Designing a Passionate Life

Setting Your 2010 Intention and Theme

Designing a passionate life includes setting an intention and theme for the year. An intention is some form that you can see at the end of the year, or the what. For example, I write a book by the end of 2010; or I find a job that is aligned with my passion and I am surrounded by the people that make it fun and fulfilling; or I am debt free and have $15,000 in savings. The idea behind an intention is to be very clear about what it is you intend to create. After you write your intention, always keep it in a place where you can see it. This enables you to keep focused on that end result. The end result will manifest the method on how to get there.

When you are deciding on your intention, let your mind come up with ideas and then check in with your heart to see if it resonates or not. Is your intention aligned with your passions? How does the intention feel? Do you get excited when you think about it? Does it inspire you? Let it sink in and right now, don't worry about how you are going to get there. Make sure your intention is in synch with your heart.

You also want to set a theme for the year. A theme is the 'how' for the year. It is like background music that is always playing. What do you want playing in the background of your life? The theme is how you want to experience the year and as a result how you want to feel at the end of the year. It's about the journey itself, not the destination. By selecting a theme for the year, you can move towards your intention in a way that feels good to you. It doesn't have to be hard, tough, a lot of work, or draining. Examples of themes may include: I step into my power with Grace, Ease, and Joy; I experience life with ease; I have plenty of time to do everything; or I make connections that enhance my life. Decide on the 'how' for your year.

As you go through the year, keep your attention on your theme and intention. Write them out and post them where you will see them everyday. Setting your intention creates clarity and you will see the opportunities and possibilities because you are clear and you have your attention on your intention.  You will see the steps to take to manifest your intention. Begin the process now and take action when you are inspired.

Create the 2010 of your dreams, live passionately. Sign up for my free PDD report and take that first step.

2009 Completion and 2010 Creation

Designing a passionate life includes acknowledging yourself and what you've completed. By doing this you create space for new things to appear in your life. The end of the year is a perfect time to do this. I have provided a exercise for you to do just that. Use this exercise to acknowledge what you have completed in 2009 and state what you want to create in 2010.
 
2009 Acknowledgement
This exercise serves:

• to remind you of what you've accomplished and created
• to recognize and acknowledge what you have learned
• to re-evaluate the vision of what you desire or want
• to recognize what you can let go of

Enjoy this process. Recognize and acknowledge what you have accomplished. Immerse yourself in the energy of creation and be very clear about what you want to create. This process is a work in progress, as is all of our lives. We're never done. Think big and have fun doing this exercise. Get connected to the energy of your passions.

Part I - Completion 2009
What did you create in 2009? Make a list of what you created in your personal life this year. For each item on your list, answer the following questions.

• What have I accomplished by creating this?
• What energized me or filled me up by creating this?
• What drained my energy?
• What have I learned in this process? (In what ways did I grow from this?)
• What can I let go of? (What am I done with learning and ready to let go of)

Part II - Creation 2010
Ask yourself the following questions for the new year:

• When you imagine having lived a passion filled life at the end of 2010, what is different from your life today?
• List 3 to 5 things that if you create them, will move you towards living a passionate life in 2010.
• List the things you want to complete.

Repeat this process for the following areas of your life:
Business
Spiritual
Physical
Other?

What are you passionate about right now that will propel you forward into the act of creation in the year to come? What are you doing to live a passionate life? Sign up for my free Passion Deficit Disorder (PDD) report and find out what you can do about it.

 

How do You Use Your Time?

Designing a passionate life and creating life balance includes effective use of your time. You only have so much time to work with in a day. You and I both know this to be true, but how often have you really looked at your day and how you spend your time? You use time to live passionately with your family and friends, to earn a living at what you love, to be of service to others, and the list goes on and on. You have so many choices on how to spend your time that it becomes a balancing act to spend your time wisely.

How to Maximize Your Energy

Desigining a passionate life and creating life balance requires that you maximize your energy. You only have so much energy to put into the actions you take in your life. Every decision you make either increase or decrease your energy. This includes the not only the actions you take but also the people in your life.

Passion in Action

Designing a passionate life and life balance requires choice and commitment. I know two young women; I'll call the first one Sue and the second one Kate who are examples of living with passion. Both of them are in their twenties and are living their passions. I would like to talk about what I witnessed in each of these young women.

How to Stop Being a Victim of Time

Designing a passionate life includes creating a great relationship with time. In our busy days with a list of things to do that is a mile long, it's really easy to get caught in the "I don't have enough time" syndrome. I know that this is something that I say quite frequently. This came to my attention after reading the book "The Big Leap" by Gay Hendricks. If you haven't read it I would suggest it. In the book, Gay talks about moving from 'living in your excellence' to 'living in your genius'. It is full of great information and how to apply it in your own life.

Time came up again when I interviewed Paula Eder about time management. During the interview Paula talked about the idea that it's up to us to define our relationship with time. It made me stop and think about time in a whole new way.

Time is not our enemy; it is what we decide to do with the time that gives the appearance that time is the enemy. Every second we make choices that affect how we use time. We put things on our 'to do' list for many reasons. Some are because we want them on the list and others may be because we think we are expected to do certain things by others, or we said yes to many times. 

The story that Gay Hendricks told really made me realize that I was acting like a victim of time. I own time, it does not own me. Imagine this scenario, a father is reading the newspaper and his son comes up to him and asks him to play catch. The father replies "I'm sorry, I haven't got time right now."

Now imagine this scenario, the father is reading his newspaper and his son comes running into the house and says "Daddy, I cut myself!" The father would immediately put the paper down and assist his son. Rather than use time as an excuse, it would be much more honest if the father would simply have said, I'd like to read the paper right now, can we play catch in 30 minutes, is that OK?

How many times have you used time as an excuse not to do something rather than being honest about your choice? Gay Hendricks also suggests an exercise that you can give a try if you like. Remove any language that complains about time from your vocabulary.

Remove sentences such as:
I don't have time for that right now.
The time is flying by.
Where as the time gone?
I don't have enough hours in the day.
I have to run to the store.
I wish I could visit, but I don't have time.

I tried it and it is an extremely interesting exercise. I find myself being much more honest in what I say to other people and in the choices I make in each moment.
What do you want to do with the time that you have? It's up to you to decide. You are not the victim of time, you own time.

When are you going to take the first step and own time and start living a passionate life? Sign up for my free PDD report and get started now.

How to Choose Between Passions

Designing a passionate life sometimes requires you to make choices between passions. What a great problem to have!! You are clear about your passions, you are living them, and they are bumping up against each other. When this happens, rejoice in the fact that you are living your passions. When you are clear about your passions, it is easier to make decisions that support you in living them. But what do you do when two of your top five passions clash? How do you choose between them?

This happened to me recently and it was an interesting question for me in the moment. I was presented with the choice of working in my business or spending time with my husband outside enjoying summer fun. Both of these are in my top five passions. I immediately noticed that I felt some conflict. One part of me wanted to say no because I was so excited about what I was doing in my business. And another part of me really wanted to spend time with my husband. What do you do when this happens?

It happened in an instant for me. I noticed the conflict within me immediately and just let it be. I didn't judge it in any way; I let the decision come to me. Rather than using my intellect, I followed my intuition. Ultimately, my commitment to my husband and our relationship outweighs my commitment to my business. I chose to spend time with my husband. We had a great picnic and enjoyed our time together in the park. It was a great way to take a break and let my creative juices get regenerated.

If you find yourself in this same conflict ask yourself the following questions:

• What action feels right to me, right now? (not what "should" I do)
• What are the consequences if I choose one passion over the other? Can I live with that consequence?
• What does my heart tell me to do?
• What commitments have I made that I must honor?

Give yourself some time to ponder these questions and then simply let the answer come to you. Your intuition will lead you to your answer. Celebrate that you are bringing change to your life by living your passions and living a more fulfilled life.

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

Shortening Your 'To Do' List

Designing a passionate life requires that you recognize what is important in your life and consistently choose in favor of those things. I'm sure you can relate to the demands of your career or business and that you are committed to being successful in it. However, if your commitment to your career or business puts your health, state of mind, or relationships on the back burner, you are jeopardizing all of them. It's really easy to want it all and as a result have a 'To Do' list that is a mile long.

There are only so many hours in a day and you only have so much energy. You may be able to get the things on your 'To Do' list done in the short term, but keeping it up indefinitely will become a challenge. At some point in time, the fire behind your passion will burn out. To avoid this from happening, you need to keep a short 'To Do' list and make it achievable. Don't loose sight of what is important to you and remember why you are working in your career or business. More than likely it is to support your family so that you can enjoy time together.

Easy to say but how do you shorten your 'To Do' list. Start by asking yourself the following questions about the items on your 'To Do' list and cross them off your list:

• Which items do not support my passions?
• Which items are on my list in order to please others?
• Which items are on my list in an effort to make others like me?
• Which items are on my list in an effort to be perfect?
• Which items on my list are 'shoulds'?
• Which items on my list drain my energy?

You will be amazed at the amount of time that will free up when you drop these items from your 'To Do' list. Focus your attention on what is more important and before you make a commitment ask yourself: By making this commitment, will it take me closer to the things I love, or farther away?

Designing a passionate life is a series of choices that create the life that supports you and your passions. Start now by signing up for my free PDD report.

Why Do People Resist Change?

If you are truly going to design and live a passionate life then you are going to have to make some changes. Some changes will feel good and will be easy to make. Other changes may feel daunting and not as easy to make. You have a choice in how you want to live your life. Are you open to doing the changes that need to occur for this to happen?

What is change?
The meaning of the word 'change' is to make radically different or to make a shift from one to the other. The level of change can range from very small to very large and usually the amount of resistance is proportionate to the level of change. For example, if you're used to taking a certain route to work and the State does some road construction that results in a new route to work, it's irritating but not life altering. You can deal with this change and adjust rather quickly. However, if the change in route adds an extra hour and 40 additional miles to your trip, this can have a significant affect on your lifestyle. You would have a high resistance to this change.

Why do people resist change?
The number one reason why people resist change is because it removes them from their routine and most times out of their comfort zone, which results in fear. Routine is a very comfortable place to live and when it's disturbed on purpose or by chance, you can get thrown off balance. Think about when you drive to a new part of the city and the roads are unfamiliar, you get nervous. However, you do it because you want to reach your destination.

Think back to when you were growing up and all of the things you had to learn. It was often times very uncomfortable and not fun. You didn't want to look funny, you didn't feel safe, you were afraid people would laugh at you, you were afraid you would fail, or you didn't feel supported by those you love. As adults we don't want to experience any of these things either.

When you don't change, you stay in the same place and are stagnant and begin to feel the affects. Sometimes the mere thought of making a change in our lives can throw us off both mentally and physically. This is often times a scary place to be and we long for the way it was or we want to stay right where we are and not 'rock the boat'.

The questions to ask yourself are - Am I passionate about my life? If not, how committed am I to changing it?

How can you embrace change?

• Recognize that you aren't passionate about your life and decide to make changes. You can't keep doing things the same way and expect different results. You must change your mindset and your actions.
• Get very clear about your passions.
• See the possibilities, envision it. Make the vision clearer and clearer.
• Determine where to start. You can start with very small changes that are easy to make or you can go for the big change. It all depends on how quickly you want the change to occur and how committed you are to making the change.
• See the change as an adventure rather than something to fear. How can you make the change interesting and easy? Come up with some possible ideas and implement the one that feels good.
• Get support in making the change. Hire a coach, find a mentor, or form a Mastermind group.

Take the first step and sign up for my free PDD report and find out why passion is so important in your life.

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.