Many entrepreneurs are charged with passion and excitement on New Year's Day, ready to build upon their success and release their failures. But this year I've already spoken with a good number of entrepreneurs who feel as though they aredisconnected from their passion and mission. These business owners are moving into the New Year with more questions than answers. This is a good time to seek out support from a mentor or coach. It's also the time to nurture yourself, rather than pressure yourself.

Perhaps these quotes about passion will give you a boost while you contemplate a future that exceeds your dreams.

  1. "Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you."
    --Oprah Winfrey
  2. "The only way to do great work is to love what you do."--Steve Jobs
  3. "Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It's about impact, influence, and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers."
    --Robin S. Sharma
  4. "Yes, in all my research, the greatest leaders looked inward and were able to tell a good story with authenticity and passion."--Deepak Chopra
  5. "Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."--Ella Fitzgerald
  6. "True passion attracts. If you have passion in your business, the right people will be attracted to your team."--Robert T. Kiyosaki
  7. "Pursue your passion, and everything else will fall into place. This is not being romantic. This is the highest order of pragmatism."--Gabby Giffords
  8. "If a leader doesn't convey passion and intensity, then there will be no passion and intensity within the organization, and they'll start to fall down and get depressed."
    --Colin Powell
  9. "Just because your life changes doesn't mean that your deepest passions have to."
    --Shannon Miller
  10. "If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you - like a fever."--Sam Walton
  11. "The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So, write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can."--Neil Gaiman
  12. "When you catch a glimpse of your potential, that's when passion is born."--Zig Ziglar
  13. "It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it and make it the life you want to live." - Mae Jemison
  14. If you feel like there's something out there that you're supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it."--Wanda Sykes
  15. "If you don't love what you do, you won't do it with much conviction or passion.
    --Mia Hamm
  16. "The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire."--Ferdinand Foch
  17. "Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them."--Napoleon Bonaparte
  18. "You just have to find that thing that's special about you that distinguishes you from all the others, and through true talent, hard work, and passion, anything can happen."--Dr. Dre
  19. "It is obvious that we can no more explain a passion to a person who has never experienced it than we can explain light to the blind."--T. S. Eliot
  20. "The presence of passion within you is the greatest gift you can receive. Treat it as a miracle."--Wayne Dyer
  21. "I say always follow your passion, no matter what, because even if it's not the same financial success, it'll lead you to the money that'll make you the happiest."--Ellen DeGeneres
  22. "I don't believe there's a cap on creativity and passion."--Deadmau5
  23. "Skill is the unified force of experience, intellect and passion in their operation."--John Ruskin
  24. "When we talk about having a life of significance and meaning, it's not about fame or money or resources. It's about people and lives and hearts. That's my biggest passion in life."--Tim Tebow
  25. "Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart, and success will come to you."--Oprah Winfrey
  26. "If you have passion, there is no need for excuses because your enthusiasm will trump any negative reasoning you might come up with. Enthusiasm makes excuses a non-issue."--Wayne Dyer
  27. "Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age."--James Joyce
  28. "Never let your persistence and passion turn into stubbornness and ignorance."--Anthony J. D'Angelo
  29. "Passion is very important to me. If you stop enjoying things, you've got to look at it, because it can lead to all kinds of depressing scenarios."--Nicolas Cage
  30. "If you don't love what you're doing with unbridled passion and enthusiasm, you're not going to succeed when you hit obstacles."--Howard Schultz
  31. "Passion is so key in leading and creating excellence that I will hire passion over education and talent every time."--Dave Ramsey