We all have passions, but we don't always know what they are. Your passion is your gift to the world, but you may have forgotten or suppressed it. Perhaps you lack the courage to
follow your heart and turn your dreams into reality, or you base your choices on what you thought was expected of you. It's all too easy for us to accept our paradigm rather than embarking on a new journey, and that's why finding your passion in life can be challenging. Have you denied your passion, not believing deep down that you are worthy of it? Who told you that you are not good enough or that you don't deserve to do what you love? Was it true? Is it true now? Here's the process I learned that empowered me to find clarity around my heartfelt desires, see what was holding me back, and start living the dream.
Negative Thoughts Can Prevent You From Finding Your Passion in Life
Our thoughts are outside of our control. They come and go on their own accord. We don't choose them but rather, they choose us. However, what is within our control is how we respond to them. We can allow them to influence us, or we can just watch them go by. We can feed them or just ignore them. We have the gift of discernment and the freedom to choose. So, when a negative thought comes to mind, something like—"I don't deserve to be happy in my work so I should do something joyless just to pay the bills,"—why would we pay attention and, thereby, dis-empower ourselves? Thoughts like "I can't do that because..." followed by a list of reasons can hold us back as surely as chains, but they aren't real—they are just thoughts. "Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours", wrote Richard Bach in his book
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. It's all too easy to find excuses why we can't do something or complain about what we don't enjoy, but learning how to find your passion in life and fulfill purpose takes courage—and just a little bit of self-love.
Comfort Is the Enemy of Passion
Comfort can prevent you from finding your passion in life just as contentment breeds complacency. As Nithya Shanti wrote: “When we are interested, we do what is convenient. When we are committed, we do whatever it takes.” A steady job, regular income, and social recognition all contribute to a temptation to 'play it safe.' But how many people pro-actively planned to make a living in the way that it turned out compared with those who 'fell into' a job, career, or profession by accident? 'Work' is always going to account for a huge proportion of our lives and unless we continuously make conscious choices, we are leaving our destiny to chance. Decisions we take in our twenties typically tend to map out future decades as 'sensible' factors like experience, finances, and job-security come into play. Surprisingly, what may appear at the time to be a setback, such as a challenge at work or even losing your job, can sometimes be a gift—an
opportunity to choose a different path. It's at this point in our lives that we may start to have 'what if?' moments. But how much better would it be to preempt this with regular reflection and to pro-actively plan our transition? This is the time to be very conscious and aware, to listen to our inner voice, watch our thoughts, and decide where to focus our attention.
Go Deep Into the Body to Find Your Truth
While the voice of the heart says one thing, your brain might have other ideas often based on fear, scarcity, and your gut-feel may be contradicted by logic. The question is which voice will you listen to? Quiet reflection, space, time, and focusing deep into the feeling will reveal the answer for there the truth lies. Why? Because passion is an emotion that you just can't miss! Passion is inextricably linked with pure joy and while merely thinking about our passion is enough to affect our emotions, the acid test is actually doing it. When we actively live our passion and fulfill our purpose, we feed our souls. Doing what we love makes us shine—we extend ourselves, we soar like an eagle. Once you start living your dream, your whole demeanor changes and your passion becomes infectious. You feel lighter, your life flows more easily, your path is clearer, and you intuitively know what to do next as the pieces of your personal jigsaw start falling into place. 'Aha!' moments abound, and decisions become easier as intuition and synchronicity light up the way ahead.
What You Excel at May Not Be your Passion
When you find your passion in life, it will invariably be something that you are pretty good at. Conversely, you may excel at something that you find completely uninspiring due to a conflict of values or simply a lack of inner connection. It might fund a lifestyle that keeps you materially satisfied, but is it enough? Only you know the answer to that—or do you? How would you describe yourself at this moment? Content, happy, joyful, peaceful? How close to the 'edge' of your life are you? Ask yourself whether life could be better—whether you could be better.
You're the Boss!
You know what makes you tick. You know your strengths, weaknesses, tricks, and secrets. You can kid other people but you can't kid yourself. Only you can permit yourself to follow your dream—to choose to value yourself that much. No one is going to wave a magic wand so that everything falls into place and you live happily ever after. It's up to you. You are in charge. You are the boss. You are the one person on this earth qualified to take control of your life. You know what's best for you, but you might need some insight to get in touch with your inner wisdom—that gold inside you which is just itching to shine. You do want to shine, don't you?
Clarity Is the Gateway to Finding Your Passion in Life
For 5 consecutive days, ditch reality for fantasy. Pretend that there are no limits to what you can achieve even if it seems impossible. Do the 5 steps of this process one day at a time to allow your unconscious desires to rise slowly to the surface.((Forbes:
4 Steps To Finding Your Passion During Lockdown))
- Imagine how fantastic it would be if...
- Believe in miracles and brainstorm what you would wish for.
- Research some of your initial ideas and see what sticks.
- Feel into your heart and gut to see which one is inspiring just for the sheer joy of it.
- Imagine you have to choose today, which one would make you think "OMG"?
The 3 C's: 3 Simple Steps to Passion, Purpose, and Performance
- Consciousness: Have a candid conversation with yourself about your current frustrations and aspirations. Challenge your version of your life to highlight previously unconscious thought patterns including negative beliefs and limiting narratives.
- Clarity: Free of these constraints, fresh insight then empowers you to bust the paradigm that seems to have kept you trapped so that you can find and embrace your passion. It also promotes purpose and momentum to create the steps that will lead to your vision.
- Commitment: Hold yourself accountable to a friend, family member, or work colleague for implementing the action plans that you created.
The Difference Between Creativity and Fulfillment
As you begin to create your reality from your heart space, you may notice an inexplicable drop in your energy levels. This is quite normal and is usually due to a lack of fulfillment. Finding your passion energizes you, enabling you to do the 'work' necessary to manifest the dream. But your brain expects the reward immediately. and it wonders "where's the rush?" Just keep remembering that the payoff comes at the moment—the 'now'. Only when you are doing the thing you love will you experience that unique level of joy. So, don't expect immediate gratification. Just trust that your ROI from the hard work you are putting in place will be worthwhile and that your purpose will be fulfilled.
Final Thoughts
So, this is how 5 days of clarity and the 3 c's method will help you break the paradigm, empower yourself, find your passion in life, fulfill your purpose, and get from where you are now to where you want to be. The path to finding your passion in life isn't easy, but it is well worth the effort pursuing.
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