Great dancers are not great because of their technique;
they are great because of their passion.
Martha Graham
One of the keys to creating a fulfilling life is to make sure that it’s aligned with your purpose and your passion. How to do this? A good place to start is by considering these questions:
What do you value most?
Write a list of all the things you value most. These are the things that are most important to you — which have the most meaning for you and that bring joy to your life. A few examples might be relationships, family, creativity, nature, travel, laughter, adventure, solitude, spirituality, community …
What are you passionate about?
Think back over your life and write down times when you were doing something you felt passionate about. These are likely to be times when you were completely absorbed, felt you could carry on doing what you were doing indefinitely and didn’t notice that hours had passed. These don’t have to be highly significant incidents: it could be the simplest thing such as reading a good book or walking in the countryside on a balmy summer’s evening.
What are your skills?
Write down everything you’re good at and (as they usually go hand in hand) love doing. Are you good at sports – repairing things – music – making people laugh – business – caring for others – working with children? To get a different perspective (and perhaps add some unexpected items to your list) you could ask friends, family or colleagues for some feedback (see Tip 27 Getting Feedback). Sometimes the things we do well come so naturally to us that we aren’t even aware of the gifts we have.
What qualities do you admire in others?
Finally, think of people that you really admire. They can be living or dead, known to you personally or not. The key is to consider what characteristics you admire in each person. What do they symbolise for you? This is an interesting one, because even if two people write down the same person (let’s say Winston Churchill) the qualities they admire might be completely different. One might admire his extraordinary leadership while for another his skill as an orator might be the key characteristic for them.
Quite simply, if we can find a way of life that is the living expression of the things we value; the things we feel passionate about; the things we’re naturally good at and the qualities we admire in others, we’re much more likely to feel that ours is a purposeful life.
Ignoring your passion is like dying a slow death…
Passion whispers to you through your feelings,
beckoning you toward your highest good.
Pay attention to what makes you feel energized,
connected, stimulated –
what gives you your juice.
Do what you love, give it back in the form of service,
and you will do more than succeed. You will triumph.
Oprah Winfrey
People are self-motivated.
They do their best work when they come to believe,
through their own processes, that what they are going to
do is worthwhile.
John Harvey-Jones