I forever say that the most successful peopel in any field have a greater “want to” than others in their field. As fitness coordinator for Sprint Cup driver Kasey Kahne and the Kasey Kahne Racing team, I see the principle at work that no person can be truly great unless they make their vacation their vocation. That is just another way of saying that you must love what you do like you do a fun hobby.

This is not to say that there haven’t been very successful people who made lots of money doing something they could have cared less about. It is done all the time. Still there are two things that are painfully conspicuous about these people. They gave away a lot of time for something they aren’t truly passionate about and they could have been better at it if they were actually passionate about their work. Winners value time more than money and they do things that lift them up, not beat them down

Against this back drop, legendary Quarterback Brett Favre made the announcement recently that is he returning for one more year with the Minnesota Vikings. If you think his return was only about money, you are missing the more fundamental need that playing serves for him and other elite athletes Favre was motivated by something he can’t get anywhere else that makes athletics so vital. He came back first because he loves it, and second to feel the friction of a challenge and to use his ability to overcome that challenge.

A person who is truly passionate about his vocation finds a challenge to explore it and beat back the challenges that job presents. If there is nothing to explore and success become push button, a person will generally lose interest. Favre can not duplicate that friction of trying to defeat a new challenge within the game he loves. Guys like Kasey Kahne need to know there is more to do and that they have to exert sweat and skill to meet their goals. I designed my racers trainer workouts around that principle. First, I want results for my clients, but inherent in those results is the vital experience of overcoming a challenge. When you wonder about Favre, consider that.

Russ Bohaty, “The Racers Trainer”, is the personal fitness coordinator for Kasey Kahne and the Kasey Kahne Racing Team. His free six-week pro racer mental fitness course is at www.racerstrainer.com.