Holding on to Passion

A while back, I did a series of posts on finding and living your life passion. (If you haven't read them, check them out: parts one, two, three, and four.) In the series, I talk about ways to discover what you are passionate about, and also how to begin living those passions once you discover them.

Passion for something is a wonderful thing. It makes us feel alive; it gives us a sense of purpose and drive. But if we're not careful, passion can smolder and eventually die. Sometimes this will be a natural thing, as our dreams and passions definitely change as time passes. But sometimes the loss of passion happens because we lose focus or because we are no longer taking action.

I've found this to be the case for me lately. I haven't taken enough action toward my dreams. I really haven't engaged in enough action, period. As a result, my life feels smothered, lifeless, and I feel myself losing all sense of passion for the things I once loved. I don't want that to happen, so it's time to make a change.

As I read back over my series on finding life passion, I saw a common theme: passion requires action. Just as our physical bodies require action (i.e. exercise) to prevent atrophy and the breakdown of the body, our minds and hearts do too. Even if you were living your life deliberately and with passion a few months ago, if you do not take the necessary actions right now, you won't feel the benefits now. I'm at just such a place, so I need this reminder.

What is holding me back from living my life the way I know I want to? Here are some of the biggest ones:

1. Fear. Passion and purpose can be scary, because you might fail. You might not get what you want, so it can be easy to rationalize that you don't really want to go for it. Or that you will take action later. It's true, your dreams will always be around, but if you don't take action NOW, you may be missing out on some amazing opportunities.
2. Complacency. Do you know why we get stuck in ruts? Because they're comfortable. They're easy. You don't have to extend yourself or make a lot of effort. Sometimes you need a little break where you are comfortable. But if you stay comfortable in life, you aren't moving anywhere or growing your soul.
3. Distractions. I say distractions, but what I mean is distraction, because my main distraction is the Internet, and I freely admit that. I'm not proud of it, but I'm coming clean and saying that the Internet is my biggest time waster and I want it to stop!

So what do we do? How do we start taking action toward our goals and dreams? How do we push past fear, complacency and all the distractions out there? I'm not certain we can ever fully beat these monsters, but if we don't fight them by taking action, they take over and we lose. Is that dramatic? Maybe. But if we don't take action now, before we know it life will be over. All we have is today. So...here's what I pledge to do, starting today.

1. I pledge to act on my feelings. Sometimes I think to myself, "I should call so-and-so" or "I should start playing guitar again." Well, needless to say, I don't often actually DO the things I think about. When I get a prompting, I will act on it.
2. I pledge to actively live my life, every day. By this I mean that I will enjoy the moments I have right now. I will seek out new experiences, do instead of think, and actively BE the person I know I am meant to be.
3. I pledge to cut distractions from my life. This is a hard one. I use the Internet for work, for communication, for entertainment. But it also wastes my precious time. I'm going to find ways to get it out of my life as much as I can. I'll detail this in a future post. Instead of allowing my mind and heart to be distracted, I want to be active, to live, to be.

Do you have things holding you back from your passions? Tell us in the comments what is holding you back and what you pledge to do in order to live your best life!

I'm back and ready for action!

Posts have been scarce during my two-week vacation for Christmas. But I got back today and am ready to do great things in 2008! It's really hard to work on goals when you're at someone else's house living out of a suitcase, so I'm glad to be back in my own house so I can get started with my plans.

I already mentioned many of my goals in my previous post, but I came up with another one that is really key to achieving all the rest - ORGANIZATION! I want to organize my life in such a way that I make time for the important things.

That means staying on top of cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc. (the stuff I don't currently enjoy doing). It also means setting a work schedule and sticking to it (I work from home, so I've been known to work until midnight before. But not anymore!) It also means that I have to stop procrastinating projects and tasks I need to accomplish.

2008 is the year that I get organized and just do it!

Setting goals for the new year

The new year is coming soon - have you thought about goals for the coming year? I know several people who don't like new year's resolutions, preferring instead to constantly update their goals. I think that's great too. But I like the way the new year feels like a clean slate. The year 2008 has never happened before. So no matter what I did in 2007, the year 2008 is wide open for me.

So I set goals every year. I usually focus on five areas:

• Spiritual - For some this may mean volunteering, getting in tune with nature, or building a relationship with God.
  
• Physical - Health and fitness are always important, and I have to renew efforts in this area or I lose focus.
  
• Intellectual - I like to find a way to learn something new each year.
  
• Social/Relationships - I'm always looking to improve my relationship with my husband, other family members, and friends.
  
• Financial/Career - It's important to me to improve my finances as well as set career goals.

Does anyone else have different areas of focus? Here's a short list of things I'd like to accomplish this year.

• Spiritual - I would like to spend time each day in prayer and meditation.
  
• Physical - I want to be able to say that I am physically fit. I want to work up to exercising 5 days a week. And I don't want to eat greasy food anymore.
• Intellectual - I'd like to take a writing class this coming year.
  
• Social/Relationships- I would like to make sure to date my husband weekly, and set up a time each day for sharing thoughts with each other.
  
• Financial/Career - Financially I'd like to finally remove credit card debt from my life. Career-wise, I'd like to triple my freelance writing income (It's possible - I'm fairly new to the business, so my salary isn't what I'd like it to be yet), and also get an article published in a top magazine.
  

Anybody else care to share some goals? Leave a comment and let me know.

I may not post again before the new year, and if not, have a wonderful holiday season. And happy new year! See you in 2008.

The start of a new (Celtic) year

Did you know that the end of the Celtic calendar year is (or was...) celebrated around October 31? Neither did I. But now that I do know, it's a perfect opportunity to set a couple of goals to see me through to our new year.

Are you with me? Let's all set a goal that we will achieve by January 1, 2008. My goal is health related. I've been really bad in that area. I am going to exercise three times a week and lose five pounds by the new year. And if I have a bad week, I don't get to scrap the whole plan - I keep going with my goal!

What goal will you set? I'd love to hear yours, so leave me a comment!

Life Tips Learned from High School Musical

It's possible you don't have children or don't watch the Disney Channel, in which case you may not have heard of High School Musical (and High School Musical 2). But otherwise, you know that High School Musical was a made-for-TV Disney musical that blew everyone away with how popular it became.

The story is simple: the jock and the smart girl want to break free from the norm and try out for their high school's musical. The songs are catchy, and of course there is a happy ending. But apart from being a fun movie to watch, it also offers several tips for living life.

Be open to possibility.
Living in my own world
Didn't understand
That anything can happen
When you take a chance (Start of Something New)

Troy and Gabriella get an opportunity to sing for an audience on New Year's eve. This event helps them realize they love to sing, and it changes their lives forever. We never know when a new opportunity will arrive or what it will bring, but if we open up to it, life becomes interesting, new, and may change us forever!

Dare to be different.
But I've got a confession
My own secret obsession
And it's making me lose control (Stick to the Status Quo)

Each person in the movie had their 'thing'. Troy and Zeke were basketball stars, Gabriella and Martha were the brains, but they each secretly wanted to try something new and be different. Is there something out of the ordinary about you? Don't hide it! It's what makes you unique.

When you work toward a goal, great things happen (and sometimes spontaneous singing...)
We’re soarin’, flyin’
There’s not a star in heaven
That we can’t reach (Breaking Free)

Troy and Gabriella decided to go for their goal of singing in the musical, and wonderful things happened to everyone at school because of it. When you choose to seriously work toward YOUR goal, people may not break into song, but you will notice that magical things begin to happen.

Do what you love.
Why am I feeling so wrong
My head's in the game
But my heart's in the song (Get'cha Head in the Game)

Troy and Gabriella attempt to give up their love of singing, but doing so takes the spark from their lives. We only have this one life to live. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, do what you love and be with the ones you love - those are the things that make life worthwhile.

Live the golden rule & appreciate the good in others.
Everyone is special in their own way
We make each other strong (We're All in this Together)

By the end of the movie, everyone realizes that "we're all in this together", and that doing good for someone else is beneficial to everyone. Do unto others as you'd like them to do unto you. Remember, we're all in this together!
_____

I can't guarantee that watching High School Musical will change your life, but I can say for sure that the songs are catchy enough that you may not be able to forget them! And who knows, it may help you 'Bop to the Top.' ;)

Habits Shape Who We Are

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." --Aristotle

If the above quote is true, it would explain why excellence is somewhat rare. Habits, at least new ones, are not easy to form. I have many habits, some good, some not so good. I have a habit of leaving items sitting out when I'm done with them, which leads to clutter in my house. I have a habit of taking my medication right before bed, which is good for my health. I didn't consciously decide to form these habits; they became part of me without real effort on my part.

I find it easy to describe my current habits, and I could share with you the times when I failed miserably at building new habits. I could also probably describe how new habits are formed. What I have a very hard time doing is actually changing my current habits and creating new ones. Sometimes that seems like an impossibility to me. One example is that I want to build the habit of exercise, but every morning is a huge fight with myself to actually do it. Lately, my old habits have won out.

I know it can be done. Countless people have changed their lifestyles, formed better habits, and ditched old ones. These people are inspiring. These are the people Aristotle is talking about - people who achieve excellence. So how do I become one of them? How do you? (Feel free to insert your advice in the comments if you already are one of them!)

One thing I do have in my favor is perseverance. I may not exercise every day like I hope to, but I do work to form the habit every day. Even when I fail, effort is put into trying. I also have goals I'm working toward, which makes it clearer to me why I should follow through on creating new habits. I want to be healthy and enjoy the time I have on earth, therefore, I work every day to build the habit of exercising.

Eventually, I hope exercise (and many other habits I'm working on) becomes an unconscious habit; just one of those things I do every day. Until then, I persevere. So what do I think helps build habits? Two things:

1. Set goals you're passionate about and take steps toward them. (For example, you may not be passionate about folding your underwear, but you may be passionate about having a simple and organized home, which would help motivate you to fold your underwear.)

2. Persevere. We all have days when we forget or just don't want to build better habits. I have those days often. The secret is to try again and again until we get it right.

This post is in response to a personal development writing contest created by Jenny and Erin in their quest for understanding. Pop over there and submit your own entry for a chance at the $25 prize.

Related Posts:
What Motivates You?
When doing something new, don't give up!
Overcoming Procrastination

What I learned from 'Stranger than Fiction' -- Go live your life

The movie Stranger than Fictiontaught me an interesting lesson about how to live life.

If you haven't seen the movie, it's about Harold Crick, a man who lives an average life, unaware of how unfulfilled he is. But then one day he hears a voice narrating his life, which scares and confuses him. Harold ends up taking advice from an English professor, who is convinced Harold is going to die soon. They try several things to shake the narrator, but eventually the professor believes Harold will die no matter what. His advice to Harold is this:

Professor Hilbert: "This narrator might very well kill you, so I humbly suggest that you just forget all this and go live your life."

Harold: "Go live my life? I am living my life. I'd like to continue to live my life."

Professor Hilbert: "I know. Of course! I mean ALL of it! However long you have left. Howard [sic], you could use it to have an adventure, or invent something, or just finish reading Crime and Punishment. Hell Howard, you could just eat nothing but pancakes if you want."

And that is what Harold does. He quits his job. He buys a guitar. He pursues the woman he's interested in. The interesting thing is, after he makes the choice to live his life, not everything works out perfectly. He doesn't become a famous guitarist, but he does learn to play a song on the guitar. Everything isn't perfect for him, but the difference is in the way he feels. He's happy. Fail or succeed he is trying for his goals and dreams, and that makes all the difference. Harold is finally choosing how to live Harold's life.

The catalyst for changing his way of living was realizing that he could die tomorrow. But the lesson we can take from this movie is that the same applies to all of us -- we could die tomorrow, or the day after that. We don't have a contract that guarantees us any more time than what we're living right now.

So what do you need to do in order to say that you are choosing to live your life? Would you make any changes? Are there any dreams (big or small) you hope to reach? What is holding you back? Think about the professor's advice, and then go eat nothing but pancakes all day if that's what you want. There's no guarantee of someday. All we have is now.

And that's why I started this blog. I've been saying I want to be a writer since I was in third grade, but it was always something I was going to accomplish in the future. I put it off because I was afraid of failing. I realized I had to choose to live my life the way I wanted it to be. I decided that fail or succeed, I would put everything I had into making this dream a reality. And here I am.