How to Unlock Your Inner Passion in 3 Steps

Passion

Noun:

1. A strong, barely controllable emotion.

2. An intense desire or enthusiasm for something.

 Passion is a word that is often bandied about, but when you are really, truly passionate about something, you just know. It’s that thing that is constantly lurking at the back of your mind. The thing that occupies your dreams at night; the thing that you will fight tooth and nail for. The wonderful thing about human beings is that we are all passionate about different things.

Naturally, the heightened level of emotional experience that overcomes us when we feel passionate about something can have a bad side as well as a good: think riots, football hooliganism, most wars and conflict progressive thinking, the rise of equality and #metoo.

The kind of passion we need more of is the latter! The kind where big ideas are having a positive impact, the ones that can truly inspire the world. So with that in mind here is my 3 step guide to helping you unlock your inner passion to make the world a better place.

 Step 1: You can do it, put your ass into it!

 Utter belief in what doing isn’t just recommended, it is mandatory! But if all it took was a belief, then pursuing our passion would be easy. Good things come to those who work their asses off, tirelessly, even when they are exhausted, even when it’s tough, even when things seem to be falling apart around us. Sometimes it can be hard to push on through, sometimes we can’t see the wood for the trees.

But if you are truly passionate about something, you’ll recognise that the struggle is worth it. So do whatever it takes.

 Step 2: Beware of the wet fart.

What a beautiful combination of words. Wet. Fart. To be honest that expression gives me the a wee bit, but I find it to be an accurate metaphor for the people who want to rain on your parade. There is always at least one. The person who can suck the joy out of anything. The one who can always pick fault, for whom things will never be good enough.

Related Content: Beware of the Working Dead!

These people are not to be confused with the ones who challenge your ideas or give you the tough feedback, the stuff that is sometimes hard to hear but can ultimately help you in pursuit of your passion. Keep them around, even though it can hurt your ego a little. You need them.

I’m talking about the ones who revel in other people’s failure. Cut them out. Block them. Ignore them. You’ll never please all of the people all of the time, but don’t let one person crap all over your passion. Wipe your ass clean of that.

Step 3: Be a pain in the ass.

 Sometimes YOU need to be a pain in other people’s ass. I am all for emotional regulation, and staying calm under part of the emotional regulation is knowing when your passion out. It might spill out of your mouth. You might find it spilling out of your eyes. You might find it spilling out whilst you stamp your feet. Just make sure that when you let it out, you know your stuff and aren’t talking rubbish.

Sometimes we need to make people feel a little uncomfortable to pursue our passion. Sometimes we need to address the so-called elephant in the room. Sometimes we need to stamp our feet.

Because if you are passionate about it, it matters. That doesn’t mean that others will realise it’s important. That’s your job.

 So to summarise…

In the words of the one and only Ice Cube:

“You can do it, put your ass into it!”

Related Content:

• ASB Women of Inspiration: Alice Beveridge
• 10 Ways to Have More Fun by Speaker Cameron Gibson
• Going the Extra Mile by Speaker Ross
• 10 Steps to  by Speaker Tony McNicoll