It seems like nowadays; a lot of people are stuck doing things they don’t want to do. So many people are in jobs that they hate. In relationships that they don’t want to be in. They feel trapped, yet they make no changes to correct their situation. Wallowing in self-pity, they live their life waiting for the weekend. Waiting for that next holiday abroad. Waiting for the next chance to escape the life they’ve made for themselves. Doesn’t sound particularly appealing when you spell it out, does it? But millions of people live like this every single day. Here on the journey to self-development, we’re on a mission to correct this. To find our passion and purpose in life. So, today I’ll be talking about 5 tips that put me on the right path.
Table of Contents
1) To find your passion, you must be patient.
First things first, you have to start. Somewhere. Anywhere. If you’re feeling lost and isolated, get on Meetup – We are what we do, find a group that vaguely interests you and join it. If you have a particular hobby that you’ve always wanted to start. Make plans today that will kickstart the process. Always wanted to be a runner? Go buy a pair of running shoes. A musician? Buy your instrument of choice. It doesn’t matter what it is, all that matters is that you commit yourself to starting the journey. However, there is one key fact that you must accept right now. It will take time
As a society today, we’ve become so impatient. Everything is available to us at our fingertips. Hungry? Order some food to your place. Horny? Swipe endless matches on Tinder. We’re now so used to instant gratification that we crave it in all aspects of our lives.
”Everybody wants to be an expert, but nobody wants to start out as a beginner.”
The Beauty In Being Insignificant
To be perfectly honest, I get it. Being a beginner sucks. You’ll initially have no clue what you’re doing. You likely won’t be very good at what it is you’re doing. However, the worst thing is that the chances of failure are astronomically high. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), around 45% of new business fail during their first five years. Only 25% actually make it to 15+ years.
I believe that a major reason why people don’t make it past this point the 5 year mark is that they don’t see the meaning in the small failures that happen during this period. They have an all or nothing mindset. If I’ve failed then it means I have wasted time. I might as well just quit the whole thing. Whilst the opposite is true. In fact, the knowledge and experience gained from failure is so valuable. The starting baseline is now much higher because you know which mistakes to avoid. But, this takes a growth mindset.
I never truly appreciated this until I got injured while strength training for a competition. Consequently, I adopted a defeated mentality. I was in a bad mood for days. I’m going to be weak again. I’m starting from zero. I didn’t understand that all the knowledge and technique that I learnt didn’t disappear when I failed. Yes, I was weaker at that point in time. That’s a fact. But I had the opportunity to become smarter than I’d ever been.
So, I did a lot of research on why I got injured in the first place. This led me to discovering a ton of mobility issues that I had neglected this whole time. I built myself back up better, more durable. I took a lesson from the failure and quickly blew past my previous records. If you want to learn how about my many experiences with failure, read the following blog post.
How To Overcome The Fear of Failure – The Beauty In Being Insignificant
So what is a secret to finding your passion? Start an adventure. Fail. Get back up better. Fail again. Get better again. Repeat this process until you’ve accumulated so much knowledge that you become an expert. I can guarantee that once you start seeing the long-term benefits of failure, you’ll fall in love with it.
2) Don’t obsess forever. Know when to call it quits.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. I just told you to fail over and over again. To get back up whenever you’ve been knocked down. How can quitting also be a useful tip in finding your passion? Stick with me. There may come a time in your journey when the process becomes toxic. If you have been patient for years, failed countless times, learnt nothing and made no observable progress. It’s time to let go. Life is full of many opportunities and different hobbies. If you’re putting all your eggs in one basket, but the basket has a hole in it. It’s time to find a different basket. It’s a very painful truth to hear but it must be said. However, this is easier said than done.
See, once something is in our life for a significant amount of time, we become used to it. It may be good or bad. It doesn’t matter. If it’s there for a while. It becomes a part of your identity. Letting go of that means losing a bit of yourself, and this is the hardest task of all. This is where you must humble yourself. If you want to learn how to control your ego in these type of critical situations.
Take an honest look at your current path. Am I making any progress here? Do I find any enjoyment in this? Is my ego the only thing keeping me from quitting? These are the difficult questions you must engage with. If you decide to move on to a new passion, the lessons of failure still apply. You may think that skills aren’t transferable between passions but that simply is not true. Grit. Determination. Courage. Focus. These are universal to all passions. If you have acquired these in one passion, they can be applied in another one. It takes a leap of faith, but it may be worth the risk.
3) Not everyone will appreciate your passion. Filter their opinion
Nowadays, everyone seems to have an opinion on how others should live their life. Today, I want you to appreciate the only opinion that matters. Yours.
”People will always have an opinion of you. It’s your choice to whether you’re going to believe it or not”
The Beauty In Being Insignificant
From the moment we’re born, there are already expectations set upon us. Get this grade. Go to this school. Study this degree. Get this job. Enough. It’s not just our parents. Friends always think they have some greater perspective when it comes to your own life. No one except you knows what you’re going through. No one except you will have to live with the choices you make.
How do you find your passion and purpose? Trust your gut. It tends to be right most of the time. But be warned, going down this path isn’t for the faint of heart. You will make enemies out of your closest friends. There will be decisions that will be great for you but suck for your family. It takes a lot of courage and you’ll need to tunnel vision on your goal. This is the time to see who is really in your corner. Those who offer words of support, even when your decision isn’t in their favour are those you want on your team. Those who curse and degrade you when you begin to inconvenience them are those you want out of your life. Build your team. You will need them in hard times but choose wisely.
4) Create sustainable habits
‘Sustainable’ is probably the most important word you’ll hear on the journey of self development. Making changes is easy. Sticking to those changes over days, months, years, decades is extremely difficult. If you want to find your purpose, you’ll need to set daily habits that help keep your sanity in check. Personally, there are two things in my day that are non-negotiable. Firstly, there is my morning walk. This puts me in the right mindset to tackle the day. It’s not particularly difficult as well. It’s not meant to be. Just an easy task that can be done every day to start it with a win.
The second and probably most important is my ‘let loose’ period. I set aside 10 minutes daily to completely unleash myself of every emotion. This takes many forms depending on my mood. When I’m feeling anxious, it’s a 10 minute dance session. My music is on full volume and I dance like no one is watching. Because no one is. I’m completely free in that moment. I close my eyes and move however I feel like. On days where I’m down, it’s a cry session. I scream into my pillow if need be, letting everything out. These emotions don’t stay locked up anymore.
Just these two simple daily tasks have had such a positive influence on my mental well-being. They give me the clarity I need to be focused on my purpose. To keep pushing myself to become the best version of myself. Learn how I used tiny steps to make my personal goals achievable.
How To Make Long Term Progress During Lockdown – The Beauty In Being Insignificant
5) Don’t stop once you’ve found it
After many years of trial and error, you may end up stumbling on your passion and purpose. It does happen. Don’t think that you will never get there. However, this is where another stage of the journey begins. Just because you’ve found it, doesn’t mean you get to stop. Every single other tip that i’ve mentioned in this article still applies once you you’ve found it.
You will still have to be patient with yourself as you grow your knowledge surrounding the passion. Experts don’t stop learning as soon they reach the stop. They are aware of everyone else trying to take away their spot. Constantly upgrading yourself is how you stay on top of the game.
People in your life will style have differing opinions about the choices you’ve made. In fact, this is where you have to be the most careful. There will be ‘friends’ that will want what you have. Jealousy will rear its ugly head. You need to be tough. Maintain your standards. If people fail to step up, then it’s time to let them go.
The habits you’ve cultivated over time will have to be maintained every single day so that you don’t lose your sanity. This new stage of the journey is 100x more stressful. There will be times where you’ll struggle to breathe because of the overwhelming stress. Use the tools that you’ve picked up on the way to keep you grounded.
Finding your passion isn’t an endpoint. It’s simply a new start on the journey to success. You’ve equipped yourself with all these tips. Your mindset is in a healthy state. Now you’re ready to keep growing into the best version of yourself possible.
Have you found your passion in life yet? What steps are you taking towards reaching this goal? Let me know in the comments below!
Want to learn November’s top tips for growth. Click to read more
5 Top Tips That Will Inspire Growth – November Edition – The Beauty In Being Insignificant