How to Live with Passion
Definiteness of Purpose & Passion: Moving From 'Have To' to 'Want To'
How to live with passion via Purpose: The 4 Little Words Ruining Your Daily Energy:
Having purpose is to know exactly why you do the things you do in life. Sure, there are long-winded textbook definitions out there but I want to keep this simple: answer this one question:
Do you actually know why you do the things you're currently doing in your life?
Yes, you’ll go to work because it’s your job. Yes, you’ll get up in the morning because you slept the night before. Yes, you’ll get dressed and make yourself look presentable.
What I’m referring to is WHY? At a deeper level, other than the obvious surface reasons?
Most people will answer with: "Because I have to."
If you answered with: "Because I want to" then there’s nothing more to say. You're most likely in a great place, living life exactly the way you want. But I suspect quite a few of you said the first one.
Let's get right into why those four little words are completely ruining your happiness, and what we can start doing about it today.
When the Joy Deserts the Body:
The reason you feel like you "have to" do something is because it's likely lost its joy. What I’m specifically targeting here is your job, waking up, and getting ready for the daily grind.
You’d be right (kind of) when saying, "I have to work, we all do - how does one earn money without a job!" But if the joy was still present, you wouldn't feel like you have to do anything. You would be operating from a completely different thought process: "I want to do this because I feel good about it."
When the joy has gone and you suddenly 'have to' go to work, your daily experience changes dramatically.
Allow me to exaggerate for entertainment purposes:
You wake up exhausted. Instant dread hits your stomach. You genuinely think: Please let there be a natural disaster today so I don't have to go in. (One where nobody dies, obviously. Everything’s perfectly fine everywhere, but for some strange reason, you’ve just been given the day off).
You reluctantly drag your heavy body up. You immediately stub your toe on the side unit because you can only open one eye, but it’s the wrong one.
You shriek a mini "FFS!" (For Flapping Seagulls).
You stumble to the bathroom, accidentally trip over a stray slipper, and loudly call out to Jesus.
You try to turn the light on but can't find it. You angrily ask your partner why they’ve moved the light switch - then you remember you have a light cord. Then you remember you live completely alone. You feel stupid, but you carry on anyway.
You can't find the cord. It keeps slipping from your grasp. Now you're in the dark playing a miserable game of "Hook-a-Cord."
You finally win the game, pull way too hard, and the cord snaps. Now you're talking directly to God.
You look in the mirror, quickly turn away, and tell your reflection: "You can flap off as well."
(We'll leave it there - I think you get the point)
There's a cascading effect of positivity or negativity depending on how we feel about what we do in our lives. This is why it's crucial to have purpose because with definiteness of purpose comes certainty of joy.
Dice of Emotion:
When you start living with purpose, everything can change minute to minute. When this happens consistently enough, we start to refer to this period as 'the good life'.
Your life is either positive or negative in nature. So why take a lazy chance on rolling the 'dice of emotion' and just hoping that you wake up strangely happy for once?
Take actions that are intentionally positive. This ensures the likelihood of waking up in a good vibration. When you vibrate from a purposeful level, everything you think, feel, and execute becomes charged with magnetic joy.
It doesn't mean bad things won't happen. You're still human. But it does mean that you're far more likely to successfully deal with whatever setbacks you encounter. Living with purpose gives your life meaning. Having meaning makes you feel important, being important is rewarding, and rewards manifest in all sorts of ways.
So let's take a quick minute to talk about a few ways to start living with purpose.
Become Your Own Engineer:
In life, we sometimes feel as though we're not in charge. But it’s always the engineers who create, while the corporate bosses reap the biggest rewards.
In your life, I’m going to suggest that you start working for yourself. Take control, become your own boss, and create your own business structure.
This is a delicate metaphor for taking absolute control and building self-discipline. One thing you hold total sovereignty over is yourself. Now, I know it doesn't always seem this way, especially when we start talking about automatic subconscious beliefs and past baggage. But that's not what we're discussing right now.
Protect what goes straight into your mind. Be hyper-aware of who you surround yourself with. More importantly, keep a protective lid of self-control over your own impulsive thoughts, because they will create the negative feelings that trigger bad habits and coping mechanisms.
Taking control means taking ownership of your own mind - the good, the bad, and the absurdly bizarre. You do this by asking yourself specific questions and really sitting down with your responses. Remember, living with purpose means asking yourself, what you really want from your life. Your life!
Three-Part Purpose Diagnostic:
To get your juices flowing you must extract your internal coordinates. My suggestion is to always write your responses down. My preference is pen to paper because it becomes very real when you express it outside of your internal dialogue - but making a note on your computer, tablet or phone is just as good.
Step 1: What are you passionate about?
Many of us have completely lost touch with our passions because of the direction our life has gone in for so long. As a result, we find ourselves doing things that either started out enjoyable but lost their appeal, or were things we never truly wanted to do in the first place.
'Passion' refers to an almost uncontrollable emotion that gets you extremely excited. It's the type of subject that when spoken about, your ears prick up and you shuffle forward with anticipation because you want to hear what's being said.
It’s the feeling that makes you want to talk to the point where your eyes widen and a natural (and occasionally creepy) smile erupts on your face. Obviously, I joke with creepy.
Step 2: What do you physically like doing?
Now don't get sensual on me - wink wink! Think in terms of your recent jobs, hobbies, or activities. Some of you will have done many things in your past and moved on, so you hold the actual hands-on experience of doing something you physically enjoyed.
Others might benefit from thinking about what you liked to do back at school, college, or university. It can be hard to think of a time when you enjoyed something with passion, so if nothing immediately comes to mind - give it a minute. Patience is hard to master ,but not impossible to develop.
Allow yourself to time travel using your unique and wonderful higher faculties. One of your higher faculties is Memory. (If this is the first time you're hearing that term, make sure to read that specific post - Higher Faculties).
Your memory allows you to travel back and see a montage or a mini video of a past experience. Even if it only gives you a title and an emotion, that’s a perfect start. For example: Loved going swimming with school. Can't remember the details, but it makes me smile.
Step 3: What can you see yourself doing?
Sometimes you might have nothing positive to reflect on in your history. It's alright if that's the case. Think about what you currently enjoy doing. What activities and experiences have you recently had that made you feel good, or that you think you might be genuinely good at?
All of us possess entirely unique passions.
Like in the video, the girl liked to beat the crap out of poor little Elmo... Now, I'm not suggesting you do that exact same thing! But I am commanding you to find the unique spark that belongs entirely to you.
Go to your dark side with this exercise if you must. But I'm hoping you understand the positive point I am subtly nudging you towards.
I'm well aware some of you might find this inner diagnostic quite basic. But trust me, if you've never done it before, please hold an open mind and give it a try.
The 'People Pleaser' Mask:
OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER:
The older we get, the more cynical we become. We end up stubbornly refusing to do anything that seems child-like or mind-numbingly obvious.
The major problem with this rigid outlook is simple: sometimes the simplest exercises are the most effective at delivering real-world results.
IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE:
Most of us were taught during our younger years that grown-ups don't do this type of thing. We were told we must be mature, responsible, and stop living in a fantasy land.
The tragic thing about this conditioning is that, in a desperate attempt for our elders to help us mature, they taught us that it's fundamentally wrong to resemble a child.
Consequently, we detached from an innocent state of existence and forced our way into adulthood. But get this - most of us were still in our childhood or adolescence when we were handed this script.
We started wearing a heavy social mask to conform to the wants and desires of our elders. We did it entirely for approval. We trusted that they must be right, so we changed our outward behaviour.
But on the inside? We were left feeling like we weren't good enough because someone had to tell us to stop being ourselves. This is exactly how young people grow up to become exhausted, automated Adult People Pleasers.
Always keep your mind open to new ways of being, but not at the expense of your own happiness - this kid has the right mindset.
Hoisting the Anchor:
Sometimes our passions from the past will not enthuse us as they once did. That's perfectly normal, and it's OK. But it remains a spectacular starting point because most of us have lost touch with a core design we were diverted from, and we desperately need a re-introduction.
Living with purpose:
It doesn’t just make every single day exciting, interesting, and meaningful. It hands you the fuel required to face, manage, and conquer all the messy in-between bits of life.
When you operate from a positive place of passion, enjoyment, and absolute fulfilment, it becomes a million times easier to stay clean away from negative sources, toxic people, hostile places, and destructive habits.
Until next time - passion is not just a fruit.
Now something more personal and powerful from Steve Irwin, a wildlife conservation enthusiast from Australia. Here's an example of a guy who embodies passion.
No matter what you do with your life, make passion the driving force behind as much of it as possible because it will get you through the other bits. Not every single moment of life is going to be filled with absolute joy, but when you live your life with passion and do it on purpose, in an organised way; there's a better chance of not only being happy, but spreading that happiness to everyone you encounter along the way.
Be brave, be bold, be courageous, be passionate, be enthusiastic, be excited, but above all, be alive. The guarantee of death is that your influence over others has ended so make the most of your life by living with purpose.
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