Have you met people who are passionate, yet seem to be living life a little aimlessly? This may also be a description of what’s going on during this season in your life. Have you experienced times when you start your day full of vigor and passion but don’t have a lot to show for it when it’s time to retire for the evening? Are you moving in and out of passionate moments but can’t quite figure out how to harness that passion, so it produces sustainable accomplishments? Well, join the club, we’ve all experienced at least one of these scenarios at some point or another in our life.
The flames of passion will start to dim at some point, so it needs accompanying attributes and personal awareness to thrive. While it is true that passion can serve as a catalyst, passion alone will eventually cause adrenalin fatigue. One recognition is to acknowledge that instead of focusing on ephemeral highs, ebbs and flows, you need to invest your efforts in self- development that yields real personal growth. By doing so, you will guard and protect the best environment for your passion to expand and flourish.
Embracing your passion can be a bonus and a useful tool to fuel your success. There are many things we can be passionate about whether it’s hobbies, health, fitness, family, volunteering, sports, learning, etc., the list is endless but more important, is how we channel our passions. Being a student of passion, so it’s a part of your daily life, can enlighten and inspire you while bringing clarity and joy to your purpose. While a lot of information is available about passion, I’ve identified four simple ways it can help you succeed.
- Clearly identifying your passions can help you harness your desires so targeted energy can be directed toward achieving your dreams and aspirations. Many times, when we think of harnessing, it’s with a confining mindset, however, it can have a positive connotation. The implication in this instance is to monitor and control your thoughts to defeat constant highs and lows. It is to view harnessing as organizing, connecting, and joining your thoughts, efforts, and planning so you can start a new project, program, business, or whatever endeavor needs your attention. You should spend quality time cultivating your thoughts and commit to synchronizing your efforts. This will improve your ability to establish routines that are necessary to implement a fully designed plan with specific, measurable outcomes, targeted toward your passions.
- Passion serves as an internal motivator that drives you to focus mentally and create a sense of urgency so you will take action. It’s where creativity, inventions and exploration can take place. This is where your “go for it” attitude can live and thrive. Allow passion to be your core inspiration when planning your next project so you’ll be equipped to tackle distractions and objections. It’s what’s needed for you to start journaling, meditating daily, exercising, or addressing the many items on your “to do” list. I’m reminded of a motivating quote by Georg Hegel, who once said, “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion”. I believe it’s a wonderful way to start your day. Over the years, I’ve found it useful to use uplifting quotes, passages, scriptures, and sayings as part of my daily routine. I continue this practice because I realize that passion needs to be nourished.
- If you’re like most, you probably weren’t born with a silver spoon, therefore using passion to help guide your vision, can be especially beneficial as a tool to manage your concentration with an added spirit of excitement. Like many great women of our time, Eleanor Roosevelt, Oprah Winfrey, Sara Blakely, and Rosa Parks, Barbara Corcoran, to name a few, passion was instrumental in their long-lasting impact and enduring influence. Choose to embrace your passion, to put it in its rightful place so it can be used as an advantage to energize you, to write the book you’ve been wanting to write, or face the one thing that’s been holding you hostage. If you are mindful, diligent, and dedicated to feeding your passion, it can be part of your personal toolbox that’s used to give impetus to your desires and aspirations.
- Use passion to re-enforce your values and to propel you to “take the plunge”. As stated earlier, the people who succeed in life tend to be passionate about their endeavors which is evident by enthusiasm and determination to give life to their ideas, beliefs, and vision. There are times that I’d rather stay at home and just hibernate, and you’ve probably experienced similar emotions. I discovered that passion is enormously useful during moments of doubt, skepticism, or procrastination. It’s passion that will cause you to get off the couch or get out of bed to face challenges. It’s passion that will cause you to exercise or take a walk as you promised yourself you would do, or to face a fear that you’ve allowed to paralyze you in the past.
Your passion creates the mental determination needed to pursue your purpose and follow your dreams. Since true passion is active, it builds excitement and can be contagious. This constructive contagion will spread, causing you to take one positive move forward after the next, as it circulates from one person to the next. Ultimately, your passion will maximize your love for what you do, and it will fortify your why. It gives you a reason to continue learning, living fully, and exploring new adventures.
