So as we wonder what makes them successful, the answer is that they love their work.

At the end of the day I am passionate about building businesses and stoked about clients, creating value, generating profitable revenue and marketing – which is the daily work I do. I encourage you to follow your passion and get stoked about your daily activities. Only then will you have a real chance of being successful.

My best, Chris