Designing a Passionate Life

Take a Break

Designing a passionate life requires that you take a break and relax. Part of living passionately means that you create space in your life to relax and enjoy life. In our very busy lives and schedules it is easy to fall into the mode of, I'll take a break after I finish this report, phone call, or email. Before you know it, time has gone by and you've made no room for yourself to relax.

The best time to take a break is when you feel as if you don't have time to take one. That is when it's time to replenish your body, mind, and spirit. Listen to your body. Does your body need exercise or rest? Are you feeding it healthy food? Does your mind need to space out, do nothing, or engage in something you absolutely love? Do your feel connected to the core of who you are? If not, what can you do to bring that connection back? How connected do you feel to your family and friends?

If you don't stop and take a break, eventually you'll stress out and your body will rebel and you will become ill. That is not the break that you need. Take a break when you are healthy and can truly enjoy it.

Take inventory right now. How does your body feel? How does your mind feel? How does your spirit feel? Even the smallest of breaks can help keep you functioning at your full capacity. A passionate life includes every aspect of your life functioning at capacity. In order to follow your passions, you must take care of yourself. Sign up for my free PDD report and find out what you can do to follow your passions.

 

Take a Chance

Designing a passionate life requires that you step out of your comfort zone and take a chance. How often have you really wanted to do something and didn't do it because you felt self-conscious? If you take a really close look at self-consciousness, it usually stems from fear. The fear can come from not knowing how to do something, not being able to make a decision, or being afraid of looking foolish if you fail.

I am passionate about spending time on the water and I remember when I wanted to learn how to sail. I was really nervous about which sailboat to buy and then learning how to sail it. I was worried that I would pick the wrong boat and I wouldn't be able to sail it. As a result of this fear, I did a lot of research and spent a lot of time trying to decide on the perfect boat and created a lot of stress for myself.

Looking back on it, I realize that my indecision stemmed from fear. I was afraid that if I didn't pick the right sailboat and couldn't sail it that it meant that I made a mistake; I'd look foolish, and be labeled a failure. So many times we let our fears keep us from doing what we love to do because we are worried about feeling foolish, making a mistake or failing. Trying something and failing is not failure. Not trying something because you are afraid to feel self-conscious as you learn, is failing yourself.

By the way, I finally purchased a Laser, learned how to sail it and had an absolute blast sailing it all by myself. I made mistakes and tipped over frequently in the learning process but I had a lot of fun doing it. All that worry and fear was for nothing.

What opportunities or wants have you passed up because you didn't want to take a chance? What have you missed out on? What opportunities are you facing right now and hesitating to take action on? How often have you held yourself back from following your passions? Take a moment and imagine that you have absolutely no fear. What one action step would you take to move towards living your passions?

Take a chance, and sign up for my free PDD report and find out what you can do to start living a passionate life.

Working Through Your Stuff

Designing and living a passionate life means that you are going to have to work through your stuff. Why do I know this? Because we are alive and a part of being human is that stuff shows up whether or not you are following your passions. However, I do know that when you are energized by following your passions and stuff shows up you are much better able to handle what comes up.

The stuff that I am referring to consists of challenges, concerns, obstacles, beliefs, or recurring patterns. Every person has stuff that they have to work through and learn from. There is no person immune to the stuff. What you do with the stuff as it comes up is what differentiates people who live a passion filled life and those who don't.

Have you ever thought that you can only follow your passions after all of your worries and concerns are gone and your fears have disappeared? The truth is that it will never happen. The journey of life is to accept the stuff and learn from it along the way. The biggest mistake that you can make is to not learn from what happens in your life. The secret is to not let the stuff of life distract you from living your passions.

Use the lessons along the way to propel you even further into living a passionate life. It's not getting beyond your stuff or conquering your fears that enables you to live a passion filled life. It is the ability to love yourself and live your passions that gives you what you need to move forward and live with joy and fulfillment.

So when the stuff of life comes up ask yourself the following questions:

• What am I to learn about this situation?
• How can I love myself through this problem?
• How can I express who I am through this concern?
• What is this person reflecting back to me about myself?
• How do I want to be as I work through this situation?
• What could I have done differently in this situation?
• If this occurs again, how can I act or be differently that makes this situation easier to deal with?
• How will this make me stronger?

Use these questions as a basis to work through your concern or problem and continue to look for what to learn from the situation. What would you life be like if you were clear about your passions and built a life around those passions? Sign up for my free PDD report and take the first step.

Finding the Pieces of Your Passions

Designing a passionate life consists of finding the pieces of your passions in your day to day life. I'm sure you have some ideas about what you love and what energizes you. Perhaps you feel that your life is so far from these passions that it makes you feel heavy and maybe even a little hopeless.

I believe that if you are clear about what your passions are, that you can find pieces of those passions in your day to day life. You just have to look for them and make them more prominent in your day. Once you start this process, you will notice that you are able to feel more energized about your day and your life.

For example, if one of your passions is to learn, then go through your day with an attitude of curiosity  and learn about everything. Learning doesn't have to be done in a formal environment. You can learn in many different ways. You can learn from interactions with your fellow employees, business associates, customers, family, and friends. If you are passionate about learning, then find the opportunities during your day to learn.

I've included a list of some of the passions from people I've worked with and listed some questions to help stimulate the possibilities for finding the pieces of your passions in every day life.

• Living in a beautiful home - Consider what you can do to the home you are presently living in, if it is not your 'dream' home. What can you do to make it feel like you 'dream' home? Maybe you can do some decorating, repairs, or paint some rooms a fun new color.
• Enjoying perfect health - What can you do to improve your health each day? What exercise can you do, what food can you eat, where can you get support for this passion?
• Enjoying the perfect career - Describe the elements of your perfect job. What would the perfect career look like? What elements of that perfect career exist in your present position or business? How can you create more of the elements of your perfect job right now?
• Spending time with my family - How much time do you presently spend with your family? How much do you want to spend? What does quality time mean to you? How can you make time for this activity? What are the possibilities?

Begin by getting clear about what you are passionate about and then start looking for those passions in your every day life and see how your life changes. If you aren't clear about your passions, then sign up for my free PDD report and get started now.