Obsession is a gift.

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Contrary to popular belief, the word “obsession” is demonized as some negative trait that only drug addicts have. The fact of the matter is that the most successful people I know are all obsessed with what they do.

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Obsession isn’t a curse, it’s truly a miracle. It’s the thing that gets you up in the morning, gets you through tough times, and takes you to the next level. The world will tell you obsession is toxic for two reasons:

1. Because they haven’t found what they truly love yet. Once they do, they’ll share your same obsession.
2. Because they don’t want you to win. They envy you and want you to “slow down” so they can catch up.
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For those who are obsessed with what they do, they don’t need balance. The same people who think obsession is bad are the same people who think there needs to be balance all day, every day. Now don’t get me wrong, balance is something I’ve started to learn when I’m facing fatigue or hitting creative droughts, but it’s the last thing I truly focus on when I want to achieve a goal.

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The biggest factor in all of this is finding out what you’re obsessed with. Is it business, golf, being a parent, what is it?

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That may be the hardest thing to find, not to mention that obsession may not be the emotion you feel off the bat when you begin down a new road. When I first started Flow Forward Media I wasn't obsessed. I did it out of necessity, I had no other option, I needed to survive, and I hated the idea of working under someone else.

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So I took the entrepreneurial route. Was I obsessed the first few months? Absolutely not. But as time passed, I realized two things: (1) how blessed I am to work for myself, and (2) that my work started to become my passion, which later turned into my obsession.

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So you may be asking, why is Marcus obsessed with Flow Forward Media and Flow Forward Creative ?

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Good question. I think it’s fun. I love designing and building something, then seeing it play out and actually work. The thrill of running a successful marketing campaign or building a new high-performing website, then getting a text from a client that says, “Dude! This is sick,” is the most exhilarating feeling ever. If you broke it down into what I really like about my career, it’s that I love seeing my hard work pay off.

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I played college baseball for five years. On every team I was labeled the hardest worker, yet in baseball you really only succeed about 30% of the time as a hitter. You can work your face off and still go without a hit in a game. It was the weirdest game ever, but I’ll tell you this: the more I worked, the more I increased my likelihood of having a better game.

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So I took that into the business world and realized hard work actually pays off more in the real world than in baseball. It’s much easier to see the fruits of your labor in the corporate world than in sports. It’s honestly crazy. Once I started to see some success with the businesses, I became hooked.

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It goes even deeper than that. I want to give my future family an amazing life, and the only way I can do that is by working hard and growing the companies. I’m obsessed with that idea—the idea that one day my family can travel the globe, surf 12 months out of the year, dominate their sports, and carry on the family name. That vision gets me obsessed with work more than anything else.

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To wrap this up: find something you’re truly passionate about and give it your all. Be obsessed.

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Anyway, it’s 7:35 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. I should probably get back to work... oh wait. This is my work.

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