Sometimes even though you are positive you want to make a change in your life, it’s hard to know which of your passions have the potential to become a career or business that will help you achieve the fulfilment and success you crave.
Maybe you're multi-passionate and can't decide which of your many passions you want to focus on, or you're not sure that any of your passions have potential, or perhaps you have a clear passion in mind already but want to double check you are on the right track.
I’ve had some people tell me that they have no passions at all! But in time they come to realise that it’s staring them right in the face!
I believe everyone has a passion, they just have to find or re-discover it.
In this episode ....
- I talk about how not all passions are made equal
- I introduce you to the three levels of passion
- I tell you which one you need to discover, to reach your full potential.
Are you ready? Hit the play button above!
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Can’t Listen Right Now? No worries, here are the highlights
Your passions are not just simply things that you enjoy doing. When you feel passionate about something it is a physical feeling as well as a mental and emotional connection. It lights you up and you inspire others with your enthusiasm for your passion.
Although working with your passion can have great advantages, as detailed in episode one, Not all passions are made equal!
Therefore, you have to be careful not to base a career or business on something that will not last the distance or is simply just not powerful enough to give you the drive to get started.
I see there being levels of passion:
The first is the ‘flash fire’ passion. This is when the passion is intense, all encompassing but short lived. Like a holiday romance!
The danger of designing a career around a flash fire passion is that once the first heady weeks, months or years are over, the passion wanes and you will be looking for yet another change.
It could be useful if it can be integrated into one phase or one project in your job or business. Or maybe if you have a one off contract that enables you to work with it until it is out of your system! But the Flash Fire passion is not conducive to longevity.
The next level, is what I call the Pilot light passion. You know after the little flame in a gas boiler that stays lit all the time?!
This type of passion is constant, with you all your life, but the flame is low. The energy, motivation and drive it gives is less than the flash fire.
There is a fine line between this being a passion and just something you just love doing.
The danger of having a pilot light passion as a career is that it is just not strong enough to get you through those harder times.
So, Pilot light passions usually are great as hobbies.
The third level of passion is the Burning Passion.
Your Burning Passion is the thing that truly has the power to sustain and energise you to make the change you are looking to make and give you the resilience to deal with the challenges along the way. It has the intensity of the flash fire and the longevity of the pilot light. It stands out from your other passions, constantly teasing you, coming to mind and reminding you it is there.
You may push it away or bury it completely, because it does not fit into the rules of what you or other people think you should be doing with your life.
But, it is the one thing that, if you do not embrace it, it is likely you will look back at the end of your life and regret not pursuing it.
You can have many and varied passions BUT there will only be few that are your Burning Passions.
Your Burning Passion is the intersection between four elements:
What lights you up,
Your key talent and skills,
Your core values and
Your vision of success.
Your other passions may have some of these elements but only your burning passion has all four.
Let’s break it down further...
1. Your passion needs to light you up, if it doesn’t it’s not a passion!
When something lights you up it is not just that you enjoy it, it makes you feel energised and excited and fills you with joy and you feel like you can take on the world! It is a physical feeling as well as a mental, emotional and sometimes a soul deep connection.
Although the light may dim, when you go through tough challenges, it is never extinguished. It is always there ready to fill you with excitement, enthusiasm, grit and self-belief.
2. Even if a passion lights you up, it is less likely to be your Burning Passion and bring you fulfilment and success, unless you have some talents or skills that align with it.
Or have the potential to develop them further with the right coaching, knowledge, development and training. When you have a passion for something AND have the talent and right skills it is a powerful combination.
3. The passion needs to be aligned with your core values
When we talk about success, it will not look the same for everyone. Which is why it is important that you are crystal clear on what your ideal vision is for your future and if your passion is likely to help you reach it in some way. You don’t want to end up 5 years down the line with a life you do not desire.
You have to find the right passion, the one that will have the strength and power to keep the flame of excitement, happiness, engagement and motivation alive.
If you don’t find your burning passion, you could find in a few years you are:
- Still unfulfilled in a different career, with the same frustrations
- Or maybe have lost your passion for your new business and are now stuck with it
- Perhaps you will be struggling to find success because you just don’t have the energy or motivation to keep going
- Or working in another job you don’t enjoy, still looking forward to your ‘one day’ dreams
Even if you think you have definitely nailed down your Burning Passion, it is worth taking the time to confirm it before moving forward.
HOW can you get started in finding YOUR Burning Passion?
Step 1: Think of all the things you love doing or know you are passionate about. Do this without filter, or whether it is feasible or could potentially be part of a career or business, just let your mind run riot! Anytime your mind starts to say ‘but I can’t because’ push it away. You are aiming to have at least 10 potential passions to work with.
Step 2: Assess each of the potential passions against the four elements that make up the Burning Passion. In other words, do they light you up, can you use your talents and skills, do they align to your core values and to your vision of success.Now, if that all sounds like a lot don’t worry, as each of these elements is a big subject on it’s own I will be going deeper into each of them in the next few episodes.
Step 3: Narrow your passions down to one or two Burning Passions.
If you have a few contenders, ask yourself if you could only do one of them in life, what would it be?
