On my drive to work the other day, I listened to a podcast interview with author and life coach Gabrielle Bernstein, and she said something that struck me so deeply that I had to pull over and write it down.
“The secret to finding your passion is bringing passion to everything you do.”
Whoa. It was a simple idea that floored me. We all have a longing in our hearts to spend our lives doing something we’re passionate about, but so often, the search for that something seems elusive. But could it be possible that finding our passion starts with a simple perspective switch that all of us can put into practice this very minute? Keep reading for three simple ways I’m bringing more passion into my everyday life.
featured image by luisa brimble
1. Bring passion to everything you do.
I’ve been test-driving this idea in my own life over the past few days, and it turns out that when I commit to bringing love and engagement to everything that I’m already doing, suddenly my days seem a whole lot more passion-filled. For example, I make dinner for our family almost every night, and even though I love to cook, sometimes it seems like yet another thing to check off my to-do list at the end of a long day. With my new mental shift, I slow down and enjoy the process, pouring my energies into making a really delicious meal and having fun doing it. Suddenly, what seemed like kind of a chore feels like just the creative outlet I needed.
2. Get out of your head and into your heart.
Many of us search for our passion by thinking about what we’re good at, then trying to figure out how to do that thing more often or make a career out of it. The problem is that this rational, strategic approach ignores the yearnings of our hearts that sometimes aren’t fully rational.
Try just doing what you love, whether it’s cooking or dance or writing or photography, and by simply enjoying the act, you’ll bring more passion to your day-to-day existence.
What do you love to talk about? Learn about? Daydream about? Find ways to inject more of this into your life right now.
For me, this has been working on my photography skills with no end game in mind other than having fun. So many of my creative pursuits are work-related, it feels freeing to develop a new skill just because I really enjoy it.
3. Whatever you do, do it with all your heart.
This is where the boring, day-to-day stuff comes in. We all have to make our beds, pay our bills, and many of you may have to go to a job everyday that doesn’t exactly get you excited. This, my friends, is one of the most exciting parts of this perspective shift.
You can proactively choose to bring passion to everything in front of you.
For one day, try being fully and completely engaged in every task set before you. Make your bed like Martha Stewart would, enjoy the fresh feeling of brushing your teeth, just be present in whatever you’re doing. Pretty fun, huh? And I guarantee it’ll make you a lot more fun to the people around you, too.
By bringing more presence and purpose to every single thing we do, this mindset becomes a habit, and one day we’ll wake up and discover that we’re living a life that’s fueled by (and full of) passion.
