Jobseeker Columnist (March 2009)
Living a Life of Passion?
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Ever sat on your desk, flicking the pages of JobsDB wondering what is it that you really want to do?
Ever sat on your chair, looking at your to do lists and wondered if this is all there is to life?
Ever gone home after a long day, plonked yourself down on
your couch for 4 hours and felt terrible about wasting all your time away? |
| Ever woken up and felt like a piece of lead trying to get out of bed, where work is the last thing you want to do? |
I know how you feel. I was a civil engineer for 5 years after I had graduated. I was always out of place, somehow I felt like I didn’t belong, where my best skills were not used at all and my worst traits were constantly magnified. It didn’t take long before disillusionment set in. I did civil engineering and specialized in water engineering so I could make a difference to the environment. But 4 years later, I still was not making a difference. Instead, I felt used and stuck in an industry that didn’t appreciate me.
I was then lucky enough to meet certain people who became good friends and mentors. They walked me through the process of finding my passion and purpose in life. And I did. Ever since I found my passion and purpose I wake up in the mornings with a boing! I look forward to tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. All in expectation that I will be doing exactly what I was made to do and loving it. Because success is not in the destination, it is in the journey. The journey is where tears are shed, the journey is where the joy is shared, where achievement is felt, where happiness is found.
Finding your unique passion in life is a journey. Once you embark on this journey you will already feel successful. You will already feel accomplishment. Once you start living your passion you will feel on top of the world, you will feel joy that you never knew existed. Passion can be found in anywhere and anything. I know of a person who is passionate about power grids, he will stop his car to take pictures of power pylons. I know of a person who is passionate about underprivileged kids and is in her element when she’s with them. I know of a person who finds great satisfaction in developing entrepreneurs. I also know of a man who became a millionaire by living his joy of stamp collecting.
So how do we find our passion in life?
The first step is to erase our self imposed limitations. Erase our thoughts and perceptions of what’s possible and what’s not. We have been restricted by programming imposed to us by society. Now it’s time to delete this programming and replace it with the attitude of possibility. Champions sees opportunity in challenges, losers see challenges in opportunities.
The second step is to start dreaming again, don’t be afraid to dream of ridiculous dreams. Remember that Obama became president. In a country that did not allow blacks to eat in the same restaurants, go to the same schools and sit in the same bus seats as the whites only 40 years ago.
The third step is to learn goal setting. Set benchmarks for yourself and action plans that will put you in the right direction towards living your passion and achieving your aspirations.
The forth step is to take action. To do that you need to develop courage and nothing is more confidence building than knowing what to do. Which brings me to the fifth step.
The fifth step is to continue learning. It helps in giving you the knowledge you need to take action. Read books, attend seminars and hang around big minded people. Nothing sucks more positive energy than negative friends. If you’d like to learn more I’ll recommend the Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz and The Passion Test by Janet Attwood.
I was made to inspire people to be better than they think they could ever be. I hope I inspired you just a little bit today. Live a passion filled life, because it is the only life worth living.
Edmond is a qualified civil engineer who has been working in the engineering field for 5 years. Switching career in motivational speaking and training, he was the performance consultant at the Malaysian chapter of Dale Carnegie Training. His love of motivating and inspiring people prompted him to start up Education Republic with a few others.
He can be reached at edmond@edurepublic.com
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(Source: Jobsdb Malaysia)
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