All Things Inspired

What lights this fire inside?

You can have 100 people interested in a common goal. But give me one person with passion and they will outshine the mass of 100. What lights this fire inside? Passion is the energy inside of you that fuels your drive toward a meaningful life, much like a kinetic energy. Kinetic energy is defined as energy an object possesses due to its motion. You are the object and the energy of passion comes from your desire to put your passion into motion, transforming your efforts each day into purposeful and meaningful pursuit of your goals. Kinetic energy is proportional, so, much like this energy in relation to mass and speed, the greater your passion, the greater your drive will intensify.

This explosive energy of passion comes from the mere belief you have passion and the ability to drive it to success. Passion is what speaks to your innermost being, the core of your perceived existence. Are you listening to your passion? You must believe in your passion. You must listen to your passion.

Is passion sustainable? I mean, everyone gets caught in the ruts of life from time to time. When this happens we tend to go into maintenance mode, just doing the basic things of day-to-day life. When this happens our passion can become our last priority. Tasks in our life come before that which we love the most, the source of our passion. How do you stoke the fire of passion once again? Let's consider these strategies for rekindling passion...

Reevaluate your why - what ignited your passion in the beginning? Does it still exist and can it be recaptured? Being honest with yourself in this step is important to recheck your desires, disappointments, and current feelings versus what you felt in the beginning.
Relational connections - connecting with those close to you and others who are like minded in your thinking will strengthen your desire to recapture passion. They can offer great emotional support as your recenter your passionate focus.
Reaffirming appreciation - examine where you are in your life. Be appreciative for the lessons learned from failure and for the position you are in at this point in your life. This type of refocus can realign you passion.
Restart modestly - if you got sidetracked, simply start again! Do over! But remember, it is a do over without guilt. And more importantly, to reinforce your decision to regroup, be sure to celebrate your wins moving forward, regardless of how small. This will further confirm your decision to rekindle the passion.

Some of you may be saying at this point, "That's great, but I haven't found my passion yet." No worries! It's never too late to find your passion in life. In discovering your passion, you need to consider what brings you joy, what is curious to you, and what is so enjoyable to you that you lose all track of time when engaged in this activity. That's the best way to start exploring what is passionate to you. If you want to start taking steps toward this discovery, consider what hobbies might be exciting. Have you wanted to volunteer your time for a worthy cause? What were some things that interested you when you were younger that you have lost sight of? Or in diving deeper into this thought process, have you identified problems you want to be involved in solving? This could be personal, or within your community, or beyond. Give this process a try! You might be surprised how quickly you discover your passion.

"There is no passion to be found playing small, in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." A quote from Nelson Mandela. While this statement is impactful in describing passion, you've probably also heard the saying that passion is great, but it doesn't pay the bills. Well at least not yet, maybe! This tends to be a reality check for a lot of people pursuing a passion. I want to offer some perspectives on the foundation of passion and incorporating time for your passion. Consider these points...

We talk about "following" your passion. Start with replacing "following" with "finding". Finding represents the enduring process of trials faced in discovering your passion as something that you are intrinsically good at and that provides some level of value to others around you or that benefit from your passion.
Transition from hobby to side hustle. While passions can take time to cultivate into career enhancing opportunities, taking the approach of a side hustle seems to allow one to keep financial stability with a current employment while continuing to build the passionate project on the side. Transitioning from side hustle to career comes when it proves it can pay the bills. I know this one by heart as I am so fortunate to be able to write these articles.
Understanding competence and passion. Passion is enthusiastic. Competence gets proven through rewardable and marketable skills.
Stepping toward marketable. If your passion solves a real and painful problem for others, this is considered marketable. Otherwise passion that is only self serving is not.
Time is our most valuable asset. While you may not be financially able to be all in on your passion, you can develop ways to devote time to your passion. Start by analyzing how you spend your time now. Where can you squeak out an hour or two a day? Track your time for two weeks. Be honest how you spend your time and record it on a piece of paper. I'm betting you will be surprised to see how easy you can find at least 1 hour each day to devote to your passion.
Prioritize and delegate your time. You might have to develop the ability to say "no" when it's easier to say "yes". No time, no passion? Know time, know passion!
Ask for help around the house. Learn to prioritize what's important over what is urgent. Things that become urgent aren't always important in the long game.
Improve your environment. Once you find that hour a day, maximize your time and effort by working in an environment free of distraction. Soft music, quiet surroundings, even consider no windows to reduce outside distractions. You'll be surprised how much this helps. I'm doing it as I write this article. I have an office in my basement, with some soft jazz music playing and the blinds closed, it's probably the most efficient hour of my day.

Try the strategies we've outlined in this article. Reflect on how these points can ignite or stoke the fire of your passion. Passion is an intense, positive, and lasting sense of being within your core that says, "This is who I am. This is what I believe is my purpose. This is my destiny!" Now, just imagine the day that your courage to act reaches your passion. How exciting that will be!

Ask yourself this question, "If not with passion, then why?" May the power of your passion ignite the courage of your actions! Start today and...

Be inspired! Inspire others!