If I had to name a single thing that I am always in pursuit of, and that feels most missing from my life, it’s ‘Passion’.
It seems like I once was filled with passion, and now I experience it much more fleetingly. Or, it at least feels that way. I’ve started to question my own memories as unreliable. Did I really feel in this passionate state all of the time when I was younger, or am I being nostalgic? Am I being fair to myself?
During a recent conversation a friend asked me a simple question – what do I mean when I say passion?
That was a good question. Like a lot of words that get thrown around, words like “impact” or “change”, these words can be very ambiguous, which can set you up to fall into a trap of never achieving what it is you want. You’ll never achieve it because it’s never been defined.
A favorite tool of mine then came to mind – get specific. Specificity is your friend. Get clear on what it is you’re actually talking about, and then you can do something about it instead of chasing a ghost.
So, I sat down, and simply asked myself this question: What is passion for me?
- Passion is something that you’d do for free (and likely do for free)
- Passion is something that is on your mind most of the time
- Passion is excitement for yourself and that you can share with others
- Passion is feeling inspired, and inspiring others
- When I’m passionate, people see me in an energized state
- When I’m passionate, I see possibility in everything
- When I’m passionate, people hear me share my passion and ideas
- When I’m passionate, I hear small details in other people’s stories
- When I’m passionate, people feel energized and charged around me
- When I’m passionate, I feel energized and charged
- When I was younger, Passion was listening to happy hardcore music while I fell asleep
- When I was younger, Passion was promoting rave events at great risk to myself to share my passion
- Passion is fun
- Passion is play
- Passion is priceless
- When I’m passionate, I’m willing to take huge risks
- Passion is waking up with the thing I’m passionate about on my mind
- Passion is motivating
So now, at least I can see more clearly what I mean when I talk about ‘Passion’. Looking at this list, no wonder I’m always hunting for it, because who wouldn’t want to feel all of these things?
The first item on my list, the things you do for free, jumps out at me immediately. I’ve been writing for my blog for over six years. Clearly, I have a passion for my own self-mastery, creating a legacy, and sharing that with people to propagate my impact on the world. I do that through sharing my story, writing articles and books, Zooms and public speaking, connecting with people, and finding ways to test and challenge myself (which then become stories I share). Six years is a long chunk of time, and yet, here I am.
Looking at the rest of this list, passion is often tied to inspiration. I’ve seen time and time again how Frolic 100 members will tell me that they feel inspired by the things I do and share, and that comes from a place of feeling inspiration within myself.
Aside from the few items specifically tied to my younger years, this entire list still holds true today.
And the ironic thing is, those early memories I have, of being consumed by music, is what has led to me thinking I feel less passion today. That was one specific detail. The truth and reality is I experience the rest of this list regularly.
That clarity just became known to me as I wrote those words and completed this article; the thing I do for free every week, which is writing and sharing what I’ve learned with you.
That, I am passionate for. It never left me.
What is that elusive thing you are chasing in your life? What might change if you got specific about what it actually was?
