What Is Your Passion? Part 2

What Is Your Passion?

Seven Characteristics of Unstoppable People

Part 2 in a Seven-Part Series

Based on the book Unstoppable by Cynthia Kersey

Why do you do what you do?  Is it passion?  Is it just because nothing else came along? 

One of the best definitions I found for passion when researching this article is this:  “a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object or concept.”

Passion is the fire that burns deeply inside and fuels the emotions, creativity and will toward success. 

Marshall Foch says this about passion:  “The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”  

Where passion burns, a way will be found. 

I want to write to encourage and inspire others.  I will write books, articles, speeches, blogs and single sentence thoughts in pursuit of this drive of mine.

Someday I will write the blog heard round the world.  I’m already being read in some faraway places like Russia, Afghanistan, England, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Germany, India, Brazil, Indonesia and other such places. 

My passion is to offer hope, encouragement and inspiration one word at a time to mankind. 

Passion sometimes is scary.  Robyn Allan says “many of us are afraid to follow our passions, to pursue what we want most because it means taking risks and even facing failure.  But to pursue your passion with all your heart and soul is success in itself.  The greatest failure is to have never really tried.”

Passion sweeps one off their feet.  Now that is some strong something. 

When is the last time you were swept off your feet? 

So, what is your passion?  You have to figure that one out for yourself.  Assessment tests, personality profiles and other such tests can point you in a certain direction but to find the perfect focus for your energies?  Look inside of you. 

Where do your private thoughts take you?  When you are alone, what thoughts are on your mind more than any other? 

Look within to see what makes your heart beat faster and discover the passion for your life.

What Is Your True Purpose? Part 1

What Is Your True Purpose?

Seven Characteristics of Unstoppable People

Part 1 in a Seven-Part Series

Based on ideas from the book Unstoppable by Cynthia Kersey

One of my favorite quotes on focus and purpose is this:  “Define your mission!  Define your mission and stick to it.”

I found this in Winds of War by Herman Wouk.  In this book, Mr. Wouk recounts a scene in which General E. J. Tillet, military author and one of the Commanding Generals for England during WWII, is speaking to the main character named Pug Henry.  Tillet is making an observation about Herman Goring that is applicable to our topic.  He said this about Goring,

“He’s wasted a whole bloody month bombing harbors and pottering about after convoys.  He’s only got till September the fifteenth.  His mission is mastery of the air, not blockade.  Define your mission!  Define your mission and stick to it!” 

Question:  What is your mission?  What is your purpose for whatever it is that you are doing with your life and want to do with your life?

Missions are great.  They help point the way.  They help define who we are, and they need defining.

I have known for years that I am a people person and I love to encourage individuals and groups.  But I kept falling a bit short of what all of that meant.  After reading Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell for the tenth time it finally hit me what my defining mission in life is and I gained a new focus with a more defined aim than ever before. 

“What is my purpose” you might ask?

My mission, my focus, my aim in life is to offer hope, encouragement and inspiration one word at a time.  I am doing this in my writing, speaking and the living of my life. 

Often when spending time on Facebook I will catch a peek at something one of my friends is in pursuit of and dash off a note of encouragement to them in as they follow their dreams. 

That is what I do best – I encourage people.

With every person I meet, I picture them wearing an invisible sign around their neck that says “MAKE ME FEEL IMPORTANT.”  

How can I assist you in defining your true purpose?  What questions can I pose that will prompt your thinking along these lines.  After all, these are the very thoughts that unstoppable people use.

Are you unstoppable? 

Here are a few thought questions to guide us in this pursuit of defining our purposes.

-What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

-Without regard to income, what would you do to make a difference somewhere in this world?

-Do people energize you, or do you recharge your batteries in solitude?

-Do you like research or do you like telling the world after the research is finished?

-Would you rather write music or perform it?

Cynthia says “anyone … can achieve their goals and overcome any obstacle, if only they will commit themselves to doing so.”

So, define your mission, and stick to it. 

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!  

Live the life you’ve imagined.”  

Henry David Thoreau

Working on You

A wise person once said “The hardest work we will ever do is the work we do on ourselves.  The old adage “Know Thyself” is more important now than at any other time in our lives. 

We are bombarded with advertising of products to make us smarter, more beautiful and handsome, healthier, improve our bank account standing, and on and on. 

So, do we need all of these ads and all that they promise us? 

Who are we really?

That is the heart of the issue, isn’t it?  Who am I indeed.

If you’ve lost your sense of identity, purpose and the essence of you, then think on these things. 

Work on yourself.  You are your greatest asset or detriment.

Where are your thoughts taking you?  Are they good thoughts?  Are they important thoughts?  Are they the right thoughts? 

There is a scriptural admonition that is important for all of us:  “Take every thought captive.”  Your thoughts are what make you, so guard your heart, and guard your thoughts. 

What are you reading?  Books can take you anywhere you want to go.  They open new vistas, new ideas and inspiration.  Be good to yourself and feed your mind with good stuff.

Work at your priorities.  You will have to fight for them.

Priorities are necessities, not wishes.  As you think about your life and your business, what acts today will propel you forward toward success in your world?  The answers you come up with should point you toward your priorities. 

Only you can develop your priorities, so spend some quality time in considering what your priorities are and then map out a strategy for accomplishing them. 

And you will have to fight for them, every moment and every day.

What are you good at?  What is your passion?  If you could do anything in the whole world, what would it be?  What makes your heart beat faster? 

The book Acres of Diamonds helped me and countless thousands of others define their mission, their reason for living.  Once you understand your passion, it becomes a magnet and will continually pull us toward it. 

As Kevin Hall says in Aspire, “We are better at what we are great at than what we are good at.”

Work in your strengths.  You can reach your potential.

This one is tied to the one above – knowing what you are good at.  One of the adages in today’s business books is this:  “work your strengths – hire your weaknesses.”

Study, read, explore your strengths and find ways to be a better YOU!

Above all … work on you every day!

Choose Your Color

If you won a million dollars in the lottery, what color would you use to color your life?

If you were injured in a tragic auto accident and came out crippled, what color would you use?

Someone once said, “Suffering colors all of life, doesn’t it?

“Yes,” came back the response, “but I get to choose the color.”

“I GET TO CHOOSE THE COLOR!”

I love that!

The word we are dancing around is “Attitude.”  It’s not the circumstances in which we find ourselves in life that matters most.  It is our “ATTITUDE” in the midst of those circumstances.

We get to choose the color during our disappointing moments.

During my lifetime I’ve faced stuff that was hard, lonely, and difficult to understand.  .  No one likes going through those times, however, if we can come out on the other side with insight and perspective, then perhaps we can appreciate the “valley of heartache” for what it was.

But mostly, we can choose the colors with which to paint the valley walls.

In December of 1980, I awakened one morning and discovered that a third of my back yard had washed down the ravine behind my home.  At first, I wanted to go to bed, cover my head and never come out again. 

I was worried, and I experienced periods of depression and despondence.  But soon a level head and an optimistic heart prevailed and I began seeing the small steps that could be taken to lead to the larger decisions toward a remedy.

Here is a formula I used:

1.       Process the situation.  What has happened?  Did I cause it?  How serious is it? 

2.      Accept what has happened as fact.  You can’t change what has already come to pass.

3.      Act!  What can I do today to help?  Ask for help.  Find a remedy.  Begin the steps of rebuilding and recovery. 

4.      And above all, CHOOSE a good color with which to paint this experience.  If you are still standing then it is not the end of the world.  Color it as bright as you can allow yourself. 

Maintain an attitude of “we’ll get through this.”  “This too shall pass.” 

Easy?

In a word, NO!

However …

However

In time the situation got resolved.

Life happens.

Color it … WISELY!

Henley captures it perfectly. 

It matters not how straight the gate,

How charged with punishment the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;

I am the captain of my soul. 

William Ernest Henley