Why Not . . . Discover Your Purpose? Part Deux

Have you made a list of your passions? Have you discovered what makes your watch stop and your mind race? 

Last week we began the series of discovering your purpose with help in nailing down exactly what you are passionate about.  If you missed last week’s post, click here to get caught up.  Once you have figured out, without a doubt, what you are passionate about, the next step is to figure out how to begin your journey to make your dream of spending your working hours immersed in doing what you love.  Be forewarned, it will take time.  It doesn’t just happen over night, but something absolutely beyond your imagination is waiting if you are willing to work every day until it comes into fruition.  Let’s get started!

 

Do Something Now

Rome was not built in a day, and neither will your dream manifest in such a limited amount of time. However, it will never become a reality unless you stop contemplating and start executing your plan.  Go!  Write that first sentence, contact the bank about a loan, start the process whatever it may be.

Every Day

If this truly is a passion for you, you won’t be able to stop thinking about it even when you’re not involved in it.  You may become exhausted during your day working toward your goal, but your mind will never shut off about what you could do tomorrow, the next day and on and on.  While it is okay to get excited, make sure you are doing something, no matter how miniscule, every day to further your progress.  Just thinking about it won’t plop you down at your destination. Even if while you’re on vacation, write your thoughts in a journal so that you can come back to them later, do something every day that benefits the cause.  These little things add up like a puddle that becomes a pond.  Eventually you will see growth, but for now, keep your nose to the grindstone and take it one day at a time.

 

Eliminate Excuses

You’re tired?  You have plans?  You can’t possibly believe the ginormous dream you thought you could accomplish will ever become a reality, so why bother?  Stop making excuses.  A person’s own mind is often the biggest obstacle they have to conquer in order to be successful.  So ask yourself, are you getting in your own way?  And if the answer is yes, ask yourself this – is this something you really want?  If you are passionate, if that fire will not be allowed to be extinguished no matter where you move or what circumstances you’re involved in, you’ll be able to get out of your own way.  Trust me.

 

Ask Questions

You won’t know how to conquer your dream with regards to all the detail when you begin your journey.  You will need help along the way, therefore, you must ask for it. It is very telling of someone when they can’t muster the courage to ask an expert a question about the dream they wish to achieve.  Looking back on my past as to why I didn’t take the time to ask certain people questions, I realized (at least for me), that I was afraid they would see through me and know it really wasn’t a passion, it was simply a want, a trophy I wanted to say I had accomplished. 

With this in mind, if you want something because it is your calling, your purpose, the sincerity will be there without having to create it.  Have you ever wondered why some teachers during their first few years of teaching get eaten alive while others soar?  The children can see through the surface – they know whose heart’s in it.  With that said, put your heart into to it and start asking questions!

 

Find  A Mantra

Consider your mantra your fuel.  There will be days that you doubt yourself.  Days where you question your ability.  Rest assured, you’re not doubting your passion, absolutely not, but sometimes a long journey without any reassurance can give a blow to your self-confidence.  In these times, you need a boost, and one way to add your own boost is to have framed on your wall or written by your computer or something where you can’t miss it, a mantra that you believe in that will lift your spirits.  My mantra has always been Henry David Thoreau’s “If one advances confidently in the direction of [her] dreams, and endeavors to live the life [she] has imagined, [she] will meet with success unexpected in common hours.”  It gets me revved up again every time I need it. 

Now get started, take that next step and continue doing something, big or small, every day.  The next and final step  by discusses more defense mechanisms when it comes to dealing with obstacles that may land in your path to your dream.  Click here to read part three and finish the series. I hope you’ll return. 

Images: (1) Flickr (2) Becoming ONE (3) Source (4) Tumblr (5) Tumblr