Photo Credit: ProjectMonkeyMind.com
By William Ballard
My father once said, "If you find something you truly love, you'll never work a day in your life," and even though I believe that 100 percent, I still find that many of my readers and coaching clients have no idea what they are passionate about. Can you relate?
Plus, I am sure we have all heard the advice that we should follow our passion, but how can you follow your passion if you don't know what that passion is? And if we even go one-step further -- outside the realms of a profession -- and look into our romantic relationships, we have all heard that we should "follow our heart," but how can you follow something that could ultimately deceive you or eventually draw you off course?
It's those ideas and questions that I would like to bring your attention to in this article. So, read on and finally learn the truth about this thing called passion that many of us have truly failed to understand. Passion doesn't fuel success, success fuels passion. - Terri Trespicio I like how Terri Trespicio put this thing called passion into perspective when she said, "Passion is not a plan, it's a feeling. And feelings change." She hits the point of this fallacy of following your passion idea right on the head. Passion is not something that we pursue, but rather, something that pursues us. Terri also said, "You don't create your life first and then live it, you create it by living it, and not agonizing about it." She goes on to say, "Passion is not a job, or a sport, or a hobby. It is the full force of your attention and energy that you give to whatever is right in front you." Did you know that 58 percent of the American workforce say that they hate their job? In fact, I spoke with a coaching client of mine not too long ago who made the statement that he was thinking about go into the real estate industry simply because, to him, "that was where the 'money' was at." I have many friends and coaching clients that I work with who are in the healthcare industry, and many will admit that they got into their profession because, in their minds, "that was where the 'money' was at." However, it didn't take them long to find that the pay really isn't what they thought it would be, and many to this day hate the long hours that they have to work and strongly dislike having to deal with impatient and disrespectful patients and families on a day-to-day basis. People have this distorted view that if they made a lot more money they would be happy, but the truth is: If you are a sad, negative type person without money, all money is going to do is make you more of the same person you already are. Having more money is not the key to happiness or the cure to sadness. You don't follow your passion, your passion follows you - Terri Trespicio You see, most people are either "following their passion" or pursing a profession that they think will offer them a lot of money, however. The problem with this is that kind of thinking process is flawed and needs re-engineering. Passion is not the vehicle you use to get to the destination of success, and you can't just teleport yourself to the destination of success by entering into a profession you think is going to make you a lot of money. What you have to understand is this: Passion is the fuel you use to gas up the vehicle you decide to drive in order to get to your destination (success). And the vehicle you drive is the work that you do to get you to where you want to be. The problem that most are facing is that they are trying to make their "passion" the vehicle that they use to get to their version of success, but that is like trying to make gasoline a vehicle in and of itself and it just doesn't make any sense. Terri goes on to mention that, when it comes to our romantic relationships, many miss out on incredible opportunities to be with some really great people because they are constantly in search for the "one." Look, why spend your entire life searching for the "one" when you could pick someone and give them all of your passion and attention? Well, the same thing goes for finding meaningful work that you truly love. Why spend the rest of your life in pursuit for this one "incredible" job, of which may never show up, when you could pick something and go full force into with your whole heart? Now Over to You...
Look, your passion and interest may change throughout the course of your life, but the key is, whenever you find something that you are interested in at the moment, go at it with your whole heart. As Terri said, "Passion doesn't fuel success, success fuels passion." In other words, when you pick something (anything) and give it all of your energy and creativity, you will begin to see success, and when that success starts to come, you will begin to feel more passionate about the thing that you do. Now, in saying that, there is one last thing I have to bring to your attention. Just as success fuels passion, it [success] also produces confidence. In other words, once you start getting some successes under your belt, trust me, you will begin to feel more confident in the thing that you do. Look, I love writing, but more importantly, I love the art of articulating thought through the written word. But all of that is not necessarily my passion. My passion is being able to inspire people and help them to become the best person they can be. And I achieve that objective through many different means of activity, writing be one of them. What are you passionate about? After reading this, are you still not sure what you are passionate about? What about identifying what you are interested in at the current moment in your life? How about you use the comments below to answer these questions, and maybe I can help you get some clarity as to what you may be interested in, and ultimately help you determine where your passion lies.
ATT: Aspiring Writer...
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William Ballard
William Ballard is the author of "The True Writer's Life," which is the book that essentially started it all for William. In conjunction with the coaching he provides for free through his blogs and articles all across the web, he also offers Personal Writing and Business Coaching where he teaches freelance writers and aspiring authors how to start, build and maintain full-time, high-earning writing careers.
William Ballard is the author of "The True Writer's Life," which is the book that essentially started it all for William. In conjunction with the coaching he provides for free through his blogs and articles all across the web, he also offers Personal Writing and Business Coaching where he teaches freelance writers and aspiring authors how to start, build and maintain full-time, high-earning writing careers.
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