Funny story -

I was driving today and the guy next to me looked at me funny and rolled his window down. I did the same thinking he was going to give me crap for the insurance company I work for. He says "I give up, what is your passion?" I take a second to remember that on a 3x5 card on my sun visor I have the words "What is your passion?" written as I try to make a few life choices over the next couple of months. I tell him the truth - I have no idea but I know it isn't working for the company I am now working for. We both laugh and go on about our day ... but this question along with what do I want to do with my life have been playing over and over again in my head over the last several months.

So for those of you who have done it. What did you do when you were trying to decide what your passion or life goal or next job was when you knew you weren't doing it now?

The problem with the question. Is that passion isn't enough. most people who succed in a field are frackin obsessed. You think tiger woods has a passion for golf. I He is obsessed with always getting better.

That is the main trait i pick up about successful people. So recently i have digging into myself trying to figure out. Just what i would be willing to take as an obsession. I don't care about the money. I care about finding something i am into so deeply. That I can jump out of bed to work on it and not realized it's only 3 in the morning.

I am still working on it though .. But using that aim. I have cut down the choices dramatically . I have also gotten close to figuring out a viable business structure in my head.

Yeah. And the problem with that is the enjoyment of the thing itself may have drained out. The problem with obsession is it can squeeze the life out of a passion to the point where pleasure is mostly gone. Instead, you get - gulp - obsession.

-- Rachel

P.S. Tiger looks like he still enjoys the game though. I would too if I got the kind of payoff he gets.

Passion fades and change a lot faster than obsessions. in anything there are huge swaths of activities that are boring ,dull,or just plain stink. They are also thing you can delegate. There are rough patches,Let downs, and sometimes danger. to get through those there needs to be more than passion.

Like any things though there is blind obsession. if your not obsessing about things you have some hope of excelling at.Your wasting time. There are a lot of negatives if your not careful . Everything has negatives if your not careful.

ken

Great posts.

There's obsession and there's mastery. Both are mutually exclusive. I know obsessed people that aren't masters of anything. I know masters who aren't obsessed.

What I found out was that when you master something your life outlook is completely different from someone who hasn't reached that point yet in their passion.

I do agree with you that it starts with a passion. Only massive action can make it happen in a reasonable time frame and of course it should be fun. When it's not fun because you're not getting the results you want or it becomes an obsession, you'll usually burn out.

Some other characteristics of success, I believe, is a competitive attitude. Either with others, the market or yourself. I happen to have mastered a couple things in my life and looking back I got there because:

1) I never gave up
2) I believed I could do it
3) I wanted to do it
4) It was fun
5) There was always a new goal once one was reached
6) I had rules of operation
7) I looked for ways to break the rules
8. I was willing to live with the possible negative consequences to other areas of my life. This probably bordered on obsession in two areas but it seemed to work out in the end.

Simple huh?

Cheers

Well.
Maybe i am using the wrong term by calling it obsession. That is an easy mistake to make when you try to whittle complex concepts down to a few catchy words. How i am looking at it is as a level of passion. That borders on obsession For it to work though . It has to be something that harnesses your skills or talents.

There are a lot of people who are obsessed with becoming good singers.. Who would get kicked of the stage of american idle after a dozen notes.

So what is a good term for a passion that borders on obsession ?

Ken

In the book "think and grow rich" by Napoleon Hill, he talks about the need for a burning desire to achieve a goal.

When learning a new skill or launching a new business, it takes a lot of energy, almost like a plane taking off. After you're up and running you "might" be able to coast a little. But watch it, relax to much, someone else is going to take your place.

I play guitar. When I first started, I was passionate! I would sit by myself in my bedroom and play for hours, just for my own enjoyment. Eventually, I joined the Air Force Band, playing guitar, mostly, in support of recruiting. Played in more highschool gymnasiums than I care to remember.

After a while, my "passion" became a "job", and the novelty of it all kind of wore off.

The mistake I think I made, was not continually figuring out a way to keep things passionate, like trying to learn a new style of playing, or trying out new guitars.

I think the only thing that kept me going was continually learning new songs as they became popular to keep the screaming little kiddies happy. Well, some of them screamed anyway. Others just stared.

Try playing rock & roll wearing a blue suit and black patent leather shoes. Yeah, we're cool and we know it!

So, I think you have to figure out a way to "maintain" your passion so it doesn't become a J.O.B.

Hey Tim,

Great question! Here is my answer... passion is not something that you decide on or pick to do... it is who you are... it resonates from the core of your being. The beautiful thing about passion is you already have it; you simply need to look within yourself to discover it. I guarantee... 'your true passion' will be effortlessly revealed to you when you do the following:

1) Know Thyself - get to know who you are, be completely honest with yourself, become your own best friend and be open to exploring all your emotions.

2) Observe The Path of Your Life - take a step back, as if you were watching a movie of the best times of your life, and observe the person who looks like you. You can pick any point in your life and any span of time. But, just observe. What are you doing? What is that ‘you’ feeling? Are you helping people? Are you creating something? Really look at all aspects of the scene. As you practice this exercise, you will start to see a pattern in what has brought joy to you throughout your life. This is work the effort.

3) Be Willing To Change - people are funny, we struggle to have an 'identity'... we define ourselves by what we do, where we live, what we possess, who we love, etc. In truth, there is no definition or identity that IS you, me or anyone else other than the ideas and memories we choose at any given moment to be the collection of 'things' we use to 'conceptualize' who we are. The reality is... we just are, we just exist... yet, in trying to rationalize our existence we want to give ourselves some type of label or attachment to something that can help us conceptualize who we are. Think about this in context of your own life... are you your job? Are you the place you live? Are you your possessions? Etc... Based on your answers you will see that you can change your definition of you if your ego is willing. Be willing to change your mind.

4) Ask The People You Love What They Think Your Natural Talent Is - we tend to get lost in our lives and overlook our best traits and talents that others see easily in us. Sometime when you’re with a close friend, family member or confidant, ask them this... "I have been doing some soul searching lately, trying to get in touch with who I am, what I am naturally good at and what I like to do with my life. I'd like to ask you a question, I value your impressions of me and your answer can help me greatly. What would you say is the thing that I naturally do best?" You may be surprised at the responses you receive. Listen to them all... and use them in working on item #1 above.

Tim, these four things have helped me radically change my life to one of excitement, happiness, health and wealth. Honestly, give them some thought and you may find that your life is changing right before your eyes as you consider these things.

Life is a journey... it is a personal journey… and a journey we share with the world around us... the universe is your canvas... your thoughts are the paint... and your soul is the brush... with every stroke of your life you are adding to your painting... I look forward to seeing your masterpiece. You are truly unique.

My passion is simply constantly maintaining and growing my current lifestyle. For over a decade I've worked at home and have never had to answer to anyone except mr. market. And that's a great feeling, the freedom.

How I do that, is by creating videos and training. The mechanism is teaching and training, and making videos and copywriting for my sites.

But the driver for it all is simply lifestyle. I am passionate about staying financially independent and having infinite time to spend w/family and on hobbies, like reading and creative pursuits.

With a passion for profits,

-K

p.s. thought of the day: "What's your 'inhale/exhale' ratio?" If we define inhaling as reading, research, competitive swipes, studying, forum posting... and exhaling as producing value-added content for clients and markets (articles, videos, websites, ezines, "production")... My point is that it's easy to get caught up in too much inhaling, and not enough exhaling... need a good (50/50?) balance. One thing that boosted my personal productivity a lot is to unplug my ethernet cable from the internet for at least 2-3 hours each day, which 'forces' me to work on videos and sites.