Discovering Your True Passion

How do you know you are being called to your true passion?

No I don’t mean on your cell phone in the middle of the night. Your calling is going to sound different. But how do you know when you found your passion? That gravitational pull to do something bigger. The one that keeps you awake at night, and gets you up early. You will even skip meals, gatherings with friends and family to chase it down.

We all pass through life hoping to make a dent in the universe. Many of us will spend our whole life searching. Jumping from job to job, hobby to hobby. All meanwhile searching for meaning. A meaning, where not only are we making a living but we a living a life of purpose. Where you no longer hide your ambitions, because your audacious dreams are too big to silence any longer.

We like to think we were born to do something bigger and better. Whether it is to become a writer, lawyer, preacher or singer. No matter what it is there is a design for your passion. This design is a calling that you and only you can fill. Designed by the hand of God, our purpose is determined. Now what do you do?

“Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Living our lives just to make ends meet. Many will let fear get in the way of their passion. Although they dream about it at night. Taking a leap is more than they can bargain. They would rather sit on the seashore watching all the boats go by than take a chance. How about trying to jump off that cliff and build your wings on the way down? How about today, better yet how about now?

We allow our life to consume us. All the while the embers of our dreams dim. Each day the light lessens and loses its glimmer. Routines set in, then complacency and monotony. Next thing you know you are in your 40’s or 50’s (some even later) with little to show. I mean sure there is the corporate ladder you may have climbed. Maybe you are even married to your high school sweetheart. But are you living passionately guided by your calling? Probably not.

Steps you can take to claim your true passion:

• Write it down – no matter what goal you have big or small. Writing it down adds a layer of accountability to yourself.
• Tell someone else – Whether you own it in front of a bunch of other dreamers, or even just your spouse. Telling someone else adds a partner, a support system. Someone that knows your truth and can hold your feet to the fire.
• Define your true passion – give it a name ” I want to be a …” Make it real, something that can be obtained.
• Own it for real – Claim your dreams, if you want to be a doctor own it ” I am a doctor” or  a writer “I am a writer” and so on. No one else will believe it until you do.
• Chase down the BHAG – No matter how big it is. Your Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) needs catching. If that means more schooling, you enroll, more writing or write. Chase it, catch it, become it.
• Pray for guidance – We tend to chase our dreams rather than our calling. Things we ‘think’ we want rather than were made for. If we allow ourselves to be silent and listen, we may just get the guidance we are seeking.

Are the steps simple? Absolutely! Not! Everyone will battle and want to quit. We will have days of self-doubt and wonder if it is worth it. If you focus on your true passion rather than everyday distractions. Chasing down your dreams, that are also your calling becomes easier. Own it, share it, chase it down and become it. The world deserves more dream chasers that will hustle after their calling and passion. You were made for more, it is your turn to claim it as yours.

Now its your turn: What dream or passion are you chasing? Anything standing in your way of getting it? What are you going to do about it? Share your dreams and passion in the comments below, you never know someone else may be able to help you chase it down.

Blessings,

CJ