Your Passion, Your Problem, & Your Purpose, Part 1

I'm starting this new series of blogs that has been on my heart to write. It will one day be converted into a non-fiction book once the time is right, but I want to introduce the principles here. These are principles that I have found to be proven in my professional and spiritual life. I pray they will be beneficial to this audience and beyond. This blueprint for success connects your passion in life; your understanding, acceptance, and embrace of your problem; and ultimately the fulfillment of your purpose. Much has been written about these self-help categories, but I seek to blaze a trail behind me for others who have had shortcomings in life as I have. We are not far from achieving success in our lives when we have a plan in place to address and not duplicate our failures.

We start with passion. This can be a nebulous term. It does not have to always be sensual, but it is still rooted in that concept. Here are ways that I define what your passion is or should be in life:

1. A gift or talent that you feel is worth developing for a lifetime. Your passion starts with something that you quite literally were born to do. Inside all of us is a desire to be great at something. Often, however, we neglect the tugging of that passion within us and brush it off as a hobby or a whim. If we seek deep within, we will find that thing and harness it for a lifetime of fulfillment and continual success.
2. Something you do not have to be compensated for. After we have earnestly discovered this passion, we will find that we do not have to make money right away from doing it. Your passion is something that fulfills your soul, not just your pockets. That usually comes later. Truly, if you identify something as your passion, you will want to do it and nothing else. Your passion can honestly become your addiction (which is not so bad).
3. Something that will eventually "work" for you. Here is where the money comes in. After you have developed your passion well enough, people will eventually recognize you for it. They will want to compensate you for your gift or talent. This is how you can convert this passion from just a hobby into your life's work!
4. Something that does not feel like work. Your passion should never feel like a chore. Certainly, there will be difficult, challenging days while you discover what your passion is and how to achieve success from it. However, the stress should be minimal--if not non-existent. If this is something you truly want to do for the rest of your days, then you will feel fulfilled by the rough times as well as the smooth ones. Your passion should give you a reason to wake up in the morning and be excited! Your passion will drive you to stay up late at night to perfect it. It should never be something you have to do. When it does, then you know you have not found it yet.
5. Something you can teach to others. When you have developed your passion well enough, you become an expert at it. Others will want to sit at your feet and learn from you. This could also lead to compensation but more importantly to fulfillment. Consultants are some of the most sought-after people in today's society because they possess the intangible quality of wisdom. Your passion will put you in the class of the elite amongst your peers if you accept the light burden of developing it.
6. Something you can leave a legacy behind you for doing. Your passion will outlive your days here on earth. You will begin blazing your own trail once others grow to respect your work ethic and your "passion" for your passion. Generations remember people for wealth, fame, intelligence, or strength. These things, however, are merely the products of a well-developed passion. They start with the idea that you have a gift that you want it to be more than a hobby. It is your life's work and your immortal reward.

Once you get a grasp of what this passion is, you will usually receive a platform on which to perform your passion. For example, before I became a professor, my initial passion was writing. It was my ultimate goal to write poetry, short stories, and novels. However, teaching is my platform for ultimately displaying my passion for writing. A platform literally is a flat surface that something can stand on. In order to launch your passion into the world, you need a firm platform to stand on so that your passion can soar.

Search your heart and discover what you were created to do in life. No one can tell you what this is. You have to discover it for yourself. The journey may be long to find it, but once you do, it is like finding a long-lost treasure that will change your life and fulfill you for a lifetime.