Do you feel stuck? Are you and tired of drifting through life? Do you know this isn’t the life you were born to live? Do you feel like there’s something better out there for you but you’re confused on exactly what that is? Are you frustrated because you know you have something important to share with the world but you can’t quite put your finger on what and how? (Are you tired of me asking you questions? OK, I’ll stop.)
If you’re struggling to find your Passionate Purpose, I get it. I spent years (a lot of money, late nights, and diet mountain dews) trying to figure it out. Along the way I’ve had several different Passionate Purposes. (Yes, you can have more than one and they can change as you grow.)
That’s what I want you to know today. There’s more than one way to find your calling. One way is no more “right” than any other.
Some people are struck by lightning when they’re young, they know why they were born and they pursue their passion for the rest of their lives. (I tend to hate I mean be jealous of those people. My daughter has known she wants to be an actress since she was six. She’s earning her BFA in acting and planning to go to L.A. after that. Her years of hard work and her passion for acting have made her really good. Look for her on TV or in the movies soon!)
Some people are unsure of their purpose, but instead of trying to figure it out they just drift through life. They take the path of least resistance, get a job, go to work, wait for the weekends and 2 weeks off a year and sadly accept that is all life has to offer. You’re not one of those people or you wouldn’t be reading this.
Still others use their feelings of frustration and uneasiness to push them to try a bunch of different ideas until something resonates with them. They keep going with it until their desire builds or burns out.
Maybe you’re like me and you need to spend time searching for your purpose that will lead you to the extraordinary life of your dreams. I spent countless hours thinking introspectively to determine why I was here. I read books, listened to tapes, went to church, attended seminars, watched videos, prayed, kept journals, and did all kinds of exercises.
Then I took action and tried what I thought was a passionate purpose of mine. Sometimes, my desire for it fizzled. Other times, the more I did it, the more excited I got. I took that as a good sign and put more and more effort into it.
That works for me. I put that in the present tense because I continue to work on personal growth in every part of my life. But that’s me, not necessarily you.
You might do best trying a combination of these methods, or something totally different might get you where you want to go. But, don’t give up. Your Passionate Purpose is inside you. Your challenge is to find it and get busy going after it. It’s what can turn your life from boring to bold – from pointless to purpose filled – from everyday to extraordinary. Don’t you want that?
Even after you think you know what your Passionate Purpose is, you will still take some detours and hit some speed bumps along the way. You might decide to change your mind and pursue something else.
All of this is OK.
Walk your own path.
Just remember, the alternative is you never try to create the life you’ve dreamed of. You stay stuck, drifing, frustrated, and depressed. (Sounds super fun, right?!)
Some things are the same for all successful people. They know what they want, why they want it, they take consistent action and – even if they stall out for a while – they keep going.
Questions: 1) If you’re stuck, which method(s) will you try to get you started on what you want.
2) What action can you take right away to get you on your path?
We all want to be energized and fired up to take on the day. So much so, that we may turn to coffee for a pick me up. For some, that’s not enough. Bring on the energy drinks!
But haven’t you had days when you felt invigorated without having to slam an espresso? What’s happening on those days?
I bet you’re doing something you’re passionate about and that you love.
When I was a kid it was really hard to get out of bed to go to school every day. I hit the snooze bar several times, fell back asleep, moaned and groaned, and finally, begrudgingly got up.
But at the age of ten I joined a bowling league. (Yes, I was one of those kids.) The league was every Saturday at 9am. I had to get up at the same time I got up for school in order to be at the bowling alley on time. And here’s the strange thing. Even though I stayed up later on Friday nights than I did on school nights, I never hit the snooze bar on Saturday mornings. Most of the time I didn’t even need my alarm. I would happily pop out of bed and get ready to go bowling.
I didn’t wake up tired, I woke up inspired.
What made the difference in my wake up attitude? I loved bowling. I looked forward to it. (Maybe my mom should have taken me to a counselor. Hey, what’s wrong with bowling?) My best friend was on my team and I didn’t want to let him down. I was excited to get up early and go bowling.
I didn’t hate school. I liked some of my classes and I enjoyed seeing my friends. But the school structure did not excite me and most of my classes bored the mess out of me. It was tough to get excited about.
As an adult, I’ve noticed the same phenomenon.
While I’m giving a presentation to a few hundred people or hosting a radio show, or playing a gig with my guitar I don’t feel tired. I feel supercharged. I’m hyped. (Even when my radio show was four hours long every week day, it didn’t wear me out. It actually took me a while to calm down once I was off the air.)
I’m passionate about those things and I love doing them.
When’s the last time this has happened to you? Isn’t it amazing that you can work harder and longer doing what you love – and still feel more energized and satisfied – than working shorter hours doing something you hate?
Yes, we all have to do things we don’t want to do. But, how often?
Is there a way you could do more of what you’re passionate about and less of what drains your energy? Wouldn’t that be awesome? Wouldn’t that help you and everyone who comes in contact with you?
Sure, Greg, and then I’ll ride a unicorn over a rainbow into a pot of gold.
I know it sounds impossible, but what if? How about this for a start?
1) Figure out what you love and what you don’t. Make a list of everything you do each day, for a week. Highlight all the activities you enjoy in green. Highlight all the activities you don’t enjoy in red.
Which type of activities are you spending most of your time on? If they aren’t the green ones, look out.
2) Now start looking for ways to minimize the red and maximize the green. Are there people who like what you dislike? Could you delegate to them? Could you group the things you dislike and do most of them once a week? Could you talk to your boss about where you do your best and see if that could be where you focus your time? Remember, it will help the company bottom line, too.
3) If none of that works, do you need to change jobs or careers to do more of what you’re passionate about?
4) Is there a way you can reframe the work you have to do that doesn’t energize you? Can you see the purpose of your work and how it helps others? For example, if you’re an insurance salesman instead of seeing your job as “selling insurance,” could you see it as helping people find the best way to keep themselves and their families healthy and financially protected?
5) Do this exercise with your personal life as well.
Life is too short to spend most of your week doing things that suck the life force out of you.
Greg, you can’t just be what you want right now. That’s silly. Hold on a second, Mr. Doubter. It might not be what you think. Read on and then yell at me if I wasted your time.
Have you ever said anything like this to yourself?
Self, I wish I were a…
Writer
Entrepreneur
Musician
Business owner
Speaker
Teacher
Preacher
Actor
Artist
Tech developer
Have you followed that up with statements like these?
I’m not really a writer, business owner, teacher, musician, etc.
I could never make a living at that.
I don’t know enough to do that.
My work isn’t good enough to be that.
I would probably fail at that.
My friends would laugh at me if I tried that.
I have. I’ve talked myself out of a ton of fun, adventure, art, and good work before I even had the chance to try.
But I discovered something that changed all that for me: How to define who I am.
I am what I do, what I think, what I believe, and what I feel.
How do you define a writer? Isn’t it someone who writes? Isn’t a musician someone who plays music? Isn’t an entrepreneur someone who starts and runs a business? Is there anything in these definitions that says you have to be great at it, or make a living doing it? Is there anything that says you have to be a huge success and never have failed at it?
No!
So, I don’t let those concerns stop me anymore. When I want to be something, I just start doing it. That doesn’t mean I’m great at it immediately, but I am doing it. At that moment I become what I’m doing.
Why not you?
If you want to be an entrepreneur start working on a side business today.
If you want to be a teacher – teach.
If you want to be an artist – create art.
If you want to be a singer – sing!
But whatever it is, why not start doing it today? It will flip a switch in your mind to make what you want to become possible.
You might hate it. You might fail (temporarily).
But you also might love it and realize this is what you were made to do. You might just end up living that life of purpose, meaning, and joy that you always imagined.
Once you start doing it, you can truthfully say,
“I am an entrepreneur.”
“I am an artist.”
“I am a teacher.”
“I am a _____.”
This doesn’t mean you will immediately become great at what you love, but at least you’re now doing it and becoming it.
Don’t miss how important this process is in really finding your Passionate Purposes. Most of us drift through life not knowing what we really want to do or why we’re here. Some of us try to figure it out. We come up with ideas and feelings, but we’re never quite sure we’re really living out our purpose.
Try out all kinds of things that interest you and see where they take you. Taking action on one of your interests could lead to a burning passion that becomes your vocation. (It might even lead to a lifelong purpose that brings you great joy and wealth!) Or, you could find you really aren’t that excited about it after all. If so, just mark that one off your list and move on to your next potential purpose.
Taking action is the only way you will really know. But don’t try out all your ideas at once. One or two at a time is plenty or you’ll become so scattered you won’t accomplish anything.
Try at least one new thing this week and tell me how it goes. If I can help you with anything, just ask.
I’m sure you’ve heard the Confucius quote: “Do what you love and you’ll never work another day in your life.”
Well, that’s a bunch of hooey!
Greg, language! I thought this was a family-friendly website. And, I’m a little surprised. Aren’t you always telling us to follow our Passionate Purpose and do work we love?
Yes, and I stick by that. I’m an optimist. I’m a glass is half-full guy (preferably with Boulevard Wheat beer). It’s a lot better to work at something you love than to work at something you hate. It’s a great idea to follow your Passionate Purpose in your career.
But, I’m also a realist. No matter how much you love your work, it’s still work. There is something in every job that’s a pain. I don’t want people to give up on something because it still feels like work, 0r they don’t like some parts of what they’re doing.
Here’s what I mean. Let’s say you love playing guitar and singing. Your dream job would be the lead singer in a rock band. Then, imagine you get the gig. Awesome! You never work another day in your life, right? Not exactly.
You need to write songs, rehearse, play small gigs, record an album, rehearse some more, promote the album, go on tour, deal with other band members…
Even if your band becomes a huge success do you think you’d never get tired of the travel and time away from family and friends? Think you’d ever get tired of playing the same songs night after night? Think someone in the band might really start to get on your nerves? Have you ever watched, VH1 Behind the Music? Come on!
“Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.” – Jon Bon Jovi
I bet LeBron James gets tired of working out and going to practice sometimes, even though he loves playing basketball.
The point is that no matter how much you love something, work is still work. There are good points and bad points to any job.
We need to understand that going in, instead of having this idea that our life will be nothing but rainbows and puppy dogs once we start doing what we love.
Uh, Greg, what if I don’t like puppy dogs?
Dude, I can’t help someone who doesn’t like puppy dogs.
What I advocate is finding your purpose – how you want to make a difference in this world, and your passion – what you love to do, and matching that up with what you’re good at. Then work on ways to serve people and make money doing that.
Then keep working on it and become world class at it. You’ll still have to work, but the work will be a lot more fun.
In Grit, by Angela Duckworth, she says you need four things to stick with your high order, long-term goals. The first one relates to what we’re talking about.
Interest – Without interest in something, you won’t stay with it for the long haul. And it won’t be something you’re passionate about and learn to love.
Passion begins with enjoying what you do. That’s where we start. If you’re not sure, get my free eBook, 5 Steps to Finding Your Purpose. It will walk you through a series of questions that will help you come up with some ideas.
Then you need to pick the one that resonates the most with you and feed that interest. Take action on it. Try things that are related to it. Keep sparking it and see if your interest turns into a passion. If it doesn’t, try another one of your possible passions. Feed that one and see what grows. Keep doing this until you find the one that hits home with you.
A lot of people think there will be some Aha! moment when the Red Sea parts, or they’re struck by lightning, or a booming voice from the heavens says, THIS IS YOUR PASSIONATE PURPOSE. DO THIS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. This happens for an extremely tiny number of people. The rest of us have to try on a bunch of our different interests and grow our passion. But that doesn’t make it any less real, important, or life changing.
When you’ve grown into your passion, when you know this is what you were meant to do, and you love what you’re doing, your golden, right? Now you’ll never work another day in your life.
WRONG!
What have we been talking about? No matter how much you love your job, it’s still work. Everyone has parts of their job they don’t like. But because you’re doing something you love, you’re enjoying most of the work. You’re enjoying the process of achieving your goals. You know you’re doing something that has meaning and significance and makes a difference. You’re still tired after a hard day of work, but it’s the good kind of tired.
It sure beats doing something you don’t care about, or something you hate. It’s not too late for you to find it and start doing it. Remember, you can start small, try it out, and grow into it. Who knows, it might become your Passionate Purpose and your new career. It might lead to you helping more people than you ever have before. And that might lead to you making more money than you ever have before. That would be a cool bonus wouldn’t it?
It might even help the guy who doesn’t like puppy dogs.
Let’s GO!
I now offer one to one coaching and an online coaching program for various budgets. Click here for more details.
(If this post resonated with you, share it with a friend and check out my book, GO! How to Find and Pursue Your Passionate Purpose, available in paperback and audiobook.)
Maybe you’ve tried to pursue your Passionate Purpose before, got motivated, had some initial success, and then gave up—what happened?
Did you start to think that all this personal development stuff doesn’t work? Maybe you decided that getting motivated isn’t worth it because it just wears off after a while.
Well, did you eat more than once today? I guess that eating thing wears off.
Did you take more than one shower this week? I guess that whole bathing thing wears off.
Yes, virtually everything wears off if we let it. I used to know how to do calculus problems. It’s been 30 years since I’ve done one and I couldn’t do one right now if my life depended on it. It wore off.
Did you exercise at the gym one day and say now you’re fit for the rest of your life? Ridiculous, right? Then why do we think that we only have to be motivated once and we’re set for life? Why do we think there’s some easy button to success and to pursuing our dreams?
We will get there, but it takes deliberate, persistent effort aimed at our Passionate Purpose. It takes improving ourselves day after day to become the person we want to be.
I would love to be one of the people who tell you that if you have passion and desire and you think positive thoughts your dream will appear at the end of a double rainbow with pots of gold and butterflies and sprinkles on Twinkies that have no calories—but that’s not the truth.
Setting goals works. But you need to get clear on what you want, why you want it, that you have to achieve it, when you will reach it, and how you’ll do it. Then you must take consistent action to get it done.
Oh, that’s all? Sweet! Then I’ll create world peace for breakfast and save the whales after lunch.
I know it can sound intimidating and overwhelming, but when you do this one step at a time it’s really not that hard.
It may sound like word games, but I believe there is a difference between motivation and inspiration. My purpose isn’t just to motivate you for a short time. My purpose is to help inspire you to find your Passionate Purpose. When you find and pursue that you will become self-motivated.
You will still have ups and down on how motivated you are. But when you find your why you have a reservoir of motivation in your soul that you can draw from whenever you need it.
Know this: If you’ve been working on what we’ve been talking about, you are in an elite group of people walking this planet. You have defined your Passionate Purpose, created goals and mini-goals for your success, and developed an action plan to get you there. Most people never do this in their entire lives. You are on your way to a totally new life! If …
Yup, there is a HUGE “if.” If you stop now, this will all be a complete waste of time. In fact, if you stop now, all this might actually hurt you instead of help you. You might start to believe that none of this really works. It’s all nonsense and a waste of time. You are not in control of your own destiny. You will never live the life of your dreams. At best, you are doomed to a life of mediocrity.
Quick! Hide all the sharp objects in your home! Life is no longer worth living!
See how ridiculous that line of “reasoning” can go? Is that really how you want to look at the world and your power over your own life? I can tell you that the most successful people do not allow themselves to think that way. From now on neither will you.
Instead, you are going to keep a positive focus on your goal and take daily action on your plan.
You must take action. Without action, all of this is just a lot of time and effort wasted. Without action you will lose focus, become frustrated, decide goal setting doesn’t work, and quit.
So here’s my advice: Don’t wait one day, start now. If you put this off until you’re “ready,” or your busy project at work ends, or until after your vacation, or until the kids are grown, or the time is right, or (fill in the excuse) you will never start or finish. If you only remember one thing from this book, remember this:
Go!
As soon as you “Go!” and start taking action on your Passionate Purpose, you are a success. The staircase will start appearing faster and faster. This is why you are here. The possibilities are endless for your life now. You aren’t just surviving, you are thriving. You aren’t just earning a living, you’re earning a life.
Why we do something is vital to the level of motivation and persistence we give to it. It also figures prominently in determining how much enjoyment we get out of it. Sometimes we put out a lot of time and effort before we realize we’ve anchored it all to a “why” that doesn’t serve us very well.
I was reminded of this when my daughter was practicing the piano and working on a fairly difficult jazz piece. After a while she plopped down on the couch beside me, looking frustrated.
I asked her what was wrong and she said, “I want to impress people by playing this song, but it’s hard.”
Before I could stop myself, I laughed out loud. I reminded her that if it was easy, everyone would do it. But then we got to the more important point. Doing something to impress others will never truly satisfy. The feeling you get from it is hollow and won’t last. It also means you’re allowing others to determine your worth. Why would you want to do that?
We all know this, yet somehow the “impressive” trap can sneak up on us. My wife, Anne, admits how it got to her in the story of her two careers.
Her first degree is in finance. Anne had big plans to become a senior executive in the banking industry. In just her first few years out of school, she was well on her way as an assistant vice president in private banking.
But, then she started volunteering as a tutor for at risk students at an inner city elementary school. She loved helping the little girl who was assigned to her. After a while, Anne realized she enjoyed tutoring much more than she enjoyed banking. If she was going to be honest, she didn’t like her job at all.
Anne had thought about becoming a teacher earlier in her life, but she worried about what other people might say. “Anne, you’re a straight A student, why would you use that just to teach elementary school?”
She knew that people say they value teachers, but many think if you’re a teacher it’s because you can’t do anything else. Or, you just want your summers off. Anne knew that wasn’t true, but she was letting other people’s opinions decide her fate.
She finally admitted to herself that the main reason she chose to be a finance major and go into banking was to impress others. Anne wanted people to know she was smart. She wanted the prestigious job title. She didn’t want anyone patting her on the head telling her what a cute, little teacher she was.
Once she figured that out, it didn’t take long for her to rework her “why.” She wanted to help inspire and teach our children to make our future brighter. Anne went back to school and got her Masters in Education.
She has helped change the lives of countless children and just won the award for teacher of the year at her school. She gets great joy out of teaching! She found the “why” that motivates her.
The “whys” that truly motivate us for the long term, and for the best results, are intrinsic. It’s not about impressing someone, or making our parents/significant other/society happy.
It’s about creating the extraordinary life of our dreams. It’s about growing, learning, being challenged, and achieving. It’s about enjoying what we do, not just the results of what we do. It’s about being the masters of our fate and embracing that.
Most of all, it’s about transcending ourselves, making a difference, and living a life that matters.
“Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.” –Daniel Pink
What is motivating you right now?
(I now offer one to one coaching and an online coaching program for various budgets. Click here for more details.)
The best way to become successful is to serve other people. The best way to serve others is to share your expertise with them. So how do you become an expert? You can do it in less time than you think.
1) Determine what you want to be your expertise. It’s easier and faster to become an expert at something you’ve already been working on and that you enjoy doing. If you’re looking to become an expert in something totally new, you can do it; it’s just going to take longer.
This is where I advise finding your Passionate Purpose. Working to become an expert at that will lead you to be more successful, fulfilled, and joyful, than simply looking to become an expert in something you think will make you money.
Don’t get me wrong, making money is great, but it’s super great if you’re making money doing something you’re passionate about. Otherwise, it can turn into a pair of golden handcuffs.
2) Go one step further and determine in what niche you want your expertise.
Whatever field you decide to study, there are countless niches to focus on. Find a niche that matches what you’re passionate about and that you can generate income with. (Remember – everything you love won’t make you money.)
3) Go deeper still and define the market you want to target your expertise to.
Keep this target market in mind as you’re becoming an expert. What do they want to know? What problems can you help them solve? What pain can you take away, and what pleasure can you help provide, with your expertise?
4) Determine the keywords that define your expertise.
Use those keywords to:
Set up Google Alerts – this will allow you to receive daily updates on the latest news in your field and niche
Search iTunes for related podcasts – listen to the most popular ones
Search YouTube for related “how to” videos – watch the most popular ones
Search for blogs – read the most popular ones
Search for seminars and online courses – use the ones that hit your target the best
5) Read one, best selling book a month on your subject.
It amazes me how many times I hear people brag about not reading books. Why is that now a badge of honor? You can get more out of a great book than you can out of a college course, a seminar, or one video – and for a lot less money.
Read these books to use the knowledge that is in them. I read books in my field as if I’m going to have a final exam.
I read like this:
Frist time through I just read the book
Second time through I highlight what resonates with me and make notes
Third time through I focus on my highlights
Fourth time through I start implementing the ideas into my life
If you read one book a month, in just one year you’ll know more about the field than 99% of the people you come in contact with.
Bonus: If you’re a great reader/studier, you can supercharge this be reading one book a week.
6) Start blogging about your quest to become an expert right away.
People love to see how other people do it. They love getting a behind the scenes view to your struggles and your successes. The more honest you are about the obstacles you’ve hit, the better.
Blogging about this will help you improve your writing skills, lock in the new information you’re learning, and build your brand.
Google “how to start a blog.” It’s very easy and cheap to do. For around ten bucks you can buy a domain name, and for another ten a month you can have your site hosted. Use a free theme on WordPress and you’re ready to roll.
7) Use what your learning in the real world.
It’s one thing to know theories, facts, and how to do something. It’s very different to actually do it. Your story of using your expertise in your life will carry more weight with most people than any letters after your name.
Greg, that idea about finding and pursuing your Passionate Purpose sounds great, but haven’t you heard of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? You have to take care of the basics befor you go after self actualization. Once I’m a success, then I’ll worry about my purpose.
I’m a big believer in Maslow’s theory. If you don’t have anything to eat or a place to live, you’re probably not as concerned about going to a museum to look at a piece of art. I get it.
But, I think finding and pursuing your Passionate Purpose helps you get everything else you need to live – not just to live better.
Most people have heard of Viktor Frankl’s classic, Man’s Search for Meaning. (If you’ve never read it, start reading it today.) He gives his account of what it was like to be in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII, and then he turns to the importance of purpose.
Frankl found that if a prisoner had no purpose left in life – if he saw no hope – he was doomed. If, however, a prisoner saw a purpose in life he could cling to, his chances of survival dramatically improved.
Research in some of the poorest places in the world has supported the idea that a strong sense of purpose keeps people going in the direst of conditions. In many cases, it helps people live happy, healthy lives where we would think there would be no hope.
People living in third world countries have said their Passionate Purpose is to:
Help my family survive.
Educate the children in my village so they will have more opportunities.
Spread happiness to everyone I meet.
Get my village clean drinking water.
Be able to move my family to a better place where we will all be safe.
These purposes keep them motivated and inspired to live a life with meaning -to live a life that makes a difference.
In fact, finding and pursuing a Passionate Purpose may be more important before you become successful. It’s what gets you up when you really want to stay in bed. It’s what gives you optimism when your circumstances can’t justify it. It’s what gives you courage to face the tough situations. And, it’s what let’s you enjoy this life, when others would wallow in depression.
My belief is that finding and pursuing your Passionate Purpose is at every level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs scale. Regardless of where we live, or how much money we make, to live our best lives we need it in everything we do.
I’m working on a new podcast and would love your feedback on my ideas. I’m thinking it will include:
One segment of my comments on topical news stories about motivation, purpose, success, and productivity.
One segment on a new idea I’ve recently learned or developed
One segment of an interview with an expert or entrepreneur
Please let me know what you think of that format and what you would like to hear in the podcast. I didn’t add in any music or special effects for this one, but that’s in the plans.
The following is a rough transcript of the podcast (except for my interview):
Today we’re going to hit on the idea of finding and pursuing your passionate purpose, how that makes a difference in the world.
Then we’re going to talk about how much habits impact our lives and how to get rid of the bad ones and create new ones.
And we’ll end with an encouraging message to go for the life you’ve always dreamed of.
Ready? Let’s GO!
We’re all diff, but some things are universal. You want to matter, count, and make a difference. You want to live a life of value and significance.
God made us that way. You want to live intentionally, with purpose and passion.
How do we do that? We have to find our passionate purposes in every part of our lives. We have to take the gifts we were given and increase them and use them to help and serve others.
When we do that, everyone wins. In our relationships, family, work, finances, faith. It all gets better when we’re doing what we were brought here to do.
I love seeing this in people’s lives:
We had family movie night at the Knapp house over the weekend and we watched Eddie the Eagle. It’s a feel good comedy based on the true story of Michael Eddie Edwards.
What I loved about the film was the message on the importance of a Passionate Purpose.
Eddie had knee problems as a child and had to wear a leg brace. The doctors told him he should give up on sports. His father told him he would never be an athlete.
But, when Eddie was little he read a book about great moments in Olympic history. From that point on he was determined to become an Olympian, have his moment, and prove everyone wrong.
He had a passionate purpose and he had a strong why that supported it.
He tried a lot of different sports and none seemed promising. He had spent years trying to get on the British Olympic team in downhill skiing, but couldn’t quite make it. Most people would have given up.
His passionate purpose continued to drive him.
Eddie figured out that no one had been a ski jumper for Britain since 1929 and there were no qualifying distances to make the team. (However, the Brits decided to rewrite the rules and set up a qualifying distance.)
He convinced an old, drunk ski jumper to coach him. Using his own money, and any he could borrow, Eddie trained for a year and made the Olympic team.
Not only had his passionate purpose turned him into a decent ski jumper it also gave his coach a purpose to get sober and do something with his life.
A strong purpose can change more than just your life. What strong purpose is motivating you to great things in your life?
If you don’t have one right now, it’s time to find one.
Greg, Can I Really Get the Life You Want? Yes! If…
You’re excited about the idea of finding and pursuing your passionate purpose. You’ve visited a few websites about it, watched some videos, and maybe even read a book about how to do it. You’ve been dreaming about what your best life would look like.
But…nothing’s changed. You aren’t taking action. Five years ago you were in the same situation and a year from now?
Why?
–Amelia Earhart said, “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.”
If you read my blog, social media posts and book, you know I’m a super positive, encouraging, optimistic guy. (And humble!)
But, let’s get real here, ya’ll. Tough love time. IF you really want to live an extraordinary life where you pursue your Passionate Purpose, I can’t sugar coat this.
If you have thought about it – or tried to do it – before and failed, you’ve made excuses.
Here are some that I’ve heard (and used myself from time to time).
Only the lucky few get to do that
I’m not rich enough
I’m afraid I’ll fail
I don’t have the right connections
I’m not a genius
I’m afraid I’ll lose all my money
You have to be really talented to do that
I don’t know how to do it
I’m afraid I’ll get divorced over it
I don’t want to sacrifice my wife/husband/kids/relationships to do that
I’m not educated enough
Now’s not the right time
It’s too hard
I won’t make enough money to live on if I do that
I’m not good enough
I don’t deserve it
People from my family don’t do that
It’s selfish and greedy to want to do that
I don’t have enough time to do everything I would need to do
I’ll do it someday
Those are just some of the excuses I’ve heard to make people feel better about giving up on their dreams. I’m sure you could help me come up with more. Some of these concerns are real. I don’t want to suggest that going after what you really want is easy and requires no sacrifice. That’s just dreaming.
But, if you really want to pursue your Passionate Purpose and go after that extraordinary life, you have got to cowboy up for a serious ride.
Do you really want to look back on your life and list the excuses why you never tried? Do you want to use your children, spouse and friends as human shields to protect you from your fears of going for something great? Do you really believe that ALL successful people are divorced, greedy, horrible human beings who sacrificed all their values to get where they are in life?
Am I going to stop talking in questions? Yes. Right now.
The reason you aren’t taking action and going after this isn’t because you don’t have talent—nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. It’s not because you aren’t smart enough, don’t know the right people, or don’t have enough money to get started. It’s not because you don’t have enough time. We all have the same 24 hours in each day.
Look, all the excuses really boil down to one. Fear.
Change is scary. All those excuses we listed create fear. Your mind is screaming at you to avoid fear and risk. Subconsciously, your brain is telling you that you get more out of not changing than you think you would get out of changing.
“But, I really want to change. What? Your actions are so loud I can’t hear what you’re saying.” — Greg Knapp
IF you really want this, it’s time to convince yourself these aren’t just wants, they are needs.
Time to convince yourself that the fear and pain that always comes with change is worth it for the chance to live the extraordinary life of your dreams.
Time to convince yourself that NOT changing is risky, too. Imagine living your whole life and NEVER going for what you could have had!
If you are tired of just getting by and letting days, months, and years slip past without achieving what you know you were put on this earth by your Creator to do, then now is the time.
Get your mindset right.
Understand fear creeps in but can be handled.
Determine what you want.
Set your course.
Take action.
How much longer will you wait?
Another thing that can hold us back is our habits. So much of what we do habitual. We try to change and we fall back to old habits.
We can use habits to our advantage if we can create new, good ones that keep us on course to live out our Passionate Purpose intentionally.
Charles Duhigg has written a great book about this, called, The Power of Habit- Why we do what we do in life and business, and he’s joining me now on Your Passionate Purpose. Charles, how are you?
(Interview audio)
I want to encourage you that you can find and pursue your passionate purposes in every part of your life. God gave you gifts and talents that he wants you to grow and use for His glory, to serve people and to live an abundant life.
Steven Covey said, “Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment”
The world needs what you have to offer. I’ll see you tomorrow.
