We think of Valentine’s Day as a day to express passion for those we love. Today is a good day for you to self-reflect about other forms of passion, including the passion you feel for your your work or the reason behind you doing what you do.
Although being a business professional can include setbacks and times of discouragement, being fueled by your own passion and having a positive attitude will see you through the rough patches.
Your passion may come from the kind of work that you do, or it may come from a burning desire to accomplish something important to you. In this case, the work itself may not be something you are passionate about, but the work is a means to an end.
For example, a dear friend of mine is a concert pianist and he is passionate about what he does professionally. Although he has a desire to make a living, it’s not the money that drives him. He has a burning passion inside that keeps him going, even when times are really tough.
I know a New York cab driver who immigrated to the United States to start his family in the “land of opportunity.” Although he was not particularly excited about the work that he did as a cab driver, the income enabled him to buy a home and enroll his sons in private school—something he never could have done in his homeland. His burning desire to create a better life for his children provided the fuel that kept him going when he did not feel like it.
In my book, The Music of Your Heart, I write about the power of intention:
Most people set goals in a vacuum with no connection to a greater purpose and to the people and priorities they care most about. When you set goals and make decisions within the context of what is truly important in your life, it’s much easier to determine what matters and what doesn’t.
As you set goals, do you ask yourself what you want, or do you ask yourself what you are intending to attract? The word “want” typically represents things you wish to have.
The word “intention” represents the experience you choose to create—how you wish to be. For example, you may want to eat some junk food, and that does not support your intention to be healthy.
Life is about choices. You make choices every single moment that move you toward or away from your intentions. Set goals and take action steps that are based on your commitment to your intentions, not on how you feel at any given moment. If you allow how you’re feeling to determine whether or not you will take the action steps you’ve committed to, you probably won’t follow through much of the time.
What is the passion that fuels your intention?
If you’d like help exploring an intention you want to move forward in your life now, let’s schedule a no-cost discovery call.
