I was doing an interview with the Chicago Tribune last week about the role passion plays in entrepreneurship when the journalist sprung a question on me that caught me offguard.

Does passion have its limitations?

The question made me realize that I had focused on what passion can do for you, not how it could work against you. I decided to put in some thought in the question and came up with two solid ways passion can work against you.

1) When you are so passionate that you will give everything you have to an idea, both physically and financially, even though the idea is a deadbeat.

2) When you are so passionate that you act unethically to realize your goals.

So how do we avoid these valleys and find our peaks?

The answer to number one is to seek feedback. Matt Flannery, the CEO and co-founder of Kiva.org, told me that the best way to test an idea (or a passion) without pouring money, time, and effort into it is to seek feedback from people. Once that feedback is received, whether positive or negative, the seriousness you have for the idea will either strengthen or fade.

It is better to know early on in the process whether an idea (or career) is right for you so you don’t make the financial investment only to find that resources like time and money were wasted.

My answer to number two is that passion can drive people over the edge sometimes, but integrity is the only thing you can control. Passion can only be limiting if you allow it to be.

What are some other limitations? Or thoughts?

I’ve been told that when you are pursuing your passion, the excitement outweighs the nerves that you encounter when something really good can happen. Right now, something really good is about to happen.

I am on my way to San Francisco to interview Kiva.org co-founder Matt Flannery, who started a non-profit organization that I admire beyond words. What this guy has done is built one of the world’s most useful resources that allows you to lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world so that the third world entrepreneur will lift themselves out of poverty. Kiva offers loans that change lives, and Matt is the man responsible for building a sustainable, wildly successful business while changing the world we live in.

Long story short, I have a ton to learn from Matt, and I’m excited to see what I will learn from our conversation that will transpire in a couple hours.

Wish me luck.

Today is Friday the 13th, and it’s time to get excited. Here are the top 5 things I’m excited about after the first two weeks of the tour.

1) I’m excited to leave Los Angeles traffic.

2) I’m excited about getting the refrigerator to work. Zach and I tinkered around with it last night and now we have cold Kronik energy drinks to guzzle on the road.

3) I’m excited about applying all the advice we’ve received over the past two weeks to our tour and to my life. This advice ranges from video tips (Matt Heineman of the Young American’s Project) to being a fifteen year overnight success (David Kravetz).

4) I’m excited about the Pursue the Passion benefit barbeque Jay’s parents are throwing us this Saturday. Jay’s family has been extremely generous to us over the past week, providing us with a place to stay, support, food, and little goodies to help us on the journey. They definitely haven’t made life on the road too rough.

5) I’m excited about interviewing Matt Flannery, co-founder of Kiva.org next Wednesday.

What are you excited about?

Yesterday Pursue the Passion dropped by the Long Beach Summer Pro Basketball League, a league designed for basketball players holding onto the dream of playing basketball professionally. Players that take the court have literally traveled the globe to realize their dream, playing in far off countries ranging from France to Bangladesh. We figured that if you could go to Bangladesh to play basketball, you had to be passionate.

Growing up these players lived and breathed basketball. It was (and still is) their life. All day long they would watch Michael Jordan and imitate his moves on the playground, imagining one day they would rock a NBA basketball jersey and get paid to play the game they love.

But something happens along the way of chasing hoop dreams. Players begin to do the math. One thousand colleges multiplied by twelve players on a team with only sixty annual NBA draft picks made by thirty teams equals a better chance at winning the lottery than being a lottery pick.

Once a player does the calculation they have two choices. Players can hold onto their dream of playing basketball professionally, or they can quit because they won’t make the NBA. It’s as simple as that. More often than not, the player quits his pursuit because of one reason…he doesn’t know about the possibilities.

“I’ve played in China, Bangladesh, Israel, France, Saudi Arabia, and Las Vegas, man.” said Antoine Broxsie, a six eleven power forward who graduated from Oklahoma State in 2002. “I just love basketball, and if they’re paying me, then I’ll go anywhere to play the game I love.”

Artis Grant, a level headed Long Beach State guard going into his junior year, was asked if he thought young players were aware of the possibilities to play basketball professionally.

“Most young players have their sights on the NBA, and have had them there since they were kids. Once they realize they can’t make it, they’ll quit and go do something else.”

“Are you going to quit if you don’t make the NBA?” I ask.

“Naw man. Obviously my goal is to make it to the NBA, but there are other ways of playing professional. Overseas and stuff. I’m not going to quit. I will play basketball professionally.”

Artis is averaging 1.3 points a game. Not your typical professional basketball player numbers. But Artis’s reply is our lesson learned.

As a young person in the workforce, the biggest obstacle we face is that we don’t know what is possible. We have our sights set on one goal, whatever it may be, and we see one way of getting there. If we don’t make the goal and things don’t go as we planned, then we begin to give up on the pursuit.

Narrow mindedness is our biggest shortcoming.

But just like we had no idea Bangladesh plays basketball, we have no idea about the endless amounts of ways we can make a living with our passion. There are many different paths you can take to do what you love. There are possibilities are out there, and it doesn’t matter if you are averaging 1.3 points a game or never attended an Ivy League school.

You don’t have to make the NBA to make a living in basketball, just like how you don’t need to work at the New York Times to be a writer. If Artis can find a way to play professionally in some foreign country because he loves to play ball, then we can find a way to do what we want, too.

People want to know how we are finding passionate people to interview. They want to know how we judge passion in people. That is a million dollar question I’m hoping to answer with your help.

I think passion is something that is so ingrained inside us that there is no difference between where work life ends, and where real life begins. I’ve been told passion is like the Supreme Court…you know it when you see it. I know from experience that passion breeds productivity. Passion is infectious, and people recognize passion within others.

I have booked interviews based on the following criteria for the first few weeks on the 2007 Pursue the Passion tour.

1) They must be referred by someone that knows the local community very well (i.e. a reporter, president of an outside organization, family, friends, etc.).

2) When I talk to prospective interviewees on the phone, via email, or read their story submittal, they must be positive, because passion is typically synonymous with “positivity.”

3) Lastly, I look to see what a person has done that exemplifies their passion. The phrase “passion breeds productivity” is the truth, because passion overflows into other things like getting involved in organizations and creating programs around that passion. Extracurricular activities and achievements are an excellent judgment of passion.

Now that I’ve given you the keys to the kingdom to tell you how I “judge” the passion of a peer, it’s time to ask for your help.

What am I missing?

How do you judge passion? How would you go about finding passionate people?

Let me know.

This story is taken from Paulo Coelho’st book “The Alchemist.” It is a great cautionary tale for a Monday and for our Pursue the Passion team as we start off the second week on tour.

A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert for forty days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.

Rather than finding a saintly man, though, our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were conversing in the corners, a small orchestra was playing soft music, and there was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world. The wise man conversed with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn to be given the man’s attention.

The wise man listened attentively to the boy’s explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn’t have time just then to explain the secret of happiness. He suggested that that boy look around the palace and return in two hours.

“Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something,” said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. “As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill.”

The boy began climbing and descending the many stairways of the place, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was.

“Well,” asked the wise old man, “did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that it took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?”

The boy was embarrassed, and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.

“Then go back and observe the marvels of my world,” said the wise man. “You cannot trust a man if you don’t know his house.”

Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all of the works of art on the ceilings and the walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around him, the beauty of the flowers, and the taste with which everything had been selected. Upon returning to the wise man, he related in detail everything he had seen.

“But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you? asked the wise man.

Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

“Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you,” said the wisest of wise men. “The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never forget the drops of oil on the spoon.”

Time to get excited…it’s Friday! It has been an eventful first week on tour, and here are the 5 things I am excited about onf a Friday.

1) I’m excited about learning from mistakes. Caught up in the excitement of the tour, I grossly overbooked our schedule during the first week of the tour. We have not even had a moment to check email because we are constantly rushing from interview to interview. I’m excited about making changes for the remaining eleven weeks of the tour so we don’t treat the tour like a 100 yard sprint, but more like an ultra marathon.

2) I’m excited about sharing the interviews with some of the extraordinary people we met this week. Once we correct the time management issue discussed above in #1, you will be reading about how passions develop with Pamela Slim to the importance of getting back to the basics with Sea World killer whale trainer Robin Sheets. Other interviews we conducted this week included Phoenix Suns controller Mary Gilbaugh and president Rick Welts, Jobing execs Brian Mohr and Scott Foreman, helicopter reporter Bruce Haffner, Fox 10 reporter Andrew Hasbun, editor of East West magazine Anita Malik, co-founder of Fairytale Brownies David Kravetz, professional speaker Rick Barrera, Sombrero Mexican food general manager Javier Correra Jr., San Diego Film Commission President Cathy Anderson, author Jackie Freiberg, Studio West owner Peter Dyson, and Monster Cable VP Donna Fabri.

3) One year ago on the first week of the Pursue the Passion tour the RV broke down. We had some minor troubles with the RV this week (the AC stopped working on a drive from Phoenix to San Diego, making it 112 degrees in the RV. The lock on the door stopped working, then worked too well after locking us in the RV… forcing us to exit out of the windows for an interview with Rick Barrera. Oh, and a minor “ant” problem that made us abandon our snacks) but all in all, the engine is still roaring and I’m excited about keeping it that way.

4) I’m excited to have our first “Passiongers” join us as part of a new program we are implementing into this tour, where we pick up recent college grads or people that don’t like their jobs for a day of interviews. Daniel Weber will be flying down to San Diego tonight to join us, and Taneika McClelland has been a Passionger throughout the week.

5) I’m excited about seeing my team members develop. The roles and responsibilities they’ve undertaken on the tour has been overwhelming for everyone so far, but I can see that the cards are stacked to see these guys succeed and grow. I’m excited to see if what I envision for them will come true.

What are you excited about today!?

What a country we live in. We have the freedom to choose. We have the freedom to listen what our hearts desire, and we have endless opportunity to act upon those feelings.

Only in this country would I have the freedom to quit a horribly boring accounting position to travel the country in a gigantic RV for a summer. What a great way to start the tour…getting independent on independence day.

God Bless America.

Last night the PTP team gathered for pizza and contributed to an interesting discussion about passion. The subject of the discussion stemmed from an interview we did with Rick Welts, who led the marketing efforts behind the original USA “Dream Team.” We took the stance that the USA no longer has a “Dream Team.” The reason why there is no “Dream Team” is because the basketball team we put out on the floor does not play with passion.

Let me tell you why Jerry Colangelo, Director of USA Basketball, can learn something from the Pursue the Passion. On the first tour we booked interviews with people based on their title, or by the company they work for. While we found that the majority of people we talked with fit our profile of “passionate,” we still had a handful of people who clearly did not fit the description. This put a small dark cloud over our heads because we were not living up to the name we had set out for the tour.

The Pursue the Passion tour that we are on right now has “Dream Team” like people included on the interview list. We are booking interviews based on a person’s passion, not their title. It is the most exhilarating, uplifting experience talking with these types of people.

The USA team is making the mistake we made on the 2006 tour. They are offering roster spots to players based on their name. Their endorsements. Their marketability.

Why?

This clearly did not work for the USA based on their bronze performance in 2004. Plus, I do not want to see Carlos Arroyo, a Puerto Rican point guard and NBA bench player, rip apart an American squad again by playing with pride and passion for his country.

I’d like to see the 2008 “Dream Team” compiled on passion. They should have an application for players to make their case of why they should be on the team (aka submit your story). They should have every player on the team referred by a coach who can vouch that a certain player plays with passion (90% of our interviews are booked on a referral basis). This will weed out the players that are joining the team for all the wrong reasons, and get other players on the team for all the right reasons.

Take a note from the PTP. Compile a Dream Team based on passion…or else.

A lot of things went right on our first day. A lot of things went wrong. Let’s start with the “rights.”

We met the most compassionate man I have ever met in my life in Pamela Slim’s (our first interviewee) husband Daryl. Daryl is a Navajo Native American who shakes your hand by clasping both of his hands around yours. When he takes your hand, he closes his eyes as if he is in deep prayer for you…and then opens his eyes with a bright smile. He places his palm over his heart as if you had found a place there. And this is all at hello.

It was truly a pleasure to meet a man with so much love yesterday. We were absolutely honored to receive Daryl’s Native American blessing when he gathered the four of us in his living room and asked for us to put our palms out and face them towards the sky. Daryl took an eagle feather that had been passed down from his grandfather and proceeded to feather us from head to toe with his blessing for a safe journey, all while burning some sort of rope and saying something in Navajo.

It was very powerful.

We also had two successful events in Passion Hour and a Never Eat Alone Lunch. We had the pleasure of having lunch at the Duck & Decanter with Jenny, who recently graduated from the University of Arizona and does not like her job. Jenny also attended our Passion Hour event, where we had about twenty people drop by to check out the RV and see what Pursue the Passion is all about.

It was cool because we had one interviewee attend the event, one long lost friend from high school, one Never Eat Alone Lunch participant, and many friends join us for an hour of networking. Very good use of time, and I felt people actually took something positive away from it all.

This was great considering I had no idea what to expect from an event like Passion Hour.

Lastly, I learned a lot about people yesterday. I learned that when your air conditioning is not working, and if it is 112 degrees outside, people tend to get uneasy. People also don’t like to be rushed. There was a lot of uneasiness and rushing to get to all five of our interviews yesterday, and I learned that if our team is going to make it another 89 days, that I need to schedule things a little better, and get the A/C working.

No more crazy five interview days…three sounds much better and doable.

Wait until you hear about day 2…we have some surprises you will enjoy.