Soul’s Purpose
Dad, “How will I know if it’s real, if it’s true love?” One of the oldest questions asked to parents since the beginning of time. Is it a fair question though? How do you know if it’s love or if it’s just a really strong like? This question isn’t just a concern for high schoolers and young adults.
When you’re standing there trying to figure out your next move or your exit strategy and you’re wondering if your love is enough to meet the height requirement of the amazing ride of your next move, you better know it’s real because liking it just isn’t enough. You need to love it, but how do you find the real thing? Is the answer your parents gave you, “you’ll know the real thing when you see it” gonna cut it? Probably not when it comes to your…….
Soul’s Purpose
Finding your passion has become a very popular phrase used by many life coaches, it has become a luxury of this modern world. When you want to apply it to life or business you need to be clear on what that means.
Whenever someone tells me that “they can’t find their passion”
My immediate response is “Did you look for it in your sofa cushions?”, “Did you check under your bed?”, or “What do you mean you can’t find it?”
When, Where, How did you lose it? Did you actually lose it or are you ignoring it?
The truth is you didn’t lose your passion. “Looking for your passion” has become an excuse, a well disguised excuse, but an excuse nonetheless.
We use it to cover up the fact that we are not progressing, growing, and taking action in life. The real problem isn’t that it is lost or missing. Passion isn’t something that you find or discover, Passion is already there.
Passion is like electricity in a light switch, it’s always there, even when the switch is turned off, the electricity is there running, ready, just waiting there in the wires to be turned on. There is no wondering where it may be or searching for where it may be hiding.
So, if you want to feel your passion, then like electricity what you need to do is:
Flip the switch.
Flipping the switch to on in order to activate your passion is in your head and heart, not in the cushions of your sofa, and in your head and heart there are 4 switches.
1. Being Passionate about What you do.
This is the switch that most people focus on and believe is the only switch that matters. Its not, it’s just one of four. When we believe that we should be living a life filled with uninterrupted passion because that’s what the “world” has been telling us, we should be weary of that feeling or belief because that’s not how it works.
The mistake that is made here is the belief that a person’s front of stage persona is the same as their back of stage reality. Picture a duck paddling across a pond, it does so with ease and grace, with what appears to be a smooth and seemingly effortless progression across the water. However underneath the surface the ducks legs are paddling like crazy to propel it forward.
Don’t over romanticize the idea of being wholly passionate about what you do being amazing all of the time. 5 to 10% of what you do is actually gonna be what you love. The rest of the time will be work, nothing is awesome all of the time. Following your passion and doing what you love may be the quickest way to kill your passion.
Some people do indeed flip the what switch and the passion in what they do will be ignited. For others some of those “whats” are meant to remain as hobbies, something you do just for fun.
So if you are passionate about what you do and all that comes with it then by all means paddle along my friend.
2. Being Passionate about Why you do it
Well Benji, is how the question usually starts, if you only love what you do 5 to 10% of the time how do you get through the other 90 to 95% of it? Those long hours logged into your computer doing research, writing and editing. The planning, the logistics, and the dreaded deadlines.
My reply, “I turn to switch two”. I may not love all of what I have to do, but I most certainly love why I do it.
You see I am passionate about my mission, about helping people find success and getting the results they want in all areas of their lives. This passion is why I get out of bed early every day, even when what I might have to do that day is something I may dislike or even be difficult. The passion of why I am doing it out shines the darkness of the other 90 to 95%.
If you are truly in love with the results of what you do, the why, then you will be able to get through the water, just like the duck, with grace and ease.
3. Being Passionate about How you do it
Ever met or know someone that does their job or every day task with meticulous care and always wants the job done a certain way, the “right way”. These people use the term “I am just OCD about it”.
This is an unmistakable expression of passion, yet is often not seen as passion. They don’t take all that care and put that much effort into how they are doing things for thanks or recognition, although they graciously accept it. They do it for themselves, they love doing things with excellence, they thrive on it. They are some of the most passionately engaged people you will meet and it’s not because of what they do, or why they do it.
It’s because of HOW they do it.
The third switch, being passionate about how you do things can be one of the more difficult of the four switches, but it’s one of my favorites. People that are driven by the how switch often inspire others to live up to a higher standard of excellence. People that execute the hows of their work and personal lives with passion and joy bring a level of enthusiasm to what they do because they love how they are doing it.
The best part though of switch three is……….
You can flip the switch on at anytime. The how switch only requires bringing a level of presence, joy, and energy to everything and anything that you choose. Loving how you do what you do can be an enlightened, passionate, and rewarding way to live.
4. Being Passionate about Who you do it for
This switch, this is the means to an end switch. You may find that the other three switches, the what, why, and how switches may not ignite your passion….
But the WHO switch….
When you’re doing it with passion because of who you’re doing it for, your child (children), a parent, grandparent, someone you lost, your community, or someone else entirely. When it’s not you, but a who, that ignites that passion your passion is limitless.
Everytime that you are lacking motivation or want to stop, take a look at your who and you will find all the passion you need. Your ever so powerful who will leave you with a profound sense of hope and possibility and that’s what this switch is all about.
“If you haven’t found something you are willing to die for you aren’t fit to live” - MLK Jr
When you think about your work or your life, maybe what you do isn’t all that awe inspiring. There may not be a grand mission or a why to it, you may not be impassioned to make how you do your daily task a work of art either. But is it possible that your who, who you’re doing it for can provide the spark to ignite your passion.
When you focus your mind and attention on who is being served by what you do and not why and how you do it, you will find that switch number 4 is turned on and fully engaged and everything becomes more meaningful.
Which switch are you gonna flip?
Don’t fall for the “I am just not passionate about what I do” trap. Passion isn’t just about what you do. You can find that electricity in the why, how, and the who switches. Which switch you choose only really matters to you. Making the choice to release the electricity and to live passionately once you flip a switch will give you all the energy you need to complete your
Soul’s Purpose.