Are you doing what you really love doing? Let’s face it, not many people are. I’m one of the lucky ones that just love doing what I do. It’s Sunday and I’ve been “working” for about four hours straight. It isn’t work for me. It’s really fun. I love what I do and what I’m creating and it fills me with happiness, joy, pride and a sense of humility.
If you aren’t doing what you love to do, my first question is why? For some people, they really don’t know what their true passion is. For others, they are stuck somewhere because the job they have provides financial security to their families and it’s pretty scary to let that go. No matter what situation you are in, there are 3 things you need to do:
- Find your passion. I highly recommend the book, “The Passion Test” by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood. It really helps you to find what you are truly passionate about. When I first took this test, I already had a coaching business. But what it clarified for me was why. I really loved being able to make an impact on people’s lives. What it also gave me was the courage to get certified and start training NLP. By doing so, I’ve been able to touch so many other people’s lives. In fact, while I was assisting at an NLP Master Practitioner Training in New Zealand, one of the participants asked me if I remembered him. I confessed that I hadn’t. It seems that 3 years earlier, I was at an Anthony Robbins event talking to people during the breaks about NLP. I talked to this guy. And because I said what I said, he changed his life completely. He was at this training because of me. I was so overcome by his story, I just sat there with tears running down my eyes. There are so many people that I touch and never know about. This is someone who I just happened to run into. It was a sign that I was on the right track!
- Love what you do now. Whatever job you are in right now, whether it’s your passion or not, find some way of really loving an aspect of it that’s related to your passion. For example, I used to work in hotels. So if I was still a hotel manager, I would be using my passion to develop the staff that worked for me. I would be training them, coaching them, and challenging them to live outside their comfort zones. How about you? How could you apply your passion to the work you’re currently doing.
- Use every spare moment of your time involved with your passion. Screw the TV set and episodes of shows that are meant to make you laugh or cry or feel afraid. Your passion is out there waiting for you and if you want to do what you love to do, then these spare moments are precious! People have built very successful entrepreneurial enterprises in their spare time. Some have built such great ones they were able to easily leave their “day” jobs. What’s more important to you, another episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun or your passion? You had better said your passion!
This week’s happiness challenge is for you to get the book, The Passion Test, do the test and start figuring out how to incorporate your passion into your current work. Then, take those spare moments and turn them into passion moments. I promise you, you will sleep better, you’ll be more jazzed about life, and you will succeed like never before! Remember, it’s all a ripple effect. By having a little more jazz in your spare moments, you’ll have a little more jazz everywhere!
To your happiness,
Lindley