“Passion is your joy. It is the essence of who you are. You have to unwrap it and find it.”
Jackie St. Onge
Are you passionate about what you do? Is it the work itself, pursuing the goals you’ve set for yourself, or the mission of the organization?
Being able to do what you feel passionate about and fulfilling your own purpose in life is attainable. Unwrapping that passion and discovering what your own life’s mission is involves working to get beyond the public image created to feel safe and fit-in with those you are surrounded by. For instance, if you are surrounded by people who tend to think the sky is falling or always find a negative view of things, you might have mirrored that behavior and suppressed an optimistic outlook to not be seen as an outlier, someone who doesn’t fit and can’t be trusted. People instinctively accept and trust those who most resemble themselves. It fits with what they’ve come to believe as truth.
As a child we were true to the only self we knew until others started to teach us social norms. We wanted acceptance and love, so we adopted those behaviors. It’s not a bad thing to adopt behaviors that are seen as good to fit into society. It becomes bad when it suffocates the person to the point of no longer being able to think for oneself and appreciating one’s uniqueness.
Throughout our developing years we conform to become what others want of us. We become the student our teachers want, or the type of kid our chosen group of friends want. Once we enter the workforce, we begin to adopt the behaviors of the culture of our employer. If the culture is too uncomfortable to our inner self, we find ourselves struggling at work and either move on or get pushed out.
For many of us, we lose sight of our original selves are. We climb on the train of ‘finding success’ whatever that means. To find what we really want, what matters most to us, we must give ourselves time and opportunity to look within and find that original self. Unfortunately, since our lives are so busy with everyday tasks, this journey to find our original self is put on the back burner. Its only when a big transition happens – often due to an unexpected loss – that we find ourselves on our derrieres, wondering what went wrong, and needing to reestablish our balance in life.
This journey to find original selves may take some time to discover truths about oneself that have been buried for years. A life coach can help quicken this journey with thought provoking questions, feedback and activities to discover insight into where one’s beliefs originated and whether those beliefs still make sense today.
Learning about ourselves and creating the best version of ourselves is something to feel passionate about! Passion equals joy. A joyful life allows us to bring our very best to our personal and professional relationships.
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