Category Archives: happiness

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You Can Supercharge Your Life – Without the Energy Drinks

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energy-drinks

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.

One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested-EM Forster

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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.

Working on what you’re passionate about energizes you. Working on what you hate drains you.

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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.

happy-unicorn-rainbow

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.

How does so much energy come from a passionate idea? Is one charging your life?

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The world needs your best work and that work is driven by your passions. Find them…and you can throw out the energy drinks.

I want to give as many people as possible my free eBook, 5 Steps to Finding Your Purpose. Please forward this to a friend who needs it. If they click here, they can get the free eBook.

Let’s GO!

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How Do I Find My Purpose?

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The biggest frustration I hear from people right now is, “How do I find my purpose?” If you don’t get that right, you’re missing the whole point, right? You can act like it doesn’t matter, you can busy yourself with the day-to-day things, and you can even fake happiness for a while. But the question keeps gnawing at you. It keeps scratching at the door like a dog that wants in. It keeps throwing pebbles on your window like a boyfriend trying to get your attention.

Some people try to ignore it their whole lives because thinking and doing something about it is too scary and hard. But it will not be ignored without negative, soul-crushing consequences.

You don’t want to ignore it. You have this feeling deep inside that you were made for something better. You realize this is it. This is your life – right now. You don’t get a dress rehearsal or a do-over. You get one shot and it’s not going the way you want it to go right now. You were supposed to be somewhere else by this time in your life. You want more – more meaning, more significance. You can’t stand the idea of being average, mediocre or just getting by.

I’ve got so much to say about this, I could write a book on it. Oh, wait. I did. You can get my book, GO! by clicking here. You can get the companion workbook, 5 Steps to Finding Your Purpose, as a free eBook by clicking here.

But I want to add to that as well. So, I’m going to write a series of posts over the next few weeks to help you find your Passionate Purpose and then a few more about how to pursue it.

We better define what purpose means when we talk about it here.

Purpose – pur·pose: The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.
–Oxford online dictionary

For me, your purpose is not just your job or career. Your purpose is why you do everything you do. It’s why you’re here taking up space and breathing. (Oh, is that all? No problem. I’ll figure that out on my lunch hour today, Greg. Thanks a lot.)

Hey, I didn’t say it was easy. But it also doesn’t have to be so hard.

You get up every morning, wouldn’t you enjoy it more if you figured out a compelling reason?

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Let’s bust some myths.

Myth #1: There is only one way to find your Passionate Purpose

If you’re struggling to find your Passionate Purpose, I get it. I spent years trying to figure it out. (Hey, I still don’t have it completely figured out. Is that ok to admit?)

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. It’s what ends up working for you that is your right way.

Don’t feel like something is wrong with you because you’re not doing it the ‘right’ way.

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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 these people. Ok, not really hate, I just really wish that had happened to me.)

Others try a bunch of different ideas until something resonates with them. They keep going with it until their desire builds or burns out.

For most of us, we don’t get the Aha! moment. We have some ideas about our purpose, some things that excite us, some ideas we’d like to try, but nothing like a voice from a mountaintop telling us what to do.

And. That’s. Ok.

But if we’re not careful we can spend weeks, months, years, even decades waiting for that Aha! moment. We’ll keep reading books and blogs, watching TED talks, listening to podcasts and buying online courses, and not taking any real action to change our lives.

Get this. For most of us, there is no perfect purpose, idea, career, job, or plan for our lives. The best we can do is go with what resonates with us the most right now. Take action on it. Try it on for size. See how it feels. If a passion for it starts to grow, feed it some more. It might grow to become your Passionate Purpose. If it isn’t doing anything for you, try something else.

Here is one way to start working on it: Ask yourself some questions:

Why do you get up in the morning? Why are you here at all? What do you want to do with the time you have? What difference do you want to make? What do you want to accomplish? With your life? Your family? Your relationships? Who do you want to become? What do you want to be known for?

Those answers will get you started. My free eBook has a ton of questions that can help you drill down deeper on this. From there you can work on how you use your purpose to fuel every part of your life in and out of work.

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, attended seminars, watched videos, kept journals, and did all kinds of exercises.

That works for me. I put that in the present tense because I continue to work on personal growth. I love learning this stuff. 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.

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.

However, 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.

Myth #2: You can only have one Passionate Purpose in your life – ever

Most people have more than one purpose – often more than one at a time – and they change throughout their lives.

I have several purposes right now. My work purpose is: To help as many people as I can find and pursue their purpose so they can live out extraordinary lives and change the world.

That gets me super excited. I want to get up early to do that. I want to help people do that through my books, blog posts, online courses, coaching, videos, and more!

My family purpose is: To unconditionally love and serve my wife and daughters and help them live the extraordinary lives they were created for.

That leads me to spend more time with them and finding ways to help them.

My spiritual purpose is: To develop a deeper relationship with Christ and try to act more like Him.

That leads me to spend more time reading the bible, praying, and looking for ways to serve.

What about you? What purposes get you excited? Please don’t just read this and forget it. Take some time today or this weekend and figure it out.

Action steps:

1) Get my free eBook and spend time this weekend answering the questions to get you started on finding your purpose.

2) From your work answering the questions, take at least one action on a purpose that resonated with you.

3) Let me know how it’s going and ask me any question that pops up by emailing me: greg@gregorybknapp.com

Let’s GO!

Ramp it up. One to one coaching and an online coaching program for various budgets now available. Click here for more details.

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A Big Part of Our Purpose is to Cultivate Relationships

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getting-relationship-right

No two people have the exact same purpose. Our DNA, family upbringing, culture, environments, and experiences make us unique. But there are some universals in our purpose.

We were designed to be in – and cultivate – relationships.

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Part of our purpose is to use our gifts to help others and to allow others to use their gifts to help us.

Often, we become so busy trying to pursue our purpose and succeed at our career that we fail to invest in our relationships.

How much effort are you putting into your relationship with your:

  • God
  • Spouse
  • Children
  • Extended family
  • Friends
  • Coworkers
  • Clients
  • Strangers

I started thinking about this because I took my oldest daughter on a college trip last weekend. It was just the two of us and we had a lot of time to talk and be together on the plane and in the car.

Sometimes we had great conversations.
Sometimes, like when we sat on the beach, we enjoyed the silence.
Sometimes we joked and laughed. Sometimes we talked about deep subjects.

It was awesome. It deepened our relationship.

I hear people say the key to a relationship is quality time. That’s true to a point. But I think people also measure how much you value them in quantity time. You have to be with someone a certain length of time so they know you really care before they will feel safe enough to let you in.

Quality time is great, but relationships need quantity time too.

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I think the key is to invest in these relationships with the goal of being there, truly listening, and looking for ways to help. If the goal is for what you can get out of it, it’s not going to work and the relationship won’t grow.

You know that person who only calls you when he needs something? When you see his name pop up on your phone your first thought is, “Oh, boy, what does he want now?” Don’t be that guy.

If you can be the guy that other people are happy to hear from and see, imagine how great your relationships will be. Imagine how much you could help others and how much happier you would be.

Let’s GO!

(I now offer one to one coaching and an online coaching program for various budgets. Click here for more details.)

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Once I Become Successful, Then I’ll Worry About Fulfilling My Purpose

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frankl

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.

Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. –W. Clement Stone

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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.

A Passionate Purpose, fueled with burning desire, is unstoppable. — Greg Knapp

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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.

The second you begin to follow your passionate purpose you are a success. – Greg Knapp

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Let’s GO!

I now offer one to one coaching and an online coaching program for various budgets.Click here for more details.

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Can Following Your Passion Backfire and Make Your Life Worse?

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Greg, this “Passionate Purpose” stuff sounds a little new-agey, touchy-feely to me. I’ve read some articles and books that are saying the idea of following your passion doesn’t work. I’ve even read stuff that says setting goals means you just end up failing and feeling bad about yourself. Is that true?

No, and yes, or yes and no. I’m not trying to avoid answering the question, but that’s really the answer. (Those are the answers?) Another great quote from Henry Ford explains it: “If you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

Yes, figuring out why you’re here, discovering your Passionate Purpose, setting goals and not reaching them can be frustrating, and sometimes depressing. But, you know what can be even more depressing? Never figuring out your purpose, never setting any goals, and never achieving any goals.

You know what’s a lot better than not setting goals so you won’t feel bad if you don’t succeed? Setting goals and actually achieving them. You are not going for a passionless existence. You are living an impassioned life!

When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.
–Seneca, Roman philosopher

It’s all about your mindset, how you set your goals, the plan you create to achieve them, and the execution of your plan.

But ask yourself this: What gives you a better chance of living out your dreams, figuring out what they are and pursuing them or just floating through life whichever way the wind blows?

But, Greg, doesn’t success at your job create passion? That works for some people, for a while. But how many people earning a good income do you know who hate their jobs?

Doctors, dentists, and lawyers all make it into the top 20 of highest suicide rates by profession and those are some of our higher-paying jobs. It’s not all about the cheddar, is it? Golden handcuffs still chafe and hurt just as much as the cheap ones do.

You have to decide these answers for yourself. For me, I want to live out the “why” of my existence. I want to pursue what I’m passionate about and use that to make me rich in every sense of the word.

You might be surprised to find that you will eventually make more money following your passion than you do right now trying to slog through the day. Then again, you might not. But at a certain point, money isn’t the number one priority, is it?

My goals definitely include creating a good income for my family and me, but a goal like earning $1 million per year is not my primary motivator. It’s not my top “why” for my Passionate Purpose.

My “whys” include inspiring people, creating more freedom for myself, helping people live their dreams, a flexible schedule, doing what I love, and taking more vacations with my family. If you took all those away and simply paid me more for doing a soul-sucking job 50 hours a week, I’d say no thanks.
What about you?

Let’s GO!

If this post resonated with you, Please subscribe to my blog and get my free eBook — 5 Steps to Finding Your Passionate Purpose. You can also purchase my book, GO!

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You Need This Drug

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drug

Pssst. Come here. I know of a drug that can:

 

  • Add years to your life
  • Reduce risk of heart disease – by 27 percent or more
  • Reduce risk of high blood pressure
  • Reduce risk of stroke – by 22 percent or more
  • Reduce risk of dementia
  • Reduce risk of Alzheimer’s – by more than half
  • Make you happier
  • Decrease your stress
  • Double your chances of staying substance free after treatment
  • Increase your good cholesterol
  • Repair your damaged DNA
  • Help you sleep better
  • Make you happier

You want it?

Oh, and by the way, it also gives you better sex…

It has no side effects…

It doesn’t cost any money…

What is it? It’s called, Purpose – a strong sense of purpose in your life, to be precise.

Creating purpose in your life does more for your health and happiness than any drug available.

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I’m not making this up. It’s proven in some great research outlined in Victor Stretcher’s book, Life on Purpose. Here are some of the specifics.

On average, people with a strong sense of purpose live longer than those without one. In fact, with just a little stronger sense of purpose, there was a 12 percent reduction in the risk of dying during a 14-year study.

Much of the research uses self-reports on a scale of 1 to 6 to determine the amount of purpose one has in life.

Another two-year study of adults with heart disease found that for every one point increase on the purpose scale there was a 27 percent lower risk in having a heart attack. A four-year study showed every one-point increase in purpose reduced stroke risk by 22 percent.

A seven-year study found that seniors with a low sense of purpose in life were 2.4 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than seniors with a strong sense of purpose.

Other analyses found that a lack of purpose is at least as responsible for disease and early death as tobacco, poor diet, inactivity, and stress.

This is clearly the best drug out there, and even though it won’t cost you any money, it does come at a price. You pay for this drug by taking the time and making the effort to find and pursue your Passionate Purpose.

If you find what matters most to you, what you were created to do, what will lead you to a life of meaning and significance, what will lead you to serving others – then you will have earned the best drug ever made.

Are you willing to pay that price?

Let’s GO!