7 Ways To Amplify Your Passion
I discovered the extent of my passion for writing when I started to wake up at 5.00 am each day instead of six — I scheduled an hour of writing between my workout (another one of my passions) and heading to work as a financial advisor (money is my third passion). The fourth activity that brings me sheer joy is deepening connections in warm climates!
A passion is something you can’t imagine not having or doing. And it feels more significant than a hobby. I knew I was passionate about writing when I would write during my lunch breaks and could not wait for the end of the workday to resume writing before preparing dinner.
Psychologist and pioneer in the study of happiness, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, also known as the ‘Father of Flow’ found that people are happy and in a state of ‘flow’ when absorbed in a creative activity. So much so that they even lose their sense of time. Writing is my happy place!
What are you passionate about? What makes you light up? A passion is not just what you’re excited about; it’s easy for you to throw your whole self in — mind, body, and soul. It’s what you love and want because it consistently brings you joy.
A passion is not something elusive. Or mythical. Quite often, it’s right under your nose. I recall being slightly dyslexic as a child, so the idea of pursuing writing as a passion came as a surprise. But that’s the thing about a passion — while it’s not elusive, it does not have to be logical.
Once you’ve uncovered your passion, here are seven ways to amplify it:
- Be clear about your passion and wholeheartedly embrace it. Remember, it’s something that lights you up and does not require approval from others.
- Give your passion more prominence in your life. Talk about it to others, and schedule it into your routine.
- Put yourself first in service of your passion. Making yourself a priority is not easy if you’ve always put everyone else’s needs ahead of yours. Now is the time to start re-prioritizing!
- Be curious about your passion. Take a course, learn from the pros, or visit places with it. I attended several writing retreats once I discovered my love for writing.
- Go deeper. Create things related to your passion. Once I stumbled upon writing as a passion, I completed and self-published my novel.
- Design a plan in advance. How can you make it happen? How far do you want to explore and pursue your passion?
- List all the ways you can go deeper. Then list the steps you need to take for each of these ways. Commit to your plan.
Give yourself permission for your passion. It’s not indulgent to focus on your passion. Watch your resistance and thoughts. What’s holding you back? How do you feel about the reasons for holding back? Be authentically you. You know you’re authentic when you are in flow and alignment.
I discovered my passion for writing at a retreat in Paris about six years ago. Luckily, I am able to tie my passions together — to travel to warm places and write about how money and relationships intersect! The best part about all this is that I now get to teach others how to do exactly that! Live their passions in alignment with who they are.
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