Designing a Passionate Life

The Passion Test

Designing a passionate life includes being clear on what you are passionate about. I recently did a workshop where I gave "The Passion Test" to a group of people. It was so inspiring to work with them and help them to identify their top five passions. The questions were great and the participants really embraced the process. There were a few tears from people who identified their top five passions and discovered that what they thought would be in the top five passions weren't. Some experienced sadness, joy, or disappointment, but they all experienced an ah-ha moment.

Building a Support Team

Designing a passionate life and living your purpose, includes building a team that supports you. This may not sound like it’s that important but it is imperative. Have you ever been really excited about an idea, cause, career, or business idea and when you tell your family and friends you get a less than excited response? This is due to the fact that the idea is yours, comes from your heart and inspires you. That’s the beauty of life; we all are fed by something different.

Living Your Passion - Jennifer's Dream

Designing a passionate life includes tapping into your passion, staying focused on it, and taking action that moves you towards it. I know a young woman who is very clear on what she is passionate about. She is passionate about cycling and wants to be a professional cycler. Her name is Jennifer Wheeler, she has a full-time job, has a vigorous training schedule, and races almost every weekend. Jennifer is a clear example of passion in action. I've never witnessed a person with so much passion, intensity and willingness to do what it takes to live her passion. She's a great example for all of us.

How to Stop the ANTS

Designing a passionate life requires that you recognize and kill the ANTS that invade your life. I was watching public television the other night and Dr. Daniel Amen was giving a talk called "Change Your Mind - Change Your Body". He is a physician and psychiatrist who has done a lot of research on the brain/body connection. It was an absolutely fascinating topic about how our brains are of different types and that once you figure out your brain type, it's easier to loose weight.

Tools Used by Olympic Athletes

Designing a passionate life includes living with focus, commitment, and passion for what you are pursuing. I think that all of the athletes in the Olympics are great examples for all of these. I hear story after story about the injuries, personal tragedies, and other obstacles that occur for many of the athletes. We see them at their peak performance and it looks like the road to the Olympics was easy and normal for them. We are seeing the end result of many years of dedicated focus and practice.

Many of them face injuries that seem insurmountable, but they find some way to work through them. The speed skater who almost lost a leg and only started skating last October and Lindsey Vonn who suffered a severe shin injury that was extremely painful when she skied, the woman downhill racer who fell in the downhill and flew 190 feet in the air and returned the next day to race, battered and bruised to win a silver medal. The stories go on and on and so do the athletes.

I think we can learn a lot about from these athletes. To accomplish what they accomplish, with the obstacles they faced, they have to focus, focus, and focus some more. The downhill skiers know how crucial visualization is to a successful run; the snowboarders get into a zone before their run by using music. The tools these athletes use can be used by all of us to move forward in our lives.

Take a moment and imagine what you could do with a fraction of the focus they use or the power of visualization if you applied it to your life. Get inspired and observe the athletes and see how you can apply some of the same tools to your own life.

Follow their examples and live your passions. Sign up for my free PDD report now.

12 Tips for Business Success

Designing a passionate life requires implmenting principles. I found this article with 12 tips for business success and I think that the tips the author lists can also be used as principles to guide your life.

As you read the article, see how you can apply these tips or principles to your life. And of course, if you're in business, see how you can apply them to your business.

Click this link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34736736/ns/business-success_in_hard_times/

Learning From Experiences

Designing a passionate life depends on learning from your experiences. Our lives are a culmination of all of our experiences as well as a series of experiences. The key is to learn from those experiences so you can affect the outcome of new experiences in your life. If you seem to always have similar outcomes to similar experiences, then you are approaching the circumstance with the same mindset and your experience won't change.

Taking Action

Designing a passionate life includes taking action. As you take action towards living a passionate life you will experience different results, some successful some not successful. It's very easy to look at the results of an action and experience disappointment if it didn't turn out the way that you expected it to. Each result that you experience is a stepping stone to the next action. Always remember that the results are none of your business because you cannot control the outcome of the results. I know that sounds strange but let me explain.

Let's look at disappointment. According to Wikipedia; disappointment is the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations to manifest. Similar to regret, it differs in that the individual feeling regret focuses primarily on the personal choices that contributed to a poor outcome, while the individual feeling disappointment focuses on the outcome itself. It is a source of psychological stress. 

For example, a football team is disappointed because they lost the championship game; or the Olympic Silver medalist who is disappointed because she didn't win the Gold medal. In both examples, these people focused on the failure of the outcome because it didn't meet their expectations, rather than on what they DID accomplish.

When you take action there are unforeseen elements at work that have an effect on the results. You can't control all of these elements and when you focus only on results that don't meet your expectations and then you are disappointed. These results become roadblocks and then you give up and stop taking action. All successful people have failed more times than they have succeeded. They look at the results, regroup and try again. The key is to take action and continue moving forward. Fail as many times as it takes to keep moving forward.

Think about any successful person that you know of, and I would guess that, if you asked them questions or did some research on their journey to success, you would find many failures along the way. One thing shared by most successful people is a passion for what they do.

Results are important in that they teach you what worked and what didn't work and that's all. Learn from your results, adjust and try again, and eventually you will experience more successful results. The secret is to keep trying. What is your next action toward living a passionate life?

Please share your comments about this post.

How To Create Your Purpose Statement

Designing a passionate life includes a clear understanding of your purpose. When you live with passion and purpose your life becomes fun and fulfilling. I believe that your passions are the clues to your purpose. Use your passions to lead you to your purpose. When you know what you are passionate about it's easier to get clear about your purpose. Your passions and purpose both arise from your heart. It's important to go within when doing this exercise.

Which Actor or Actress Represents Your Character Traits?

Designing a passionate life includes knowing your values, passions, spirituality, and character traits. My husband recently asked me a question that I found rather intriguing and thought provoking. So of course, I want to pass it onto you. If you are in a romantic relationship, it is a really good question to ask each other.

The Question:
Which three actors/actresses would you pick that have character traits similar to your own and then describe the character traits that you share with that person?
(Of course, we don't really know the actors/actresses but we have a perception of them and we give them character traits from that perception, which we relate to.)

The Answer:
The first person picks three people and explains the character traits that he/she shares with the actor/actress.

Before you do this exercise, I would set some ground rules for sharing this information.

Ground Rules

1. Take turns asking the question
2. When your partner replies, simply listen, give no commentary at all, yes that means say nothing about what they said. Don't turn it into a major discussion.
3. Thank your partner for sharing.

You are both sharing a part of yourself and making yourself vulnerable to the other person and both of you want to be accepted for who you are, so offering commentary or disagreeing with the person's assessment could cause an argument and perhaps even damage to your relationship.

I found that it gave me insights into how my husband sees himself in the world and gave me a new understanding of him in one particular area of his life. It was enlightening. It helped me to see things from his viewpoint and as a result, I'm more understanding. This goes a long way to creating a peaceful relationship.

Designing a passionate life may include romantic relationships for you. Understanding your partner's viewpoint goes a long way to creating the type of relationship you want. Start living passionately, and sign up for my free PDD report now.