Turning Passions into Purpose

Where do our passions in life come from?

I suppose the answer is different for different people.

For me, experiences in grade school lit fires that still burn today, both good and bad.

Take my phys ed teacher who had it out for me. To this day, I don't know what I did to get on his bad side. But he'd stand in front of the entire class and announce there would be no dodge ball that day, "so Crow doesn't run home crying to mommy, saying one of you guys hurt him."

Kids don't forget humiliation like that. I hated gym class with a burning passion after that.

But junior high showed me the flip side of that coin. I tried out for the football team with zero experience. I'd never worn the equipment, never played on an organized team. On the first day of practice, I didn't even know the pants had special pockets sewn inside for thigh and knee pads.

So there I was, sliding those pads loosely inside my pants, feeling them shift and fall with every movement. Every few plays, I'd discreetly bend down to pick up a fallen pad and stuff it back into my pants, praying nobody noticed this rookie mistake.

But something unexpected happened during those practices. While I was busy hiding my equipment failures, I began noticing patterns. One of the running backs would unknowingly telegraph his moves, leaning slightly in the direction he planned to run, his feet already pointing toward the hole he was aiming for.

This little secret became my superpower. Suddenly, I was making tackles that left the runner shocked, the coaches impressed, and my teammates slapping my helmet in celebration.

From nobody to a standout defensive player simply because I was paying attention when others weren't.

After one particularly good practice, the coach gathered everyone around and said something I'll never forget: "If everyone played with half the heart Crow has, we'd all be champions."

Just like that, I went from the kid singled out for mockery in gym class to the player others relied on. When that running back got the ball, all eyes turned to me. The team counted on me to make those tackles.

It was an obligation I was happy to shoulder.

That experience taught me something far more valuable than football technique. It showed me the power of helping others succeed. When I made those tackles, I wasn't just winning personal glory, I was supporting my teammates, contributing to something bigger than myself.

That sense of shared achievement awakened something permanent in me: a passion for helping others reach their goals. The satisfaction of watching someone succeed because of something you contributed, let me tell you, there's nothing quite like it.

Sometimes our deepest passions are born in the most unexpected places, and sometimes it can be from loose pads falling down our pants during football practice.

Helping Others Achieve Their Goals

Steve Crow is the founder of Disruptive Performance Consulting in the greater Houston area. With a mechanical engineering background and innovative mindset that earned him 25 patents, Steve transforms executives and organizations through powerful coaching methodologies. His career spans Fortune 500 executive leadership and founding multiple successful companies, giving him unique insight into the challenges leaders face at every level.

As an Executive and Life Mastery Leadership Coach, Steve helps clients break through limitations to achieve extraordinary results. His approach combines engineering precision with deep human understanding, creating breakthrough strategies for executive excellence, leadership development, business growth, and personal transformation.

When not revolutionizing leadership through his coaching, speaking engagements, or writing, Steve takes to the skies as an accomplished pilot—always seeking new horizons.

Connect with Steve at (281) 318-5789, email him at [email protected], or schedule a strategy session here.