Every purpose will be a passion, but every passion won’t be a purpose

Be careful when people tell you to follow your passion.  Follow every real purpose.  Evaluate every real passion.

When I was a preteen I had a passion for Michael Jackson.  My life’s goal was to one day meet and marry him.  I waisted many hours dreaming over his pictures and pining for the day we’d finally meet.  When I was in my 20’s I had a passion for wearing all of the latest fashions.  I worked in a mall and waisted most of my paycheck on clothes I didn’t need and couldn’t afford.

Passions like these can lead you astray, but purpose always leads you to your appointed destiny.

If you are passionate about something, ask yourself two questions:

1. Does pursuing this passion elevate me?
2. Does pursuing this passion elevate the people around me?

If you answered yes to both of these questions, you may have found your purpose.  If you answered no to either, you may have found your distraction (or worse, your addiction).

Let me be clear about something.  Some people interchange the words passion a pleasure.  I might say I have a passion for good food.  But, what I really mean is, I take pleasure in good food.  As long as you can distinguish between what you were meant to do (purpose) and what you enjoy doing in your leisure (pleasure), you are in a safe place.

Don’t confuse talent with purpose

You may have the talent to sing, but that doesn’t mean you should strive to be the next Celine Dion.  Only do so if it’s your purpose.

My niece has a wonderful ear for music.  When she was a young child, she could listen to a song, then duplicate the melody on a piano.  When she attended high school, her music teacher would repeatedly tell me what a pleasure it was to work with such a talented student.  But, after high school, no matter how much I begged and pleaded, she refused to continue her lessons.  She wasn’t the least bit interested in pursuing a career in music.  It wasn’t my niece’s passion or her purpose.  I was wrong to try to force her to pursue something she had no interest in doing.  I learned a very important lesson from this experience.  Talent doesn’t always equal purpose.  But, purpose always equals passion.

Why rewards don’t work

I’ve heard many coaches and productivity teachers expound on the merits of setting up a reward system for accomplishing tasks.  I am of the mind, that when you are purposeful in your actions, the satisfaction of knowing you have been purposeful is reward enough.

Have you ever heard of an artist promising to treat herself to a pedicure if she finishes a painting she’s been working on for weeks?  Of course not!  The reward is in the doing, in the creating, in the promise of a completed work of art that expresses what is held in her mind.

Rewards are what people, functioning outside of their purpose, use to convince themselves to be more productive.

Find your purpose, I promise you, you will be productive.  As a matter of fact, it will almost be impossible to suppress your productivity once you do.

Spinning around in circles

Years ago, when I was a stay-at-home mom, I was a super “Flybaby” (Flylady.net term) for all of 6 months.  During that time, I was a cleaning machine. I thought I was cured of my procrastination forever.  But, after every floor of my house was clean and organized, I crashed.  the reason I crashed: I hadn’t yet discovered my life purpose.  I was spinning my wheels, but going no where.  In the end, I was right back where I started, at a place of no purpose or direction.  I didn’t even know I was supposed to have a purpose.  I thought my roles and responsibilities as a wife and mother were all that was required or needed to keep me motivated.  Over the years, I’ve come to realize, my calling is the only thing that can motivate me to act in accordance with my roles and responsibilities.

Without purpose we are either immobilized or simply spinning around in circles.

Quick Tip: Baby steps

Are you struggling to get motivated today? Can’t get out of the bed, or off the sofa? “Baby Step it!” Think of the very smallest next action you’d need to take to move forward.

For instance:

Your guest room needs painting. What is the smallest next action you can take toward getting the job done?  

Do you know what color you want? Maybe your baby step is to go online to explore paint colors or D.I.Y. sites for ideas. 

Or, if you have paint and supplies, maybe the first baby step is putting on “work” clothes.  

The key to baby steps is to only think about that one small action.  Immerse yourself in the moment. Once you’ve completed a baby step, decide on another one.  In no time at all you will have baby stepped your way through the inertia of procrastination into productivity.

“Baby Steps” is a concept taught at Flylady.net