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The Secrets to a Passionate Life
I’m on a misson to find the secrets to a passionate life. What is passion? Where is it hiding? How can it be drawn out into the open?
As our kids are getting older, I’m thinking about what it is that I’ll do when they go to school. I see it as the perfect opportunity to begin doing something I really love. A somewhat different scenario than when I entered the workforce. Back then, after finding university life wasn’t for me I basically found any job I could do. There was no deep thought that went into it. I chose the secretarial field, and as it turns out I mostly enjoyed it and was quite good at it.
Choices
I could easily go back to secretarial work, and have considered my own VA (virtual assistant) business. But I’m not sure that’s my passion. The easy option would be to simply chose a job so we have extra money to do more of the fun things in life. I feel that if I do that, I’m wasting an opportunity though. I guess I’m going through a sort of mid-life crisis.
The problem is, unlike the meerkat over there, I’m not sure exactly what it is that I’m supposed to do. The meerkat knows it’s supposed to make baby meerkats and keep a watch out for the rest of the meerkats. That’s its simple life mission.
Where to search
Perhaps we have too many things to choose from. Perhaps I should be looking to something more simple. Don’t get me wrong. I love my meerkat mission - my family. But I feel like I am being given a shot at finding something I can do for a living that I can be excited about working at and building.
Something. What? Where do I start looking? To be honest, I have no idea where or what the secrets to a passionate life are. So I’ve started researching. Here are some of the things I’ve discovered:
- Your passions must come from within you. No point copying someone else’s passion - it’s theirs. This point might seem to be blantantly obvious, but it can be very easy to look at what someone loves and think that same thing can make you happy too.
- Look at what it is you enjoy doing; not just in your work, but in all areas of your life.
- You need to ask yourself some hard questions.
- What are you afraid of?
- What are your secret dreams?
- What’s stopping you?
I am yet to start the questioning phase (perhaps I’m afraid of the answers 
). I have just borrowed the book “The Passion Test” by Janet Bray Attwood & Chris Attwood from the library to help me along. I’m only a short way into it but one quote from the book has stuck with me:
What you put your attention on grows stronger in your life.
This resonates with me, because I’ve always believed that, to a large degree, a positive outlook will result in a positive outcome (and vice versa). Now I just need to discover what to put my attention on!
Are you working on your passions? How did you discover your them? Or are you like the 70% of respondants to this survey (and me) that have no idea what their passion is?
Related articles:
- How to Find Your Passion - Stepcase Lifehack
- 17 Ways to Find Your Passion For Any and Everything | The Best Article Every day
- Abundance Blog at Marelisa-Online » Blog Archive » Decide What You Want
Photo: The Sentinel on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Maybe it is the 30 Day Challenge, but I am thinking about some very similar things at the moment. Having the role reversal week with my husband, has very much shown me that I do not want to be “away” from the house on a full time basis. I love the idea of working from - just have to find a way of building around my passion!
PlanningQueens last blog post..Christmas Planning In July - Making Handmade Fabric Notebooks
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:46 amPlanning Queen - It’s tough to work out the what’s and how’s, but I’m sure the effort will be worthwhile in the end. I’m hoping the 30 Day Challenge will provide lots of answers
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:08 ameven though you may not feel it sometimes! -
you are inspirational!
I hope you find your way! and when you do can you blog about it?! it might help me
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:31 pmThank you so much Helena. You have put a smile on my face
Although I feel like I’m bumbling along sometimes, it’s a matter of keep pushing ahead I suppose. When I find some answers, I’ll be sure to let you all know 
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:45 pmThe one thing I think I’ve discovered in life, is that we each have more than one passion. And the uniqueness of living our passions comes from that combination, and how we weave them together. Example? My main, enduring passion in life is for writing. I also have a passion for helping people learn and grow, a passion for helping those who can’t quite help themselves, a passion for knitting, and a few others. So I write, first and foremost. Then I knit for the homeless. I aim to do some volunteer work in a drop-in centre. I write informative articles. And I try to write about all of that
But one thing I try desperately to keep in mind, because I tend to be incredibly hard on myself - sometimes the smallest things are leading me towards living my passions in a bigger way. Even when my life seems utterly devoid of passion.
Hope that made sense
July 24th, 2008 at 10:24 amNaomis last blog post..People-Watching
Having run numerous workshops and coached many individuals as a Certified Facilitator for The Passion Test(tm), thought I’d add a comment.
Almost everyone has found the Test to be an excellent tool in discovering those 5 things/passions that are the most important to them at the time. But it’s only the beginning of the process. The piece people seem to get stuck with is “how do I get from here to there” - i.e. accountability in taking action (in addition to focusing upon) towards the passions and releasing limiting beliefs around actually being able to achieve them. Having a partner, coach, mentor to help stay on track is most helpful.
PS Journeyer…love the meerkat, one of my favorite animals.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:23 pmNaomi, you seem to have it pretty much figured out. It’s great that a) you know your passions; and b) you are able to interweave them in a meaningful and worthwhile way. You’re right, it is sometimes easy to overlook the small things - something that I also tend to do.
Evelyn - I agree that procrastination and limiting beliefs are a stumbling block for me in a lot of things. Perhaps that’s why I haven’t found what my passions are - I’m limiting my field of view.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:54 pmPerhaps this might help. Here is a list of questions I ask the participants in my classes to get them thinking about their passions…
What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
What do you love about yourself?
What would you do if money was not a concern in your life?
What 1 thing do you dream about doing that you’ve never told?
What do you fantasize about doing while driving yr car/ a shower?
Who do you know that’s doing something you’d like to do? Describe yourself doing it.
How cld you make the world a better place for yourself & others?
What did you love when you were a child?
List five things that you want. List five things that you’re good at.
What drives you, and what gives you satisfaction?
What would you regret not having done if your life was ending?
What interest, passion or desire are you most afraid of admitting to yourself and others?
Treasure hunt in your home – what do you hang on to???? Is there a theme?
If you find yourself saying something like “Oh but I couldn’t because…” after a question, that may well be a limiting belief.
Cheers!
July 25th, 2008 at 11:49 pmWow, Evelin! Thank you so much. Your questions really have me thinking. I’m going to put some serious time into them over the weekend and see what comes out the other end.
July 26th, 2008 at 8:24 am