"Passion is what fuels your purpose. Your purpose is to apply your gifts to the project at hand, learn from it, and make better decisions to create your future." ~Rachel L.D.
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You already are everything you are supposed to be at this moment.
Passion and Purpose are about applying yourself, your gifts, to your current situation. It's about being disciplined at whatever you are doing right now, while remaining true to yourself.
Opportunities present themselves according to your natural gifts and the skills you learn along the way. You create situations where you can continue using your gifts while going with the flow of life.
You can only work with what you've got.
Purpose is directly tied to your gifts and using them. This requires acceptance of your gifts. We all aren't meant to be the same.
Living purposefully feels right because you are connecting your current situation with some gift or ability. It could be something as simple as being a good listener or being good at working with your hands or being organized or being compassionate or being innovative.
You can have more than one purpose in life because purpose is based on your gifts and learned skills.
Passion is the level of energy and focus you apply to your purpose.
Purposeful use of your gifts fueled by passion can be applied to any aspect of your life, not only your career.
For 15 years, part of my purpose was to help take care of a sick parent. I was able to use my gifts of compassion and kindness. My purpose as a caregiver was fueled by my desire to show her love and give her comfort.
Passion is the difference between someone who is great at using their gifts for their chosen purpose, and someone who is just coasting along with minimal effort, minimal results, living a life of apathy.
If you choose a purpose that is not suited to your natural gifts, if money or fame is your goal and you don't ground it in anything you are naturally good at, then you will find it extremely difficult to find fulfillment.
A good example are reality TV stars. If Snooki doesn't tie her fame to a true gift she possesses, then she will have an empty aimless life after her 15 minutes of fame are over. Hopefully, during her time at the Jersey Shore, she was able to discover how to apply her gifts to a fulfilling life that doesn't depend on reality TV.
Some people mistakenly choose parenthood as their purpose before figuring out what their true gifts are. Not everyone is meant to be a parent, but it's the easiest purpose to choose, no education required. Being an involved passionate parent requires a set of gifts that not all of us possess. We can learn the skills, like changing diapers, but not all of us possess the true gifts of patience, love, encouragement, support and kindness.
After you've chosen your purpose which aligns with your gifts, then you implement passion to become great at what you do or create something great that people want.
The process of becoming great at what you do while using your gifts, creating great things, growing as a person while performing your chosen purpose and achieving expertise is what will make you love what you do.
If you can combine passion with purposeful use of your gifts, then money will be a byproduct of that effort.
1. How to Choose Purpose in Alignment with Your Gifts:
When I was five years old, my parents enrolled me in piano classes. I was a natural. My hands picked it up easily, but because of a terrible piano teacher who used our classes as a time to count money while I practiced, I lost interest and respect for my teacher and never progressed past a certain point, but I knew I had a gift. I learned that by trying.
In high school a friend of mine noticed I was good at typing and I enjoyed it. She saw a listing for a receptionist/legal secretary position and she encouraged me to go for the interview. I got the job. During that job, another secretary noticed the court reporters coming in and out of the office and she suggested we check out a nearby court reporting school.
The description of working for myself as an independent contractor traveling to different locations every day, making an impartial official record of proceedings, hearing interesting cases, meeting interesting people, having flexible hours with control over myself and my own workload is what appealed to me. My chosen specialty was stenographic reporting. Writing on a machine and typing are a big part of what I do. I've been doing that for about 18 years now.
My ability to adapt and change with technology keeps me going. Being open-minded while using my gifts and skills have guided my journey, and I've enjoyed every minute.
Some people tend to wish they had different gifts. They make choices based on gifts they wished they had. They end up living a life in denial always trying to fill a void.
The key is accepting your gifts and then creating a life true to those gifts. Your potential for doing great things is much more likely because you will be flowing with the current of life, instead of working against it.
2. Infusing Your Purpose with Passion:
I love what I do because I worked my ass off to become great at it. I applied myself, my gifts, and over the years I grew to love what I've accomplished.
Any purpose you choose needs to be performed with a certain level of interest, awareness, engagement, curiosity, energy, purposeful activity, creativity, constant learning, while producing lasting results.
I look at my job as a vehicle for my gifts. Being enthusiastic and engaged is how I show my passion for what I do, so I keep learning and honing my craft.
"What" you do is Purpose.
"How" you do it is Passion.
Fulfillment requires involvement of one or more of your gifts.
If you think you have no gifts, then talk to someone you trust who can help you realize the abilities you possess. If your friends and family can't help you, then talk to a coach or therapist.
We all have gifts. Sometimes they are covered up in the muck of our upbringing.
Money flows into your life if you're not blocking it with limiting thoughts and beliefs. Improve upon your gifts and learn new skills to enhance what you already know, then keep building upon that. Your actions show your level of passion.
3. Learning and Embracing Change for Continued Success:
You can either embrace change or initiate change. Those are the only two options because change is inevitable. Seeing opportunities during change takes practice.
If all you think about is how much you hate your job, then you will continue to hate your job and never get past your self-inflicted misery. Your focus should be on making improvements, in small increments, daily, and then taking opportunities as they come.
Create things from your ideas. Create using your gifts.
To change your life change your focus. Start thinking about how you can go deeper and learn something new, become more engaged in your work, find ways to improve your skills. Anything you learn will benefit you in some way down the road.
I try to attend seminars, view webinars, read things pertaining to my interests. Learning is what keeps your mind young. Read something inspiring every day. Keep learning about what interests you. If you act interested, then you will be interesting to other people. Age does not matter if you are using your gifts and learning.
Gain self-knowledge and awareness and keep growing into your gifts.
What gifts do you possess? Smile. Kindness. Language. Math. Creative. Compassion. Disciplined. Communicator. Ears. Hands. Feet. Eyes. Arms. Legs. Fingers. Writer. Reading. Learning. Organized. Focused. Listener. Advisor. Loving. Exercise. Nutrition. Interests. Positivity. Scrutiny. Finances. Investing. Health. Energy. Connected. Flexible. Stern. Skills.
The list is endless. We all have gifts. Embrace yours and embrace life.
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