CHAPTER 26


Living Your Passions = Living a Kick-Ass Life

We all have one thing that we really want to do — that thing that’s rolled around in our head for a while that seems really fun and exciting. And I’ll bet all of Oprah’s money that you have at least one excuse as to why you haven’t/can’t/won’t do it. And that the reason you haven’t done it is because you let the excuse win.

I wrote about this in Chapter 2, so you already know about comfort zones, and in this chapter I want to emphasize the reasons why going after that thing you want to do is so important in living your kick-ass life. So here they are:

  1. You gain self-confidence and courage. This one is pretty obvious. When you do that big thing you want to do, a spark starts inside of you. You find out that doing it wasn’t as scary as the story you made it out to be. There are several layers to self-confidence and courage, and one of them is the notion of just taking action. Even if “your thing” turns out to be not as fun and exciting as you wanted it to be, at least you can look back on it and know that you actually did it.
  2. You meet lots of different people. Say that thing you want to do is write a book, which is a dream for many. Once you go for it, you can join writing groups, go to author conferences, participate in National Novel Writing Month, and meet other people with the same dream or who are in the industry and can envision your dream. No matter what it is you want to do, there are loads of people just like you itching to do the same thing and loads of people that can help you achieve it.
  3. You’ll have fewer regrets on your deathbed. I just can’t imagine what it must feel like to be at death’s door and wish you would have opened that business, or started that hobby, or whatever is on your list. Really think about this one and what you want to be glad that you tried. It’s not about accomplishing and fully succeeding at the thing you want to do, it’s just about trying.
  4. You’ll inspire others. I can guarantee if you get out there and do it, you will hear over and over again, “You’ve inspired me to do _____!” The ripple effect can be enormous — one that you may never know the magnitude of. People will watch your example and see that if you can do it, they can, too. And better yet, if you reveal that you were scared before you did it but took action anyway, you’ll inspire them even more.
  5. You’ll have a positive thing to focus on. Everyone needs a distraction from negative crap happening in their lives. There might come a day when you get to choose between drama and dreams. What would you choose?
  6. You’ll just generally feel good. And that’s just epic. You feeling good is really why you want to do that thing in the first place. You want it because when you think about it, it makes you excited and happy, right? And that feels good. And when you feel good you pass that on to others and are just a generally healthier person emotionally (and probably physically, too!).