Harnessing Your Personal Passion to Achieve Success

We all have strengths and weaknesses. For years I have said that I am an implementer--I’m great at details and organizing and putting things into motion, but not so great at being the visionary that comes up with the idea in the first place. And let’s face it, it’s the visionaries who really make the big bucks.

In reverse, metaphorically raise your hand if you are amazing at coming up with the big ideas, but not so great at putting them into practice. Your head is too much in the clouds to manifest your ideas into the world.

Those two are extremes, but the point is clear. None of us are good at everything, and those hurdles become the hurdles that keep us stuck in life.

Enter your passion. When you fully embrace your passion, suddenly everything changes. For me, I suddenly had so many ideas I could barely keep up with them. For an idea person, suddenly they have the focus to put their ideas into action.

So what are you truly, deeply passionate about? What project, idea, information, story, music, art, etc. do you know you could share with the world if you just had the right tools? What speeds up your heart rate, pushes you onto a soapbox, makes you want to exclaim from the rooftops? What would you share with the world if you weren’t surrounded with bills and responsibilities and time constraints?

That passion...that is what is going to get you out of your own way. It is the key to open your own personal door of success.

Here are a few things to keep in mind in harnessing your passion:

1. How do you define success? Some people see success as a paycheck. Others see it as making a difference in their own life or the life of another. Some see it as achieving a personal goal. In order to achieve success, you must first determine what success means to you.

2. Your passion, your own personal gift, is unique to YOU. It doesn’t have to fit into societal norms or expectations. By fully embracing your own uniqueness and sharing it with the world, you will draw those that need your gift to you. Don’t let the expectations of others rain on your passion parade. There’s a popular meme going around Facebook, “Those that don’t fit into the world they were born into are here to change it.”

3. Surround yourself with like-minded people. People who share your passion but have different skills will work with you to help you achieve your shared goals. You don’t have to be good at everything--you need a team with various strengths. Team: Together Everyone Achieves More.

4. Visualize it. A few years ago “The Secret” was very popular. People began to make vision boards and do affirmations trying to achieve their goals. And yet many said it simply didn’t work. Here’s the secret to the secret--you have to not only be able to see it in your minds eye. You have to be able smell it, feel it, and embrace the emotions of being in that place. You manifest externally what you feel internally. If you do not feel worthy of or believe in the goal, you will not be able to manifest it.

5. Building on number four, the secret to your success lies within your self-limiting beliefs. We all have them. The key is to embrace it, process it, and work through it. Doing that is what will lead you to your definition of success. I can hear some of you reading this thinking, “If I knew how to do that, I would have done it already!” Let me put this forward--it often isn’t that we don’t know how, it’s that we don’t want to put the work in. Being mindful enough to change our self-limiting behaviors takes work. It is a step-by-step process of taking action, learning from our mistakes, and being truly responsible for our choices. Remember that as you know better you can do better, and don’t forget to forgive yourself when you fall. It is not how often you fail that makes the difference. Giving up is the only thing that will truly stop you from designing your life.

So please, embrace your passion. Share it. Believe in it. Remain mindful of self-responsibility. And never, ever, ever give up. These are the steps to the Higher Living Journey.