Passion is overrated.
“What? Okay Harv, now you’ve gone too far!!”
Let’s be clear, here. When it comes to the people we care about, or a cause, a mission, or…let’s just be honest here…sex and intimacy, then of course passion is good!
That’s not the kind of passion I’m talking about. What I mean is this whole idea that “If I’m not living my passion, then everything’s wrong!”
Let’s first of all take this heavy load off of the word “passion.” It used to be a good thing, now it’s frickin’ overrated! I can’t tell you how many people have a problem with their “passion,” as if it’s some holy grail to happiness and success.
All we really want to do is what we enjoy and makes us happy, yes or yes? But in everything we do…everything…there’s going to be some things that are really positive and some things that are not so positive.
Passion is something that people talk about because of its enthusiasm. The word enthusiasm comes from the Latin word theos, meaning spirit. So passion is really a connection to Spirit, and the word “alignment” in the context I’m using it in is aligning with your spirit.
So passion is not the be all and end all, but we do want to find out as best as possible what we are most in alignment with. We all have elements in life that we are more aligned with and others not so much.
The goal is to align as closely as possible with what resonates with your natural gifts and talents in an area you enjoy and helps other people in a way where they are willing to pay you.
Marsha Sinetar wrote a book called Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow. Half right, half wrong. Do what you love and the money will follow as long as you do your business intelligently, you market intelligently, and you handle people properly!
That’s not that hard, and it’s all learnable, but you want to be in an arena that aligns you with your nature, with who you really are. Those things usually come from what you were born with, and sometimes it just takes a while to find out what you’re naturally good at.
So not only is searching for that passion a mistake (it’s already in you; just calm down, be patient and let life unfold those answers for you), but the importance placed on the word tends to be overstated or simply misunderstood.
You don’t have to be “doing” your passion in order to be a passionate person and see that enthusiasm in every aspect of your life right now, if you chose that.
So, how do you uncover what best aligns with the interests you’re most passionate about?
I say start by going to a retail store like Barnes and Noble and buy any four magazines you like, the ones you would read anyway. They might be varied, but that’s why I want you to buy four of them. If you don’t want to go to the bookstore and buy magazines, just write down what you know your interests are.
Now you say, “Well, how can I make a living?” Look inside those magazines to see what’s hot, what’s not, what’s going on, what’s new or what you want to be part of. If you are in a situation where you have a job and you know this job is not your field of passion, then get a job in your field of passion for goodness sake! Try it out. See if it’s actually a fit for you. If it’s not, then move on to another area of interest.
If you find your passion and structure your business and career properly, you will increase your income.
Could you think of a better blessing than doing something you love and getting rich while you’re doing it? I can’t.
But back to the point of living in alignment is not that you’re 100% stoked about every aspect of every part of your life, including how you make money. The point is you enjoy life, yourself and the people you care about right now, whether you’re living your passionate dream career or not.
Tell us what you think. Share your stories and experiences, we want to hear from you!
No comments:
Post a Comment