Chapter 1
Why Are You Where You Are?
To understand where we want to go we first have to understand where we are and how we got here. In my years of work in outside sales I have spent more than one hundred nights per year in hotels. I have my favorite hotel chains and usually stay in the same brand of hotel. The downside to this is waking up and not knowing where I am. Usually this occurs on the fourth or fifth consecutive night on the road. I wake up look around and can't remember which city I am in.
The interior of the room is the same as the interior of the rooms I have stayed in the previous several nights. But where am I? I'm never really sure until I am fully awake and look at the room key or my day planner to determine exactly which city I am in. Knowing where I am is compounded when I leave the hotel for dinner and return and can't remember my room number. Five nights, five different room numbers. "Let's see was it 325 or 315, no wait that was last night."
Just how did we get here? How did we get to this place where we are so unhappy, so unfulfilled? For most of us it has happened over time. We are consumed by the demands of daily life. In the book First Things First by Stephen Covey, the author talks about living by the compass and not the clock. Taking care of what is important instead of focusing on what is urgent.
There are so many demands on our time we often feel we are constantly running to the next 'urgent' task in our life. We forget to take the time to look at the important things and prioritize the important over the urgent. We are so busy with these daily demands we forget to stop and look around and ask ourselves, "Why am I where I am?" Most often it is because we have not paid attention to how we got here let alone why we are in this place.
The rut we find ourselves in has gotten very deep and very steep. And it may not seem worth the effort to get ourselves out. We are content to stay where we are no matter how unhappy we may be. It's just easier to park ourselves and have our own personal pity party rather than actually do something about our situation. We sit feeling sorry for ourselves, feeling there is no sense in trying to change. It won't make any difference if we try. So we choose the status quo rather than work towards fulfilling our dreams.
So many times I have spoken to individuals who are absolutely miserable with their current station in life. They are working in a dead end job they hate. With no prospects of advancement or fulfillment in their lives, they are simply going through the motions of living. Dragging themselves out of bed each morning, rushing off to a day of unhappiness at work. Feeling their only purpose is to bring home a paycheck. Then coming home and sitting through hours of mindless television before retiring for a night of unrest as they toss and turn over the day's futility.
(need an illustration)
It absolutely amazes me how these people complain and carry on about how truly miserable and discontented they are with their current situation. Yet they are not willing to do anything about changing. Too tired, too complacent or just too lazy, I'm not sure which. I am sure of one thing--As long as they don't do anything different--nothing will change.
What about you? Are you in the rut, unhappy with your lot in life? Are you miserable? Let’s begin to figure out why. When did you begin to feel unfulfilled? Think about the last time you were really happy with your life and the direction it was taking. For you, it may be easy to identify life-changing events, which forced you to make decisions taking you in a direction you had not planned. Or you may have to go all the way back to your childhood to find a time when you were really happy. It’s possible you have never felt truly fulfilled in your life. It is important to identify the beginning of your feeling of being unfulfilled. So you can begin to understand what it is which would make you feel fulfilled with your life.
What caused you to continue on this path of unhappiness? Life can get in the way of living our dreams and fulfilling our passion. It may be circumstances, which were out of our control. Financial need, family obligations or the demands of others may have caused you to fall away from the path, which you really wanted to follow.
Whatever the case--change begins today. Right here, right now. Procrastination and hesitation are now over and the time for change is now! As you begin this journey to a more fulfilled and passionate life there will be many detractors. Those things may include: current job security, fear of the unknown, fear of failure, outsiders telling you it can't be done, among many others.
Understand, the course you have chosen will not be easy. If it were you would have done it long ago. In the chapters, which follow, we will help you understand your passion, qualify it as a true direction for your life and help you to get started in realizing your dreams.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Living a life of passion
Most people go through the motions of living with no thought to whether or not they are truly happy. Rising each morning to face another day of drudgery in the same old grind. How sad!
How about you? Are you living the life you always dreamed? If your answer is yes, great! If not--why not? Let’s explore this topic of living a fulfilling life. A life of passion as I like to think of it.
Finding your passion is the start. What is your passion? What gets you excited? What makes your heart pound? Discovering the answer is to discover the gifts God has given to you.
To begin with, your passion is often something in which you have special talents or abilities. When you participate in this activity you find yourself energized.
Other people will validate your passion. Listen to what people tell you about your work. They will let you know the positive way they respond to the work you do for them. This is confirmation of the things you do well and of your true passion.
Listen to your inner voice…the Passion within you. I encourage you to spend time in reflection. Find time in each day to be quiet and listen. What things come to your mind? Pay attention, after all you know best. So you say, “I don’t have time to be quiet.” I say, “You don’t have time to not be quiet!” The time you spend will pay you back many times over in defining the person you are and in defining your dreams and desires.
Once you begin to see your passion you will want to bring it to reality. The creation of a personal vision statement is a great way to begin the process. The written personal vision statement helps define who you are and who you want to become. It shows where you are and where you plan to go. It becomes a focusing point for your passion.
Engaging your vision is the next step. This is done through a regiment of goal setting. Outlining intermediate steps you need to take to achieve your passion. Goals provide a structure for achieving your dreams and attaining a life of passion.
In goal setting, begin by prioritizing what is important to you and don’t get caught by the things which seem urgent but aren’t necessarily important. A great book to help you understand this concept more fully is First Things First by Stephen Covey. In it he suggests we should spend our time focused on the compass instead of the clock. In other words, where we need to spend our time is not on what is most urgent but on what is most important.
In all of this we need to create balance in all aspects of our life. From work to leisure, from family to friends—It is that balance which helps us stay in sync with ourselves and pursue our dreams. You need to understand; dreams change, desires change and your passion may change. And that is OK. As you grow and change, so may you dreams. Be flexible and embrace these changes.
You need to adopt an attitude to succeed. I am reminded of the young ball player who struck out every time he was up to bat. His coach started working with him to ‘see the ball all the way to the bat’. After a short time he was making contact, hitting foul balls, but still he was making contact. His attitude about hitting improved and eventually he was batting the ball into play. By the end of the season he was leading his teams in hits. A positive attitude and learning from the ‘foul balls’ helped him to succeed. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the foul balls
The actuality to achieving a life of passion is it takes work. Work is the vehicle which carries your dreams— your vision—your passion to reality.
When you are lucky enough to realize your passion you need to understand it is not the be-all or end-all, rather it is the body of our existence—it defines us and challenges us to define ourselves and live our lives in a new way. Not in a dream world, rather in a world created from our love for what we do and our desire to share it with others through our work. Living our PASSION!
How about you? Are you living the life you always dreamed? If your answer is yes, great! If not--why not? Let’s explore this topic of living a fulfilling life. A life of passion as I like to think of it.
Finding your passion is the start. What is your passion? What gets you excited? What makes your heart pound? Discovering the answer is to discover the gifts God has given to you.
To begin with, your passion is often something in which you have special talents or abilities. When you participate in this activity you find yourself energized.
Other people will validate your passion. Listen to what people tell you about your work. They will let you know the positive way they respond to the work you do for them. This is confirmation of the things you do well and of your true passion.
Listen to your inner voice…the Passion within you. I encourage you to spend time in reflection. Find time in each day to be quiet and listen. What things come to your mind? Pay attention, after all you know best. So you say, “I don’t have time to be quiet.” I say, “You don’t have time to not be quiet!” The time you spend will pay you back many times over in defining the person you are and in defining your dreams and desires.
Once you begin to see your passion you will want to bring it to reality. The creation of a personal vision statement is a great way to begin the process. The written personal vision statement helps define who you are and who you want to become. It shows where you are and where you plan to go. It becomes a focusing point for your passion.
Engaging your vision is the next step. This is done through a regiment of goal setting. Outlining intermediate steps you need to take to achieve your passion. Goals provide a structure for achieving your dreams and attaining a life of passion.
In goal setting, begin by prioritizing what is important to you and don’t get caught by the things which seem urgent but aren’t necessarily important. A great book to help you understand this concept more fully is First Things First by Stephen Covey. In it he suggests we should spend our time focused on the compass instead of the clock. In other words, where we need to spend our time is not on what is most urgent but on what is most important.
In all of this we need to create balance in all aspects of our life. From work to leisure, from family to friends—It is that balance which helps us stay in sync with ourselves and pursue our dreams. You need to understand; dreams change, desires change and your passion may change. And that is OK. As you grow and change, so may you dreams. Be flexible and embrace these changes.
You need to adopt an attitude to succeed. I am reminded of the young ball player who struck out every time he was up to bat. His coach started working with him to ‘see the ball all the way to the bat’. After a short time he was making contact, hitting foul balls, but still he was making contact. His attitude about hitting improved and eventually he was batting the ball into play. By the end of the season he was leading his teams in hits. A positive attitude and learning from the ‘foul balls’ helped him to succeed. Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the foul balls
The actuality to achieving a life of passion is it takes work. Work is the vehicle which carries your dreams— your vision—your passion to reality.
When you are lucky enough to realize your passion you need to understand it is not the be-all or end-all, rather it is the body of our existence—it defines us and challenges us to define ourselves and live our lives in a new way. Not in a dream world, rather in a world created from our love for what we do and our desire to share it with others through our work. Living our PASSION!
Welcome
Welcome to my BLOG. Using a combination of nearly thirty years of small business experience and a strong desire to help business owners and individuals to reach their full potential. I hope to use this forum as a way to share marketing and business planning insight to assist small business owners in growing their business.
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