It’s easy to forget, because the perception we get from media and social media representations of others, and what we usually see of people in real life, is that most of us are always engaged and immersed in something. The reality is that a lot of people feel alone, frustrated and bored. There are so many conflicting messages from media, social media and also from those in our immediate geographical circle that none of us really knows what to focus on in order to lead a happy, successful life.
Like me, many people perhaps focus on their careers in the first instance and work really hard to obtain a material level of success. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, except if that is all there is. I previously would put work before myself in everything – work came before my health, my family, my friends, my interests and outside pursuits. It’s the type of dedication that seems to be required in a competitive field, but I know now that I would have been more successful and fulfilled in my early career years if I had focused on working hard but having a balanced life. Instead, the more I focused on the work the more happiness eluded me, and the more frustrated I became until I finally stopped and changed my strategy.
Others will focus on ruling out a particular way of living or career choice because it is not in line with what they perceive as success. Later, they may come to realize that a more constructive way to approach a career may have been to look at who they were and what they wanted in life; what their strengths and interests were and how they could best line this up with reality.
Most of us don’t, though – we approach career from our existing mindsets. We look at what we perceive to be successful and we act on that, rather than on what’s right for us. This is one of the reasons why a lot of us end up in jobs that aren’t right for us – which in my eyes, is a tragedy.
Here is the best way to shift the feelings of frustration, inject passion into your life and lift both yourself and others.
- Focus on something you love. Start with one thing – and ideally it will be completely outside of work, such as picking up the musical instrument you loved as a kid, or starting the novel you’ve always wanted to write. Set aside time every day or week – it’s best to start small so that you can realistically maintain it.
- Stick with your passion. It will feel like hard work at first, but after a while the rewards that you receive will become so worth it. It will eventually have a sweeping effect in your life, filling everything else that you do with passion. You know those people you meet that just seem to love what they do? This is not beyond your reach either – even if you don’t love your day job.
- Bring other people in on what you love to do. People – and relationships – are what life is all about, and combined with your favorite activity will bring unparalleled joy and passion to your life. Even if your activity is solo, such as swimming laps in a rock pool, find a way to draw in your friends or family – bring them down to the pool; go with them to watch professional swimmers; or simply make new friends who also love to swim. The same goes for whatever your passion is – music, art, scrapbooking, matchstick box collecting, whatever it is that draws you in.
- Maintain and then add to the list of ‘love to do’s’ in your life. You’ve started with your first activity and hopefully you are reaping the rewards. Now, building on these feelings of passion, you can add more activities as chances are, you’ll be more motivated now that you have experienced the benefits and not just the hard work.
How have you injected passion into your life over and above your career?
