I am very passionate about being a transformational life coach. Every time I work with a client and watch them grow and expand into the special and unique beings that they are, the more joy, pleasure and pure excitement I get from them making such positive and empowering changes to their lives. What more could I ask for from the work that I am passionate about?
Many of the clients I work with highlight gaping holes in their “vocation” life area. When I ask them what it is they want out of their vocation, many respond with the one word “fulfilment”. Those who are not happy with their vocations are those who have no passion for the work they find themselves, often by default, doing.
When we are passionate about the work we do, we give not only to ourselves but to others in ways that are constructive, meaningful, all encompassing and powerful. When we are passionate about what we do on a daily basis, whether it’s being a life coach, an office manager, a hair dresser, a teacher – whatever our work entails – we are nurturing our own souls as well as giving back to the world in a meaningful way.
I know a physical science teacher who is extremely passionate about the subject she teaches as well as the learners she works with. It is important to her that her learners grasp the concept of physical science. However, she also recognises her learners as individuals exploring the world as young people, trying to find their way through what can sometimes be a minefield of confusion that faces so many of our youngsters nowadays. This teacher is so passionate about her learners that she has made it her personal responsibility to ensure that not only do they learn about physical science but that they are also equipped with very valuable, practical daily life skills that empowers them to be more confident youngsters. The other day she told me that she finds her life very meaningful – she has found passion in the work she does.
When we are passionate about the work we do, we wake up every day excited about the day ahead, open to the opportunities that may present themselves, experiencing inner contentment knowing that we spending our day the way we want to. This is true personal freedom.
So many of us, myself included, end up in a career either because we thought it was what we wanted to do or because it was convenient or it served it purpose “way back when” or we simply started that career because we were passionate about it but somehow, somewhere along the line we got bored with it. One day, we wake up and finally take notice of the feelings that have been trying to tell us, for a while, that a change is needed. Those of us who are lucky enough may already know what we really want to do and can make that change quite easily. Many of us though suddenly find ourselves, sitting numb in our office chair, bored out of our minds, counting down the minutes to the end of the day so that we may go home only to wake up to another day of dread. Now what? Then we start to wonder just exactly what the purpose of life is, our purpose in life.
It is important to recognise this moment of awareness, this moment when we start questioning exactly how passionate we are about what we are doing on a daily basis. Frightening as it is, this is when we need to take the bull by the horns and start thinking about what exactly is not working for us. Once we start thinking, we can start deciding what to do. This stage can take anything from a day to years before we decide what we are going to do to bring passion into the work we do (this is when a life coach comes in handy!).
Action needs to take place and only you can be responsible for that – deciding what action to take. Once you have decided what action to take, you will need to find ways of maintaining that action. By this stage you have come a long way from the day you realised life wasn’t quite working out the way you had thought it would work out to now maintaining action steps that will ultimately lead you to the outcome of your goal for a life that does give you more passion.
Read this definition of the word “passion” (thanks to Urban Dictionary) and decide for yourself whether there is passion for you in the work you do on a daily basis.
“Passion is when you put more energy into something than is required to do it. It is more that just enthusiasm or excitement – passion is ambition that is materialised into action to put as much heart, mind, body and soul into something as is possible”.