Find Personal Motivation By First Defining Passion
Webster’s defines passion as: “Pervading spirit, ruling passion, master passion, fullness of heart, flow of soul.”
Why is it important to feel passion for what you are doing, both professionally and personally?
One reason is that, if you are passionate, you are motivated. If you are motivated, then you are passionate!
Have you ever met someone who is passionate about his or her work? It probably made a huge impression on you.
Think about it. Whenever you experience someone who is energetic and passionate in a store, restaurant, or business, doesn’t it impress you? When you experience the opposite of that, doesn’t it make a negative impression?
Having personal motivation and a passion for what you do has several advantages:
- It keeps you fired up and motivated
- It makes what you are doing fun
- You can be an inspiration to others
- You will be more productive
- You will be more successful
People who are passionate have more energy, enthusiasm, and charisma. It is like a high powered jolt of electricity. A person who is passionate loves what they are doing so much, that they eat, drink and sleep it.
So you are now saying to yourself, “Yeah right, but what if I am not like that? What if I am not filled with that kind of passion? What if I never feel that kind of passion?” You may also be saying, “This guy is crazy, and the passion thing is for the birds.”
If I may, I would like permission to be very blunt with you (picture me close up to your face): you haven’t found what you are passionate about. If you are not passionate about your work and your life, then change it! Stop complaining and do something. Life is too short to keep doing what is passionless and mundane! But you must make that decision.
I recently stepped into an elevator and said “hello, everyone.” Everyone on the elevator looked at me like I was a little crazy and kind of mumbled. Come on! Wake up, world! When you feel passionate, energized, upbeat, optimistic, and proud of what you are doing, you will be motivated, and will get more accomplished than you ever thought possible.
How to Find Your Personal Motivation and True Passion
Are you married or in a committed relationship? If you are, you probably had to look around for a long time before you found the right person. How did you find the right person? More importantly, how did you know it was the right person? As your mom and dad used to say, “When you are in love, you will just know.” So you knew you were passionate about this person, and they knew that they were passionate about you.
Professionally, the same rules apply. You will know when you find the profession or job that you can be passionate about. In order to find out what you are passionate about, you must search anywhere and everywhere.
Here are 5 suggestions for finding your personal motivation and true passion:
1. Go Back
Look back at your childhood and teen years, and ask yourself “What was I passionate about back then?” Could it be that you still are passionate about that area? It may be an old flame that is dormant and waiting to be reignited. Take some quiet time and think through that. Can you think of something deep in the back of your mind?
2. Go Out
Part of the problem many of us face is that we keep doing things the same way and doing the same activities over and over. We never do anything new. Try to read new magazines, travel to new towns, and go to a museum that you have never visited. In our family, every other Saturday is “family day”, and this sacred day is set aside to go somewhere. The family day only has one simple rule: it must be spent somewhere that we have never been. Seeing new sights and visiting new places just may stimulate your imagination, and lead you to discover a passion that you were not aware existed. The bottom line is that if you haven’t found your passion so far, then you need to change your methods.
3. Vacate
If you go on vacations every year, plan to go to different places. If you live in the mountains, go to the beach. If you live at the beach, go to the mountains. The different places you go will stimulate your imagination, and help you to uncover your true passion for what you love. You may accidentally run into the passion of a lifetime and a new career.
4. Read
As Denis Kimbro, an author, says, “Leaders are readers.” Read constantly, and read about topics that you have an interest in knowing more about. Even if you have a slight fascination with a topic, get a book and read about it. Surf the net and try to find out more about it. Read the trade journals of that particular industry. For example, if you have an interest in being a police officer, read about police officers. Better yet, call your local police department and ask if they allow citizens to ride with them. The only way you are going to find out is to experience as closely as possible the area in which you have an interest. As the old Alka-Seltzer ad said: “Try it – you’ll like it!” I recently had someone call me who was interested in the training industry. I asked them how much they knew about it. They said they knew nothing about it. I gave them several resources, said I would be happy to help them in any way I could, to touch base, and let me know how things were going. The person never called me back.
5. Find a Coach
If you go to a local gym, you have the option of hiring a personal trainer, or coach, who is an expert in fitness and nutrition. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could hire a “success coach?” Well, there is good news. There are now personal success coaches nationwide who can coach you. For a fee, these trained professionals will work with you over the phone or in person, and help you with your overall life goals.
Knowing Passion When You See It
When you keep searching for your life passion and you finally find it, how will you know that you have found it? There are some symptoms, which are very easy to recognize:
- You will be excited about it long term.
- Your wheels will be turning 24 /7!
- Even though it is your work, you would almost be willing to do it for free.
- When time flies by- that is a big clue!
- You will be willing to give 197% willingly.
- You will talk about it with friends and family constantly.
Please understand that being passionate and motivated will make you different than many people in our society. This is a great distinction from the societal majority, but keep in mind that it will open you up to criticism. You will be the one saying that the world is round when everyone else says that it’s flat.
For some reason, people will try to negate what you are doing. They will cut you down and try to tell you all the reasons why you can’t, won’t, and shouldn’t – and they will take pleasure in the act! Tell them politely that you really appreciate their input (kill them with kindness), and tell them that you have to go because you have things to do!
I was once offered a new job and it was a great growth opportunity. My wife and I both decided to go for it, and I gave notice at my old job and decided to move from South Florida to Philadelphia. The negative comments were expected, but still amazed me.
“You are taking a big risk.”
“I can’t believe you are leaving after being here eight years.”
“It’s a stupid mistake.”
“Philly is a big city- I don’t see you as being a city person.”
“I don’t believe you are moving to Filthy- delphia.”
If we would have listened to and believed these ridiculous, and incredibly negative, comments, we would have never moved and we would have missed out on one of the best experiences of our lives. Don’t let the negative people in this world shape your vision of the future! You must fight the good fight and always maintain your passion for work and for life.
Have you ever met someone who is passionate about what they do? Is Phil Mickelson passionate about golf? Is Stephen Spielberg passionate about movies? Is Tony Little passionate about helping people lose weight? Is Judge Judy passionate about justice? Yes, of course!
Having a passion will drive you on days when you need to be driven. It will separate you from most of the people in your society. In a job interview, passion will increase your chances of landing the job. For promotions, being passionate will increase your chances of being promoted (if it doesn’t, you may be working for the wrong company).
Passion pushes your pure profitability potential, your productivity potential, promotion potential, and professional potential!
