How to Find Your Passion and Purpose and Shift Your Life
By Tracy Latz, M.D. & Marion Ross, Ph.D
Wouldn’t you just love to jump out of bed every morning filled with fire and enthusiasm for something? Perhaps you have been searching for that something for years or have just settled for a more mundane life out of not knowing any better way. Perhaps you feel that you have too many responsibilities to change course, or that you don’t deserve anything greater or have a fear of the unknown. Finding & Following your passion and purpose can be a difficult journey but consider it a journey not an instant revelation.
Go back in time…
Consider taking an expedition into your past for starters. What life plan got you to where you are now? Did you even consciously have a plan? Were you driven by the desire to be a dad, mom, nurse, doctor, plumber, Indian chief, accountant because it was lucrative or ‘Cool’, to impress your family or friends, perhaps to pay the bills or was it something you really wanted to do? Did you choose a life of hiding your talents and brains so people wouldn’t expect too much of you? Were you afraid of success or did you have a fear of success or failure? What choices did you make that led you to your current job, personal /family situation, hobbies, what you do in your downtime, etc. Take some time to evaluate how you got where you are now so you can understand how you have been creating your life.
Remember what Einstein said: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” To discover your passion you have to expand the way you think,recognize what you wish to eliminate or change in your life and have the motivation to do it. Your current thought process might have limited your options, to provide you with a certain level of security, comfort, survival and maybe has given you a comfortable enough box to nest in which you call “my life”.
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius
If you want to discover your true purpose in life, you must first rid your mind of all the parental and societal expectations that have filled your awareness since childhood. Sort out what is significant for you.
To find your passion and purpose, recognize your gifts and abilities
Teaching, coaching, selling, painting, listening?
Figure out what are you good at and what you enjoy doing.
Define your interests!
What makes your heart sing? What have been your hobbies since childhood? Do they give you a hint as to what lights your fire? What have you been afraid to pursue because of money or other barriers that you always wanted to do? What do you love to research on the internet ? What section of the book store do you hang out in & which magazines do you enjoy reading? What inspires you? Bring all of this to mind and write it down and then refine the list after you review it in a few days.
What have you fantasized about doing that seemed too crazy to pursue?
Did you ever have a dream that you never realized such as being a writer, journalist, painter, which internal self-doubt or fear prevented you from pursuing?
Take another look at your life dreams! It is never to late to create your self anew. If you have an inhibiting belief that limits you from moving forward in your life, we have tools to assist you with removing the obstacles that cause a sense of being ‘stuck’.
Are you ready to find your passion and purpose, and create positive transformation in your life? Explore the roots of your self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors at Shift Your Life: Drop Your Baggage. Love Your Life, and Reach Beyond the Veil With Intuitive Art at the Art of Living Retreat Center from June 22nd-26th.
Tracy Latz, M.D., M.S. is an Integrative Psychiatrist, weaving together wisdom from Western medicine and alternative approaches to transforming anxiety, depression and emotional trauma.
Marion Ross, Ph.D., holds doctorates in Holistic Healing, Metaphysics, and Transpersonal Psychology as well as certifications in Medical Qigong, Qigong Healing, Robert Peng Certified Teacher Training, Energy Medicine, Mind Body Medicine and Sound Healing.
This article was first posted on shiftyourlife.com, and is republished with the permission of the authors.
Article can be found at https://artoflivingretreatcenter.org/blog/passion-and-purpose/
Photo by Paulette Wooten