Passions are an important part of what we do in our lives and in many cases they’re the ones driving our actions, making us pursue a certain job or follow a certain path.
There are many stories of people who pursued their passion to achieve breakthrough inventions, discover new things or contribute to a better world – and most of the times, following their passions was not easy.
Think of the story depicted in “A Beautiful Mind” movie. A genius mathematician who saw things no one else before him saw, who dedicated so much of his life to pursuing his passion and sacrificed in the end his health and social life.
Think of Rafael Nadal or Serena Williams. To be so great in a sport means doing what you love with dedication and many hours of practice.
Think of the British author J.K. Rowling, who found the strength to pursue her passion for writing in a difficult moment of her life, when her marriage was over and she had to take care of her little girl. How would our life be now without Harry Potter and his adventures?
Passions and their role
Pursuing a passion is not necessarily about being famous or changing the world – although it definitely can be about anything you imagine. Passions define you as individual and give your life a meaning, making you happy and confident. Being passionate is not always about being very talented at doing something, or being passionate about your job. It just means you love doing a certain activity so much that by practicing it you loose yourself in that activity and come out of it full of energy and in a good mood.
Having a purpose and goals will keep your mind occupied, always looking for new ideas and how to make things nicer, funnier, greater. This will give you a constant flow of joy and excitement, keeping you away from anxiety and depression. Finding peers that love doing the same things will make you more sociable and it will also help you filter out those relationships that don’t support you in achieving your goals. You’ll prioritize your time to do more and more of what you love and eventually you’ll find ways to earn money out of doing what you really love.
The constant inspiration and feeling full of energy are the real, tangible benefits of pursuing your passion. In order for a passion to really work in such ways for any of us we need to first find it and then actively pursuing it and invest regularly time and effort in doing it.
How often should you practice your passion?
There is no right or wrong answer here in terms of exact number of hours and times per week you should invest in your passion. But the more you do it, the better returns you’ll have in mood lifting, energy level and the sense of accomplishment.
Practice it daily if possible, a few times a week or seasonal if it’s a winter sport. It really depends on what is your passion, the only thing is to practice is as often as possible, and make it a priority. This last thing, of making it a priority, should be obsolete – if you love what you’re doing so much, you don’t even think you need to prioritize it. You just do it, as soon as you are free from the other things you must do.
How to find your passion(s)?
Ok – we know by now how having and pursuing a passion helps us, but how do we find this passion in case we feel lost and uncertain? How do we find it if we feel anxious and depressed?
I want to challenge you with and exercise in this case – sit quietly in a relaxed space, take a pen and a piece of paper and start thinking about your childhood and teenage periods. What is what you loved doing back then? As a child, how did you spend most of your time? Did you play a lot of football, went fishing, made dressed for your dolls, exploring the hills around the house? What do you remember with great pleasure?
Out of this thinking exercise you’ll get a list of the things you once loved doing – how about trying them again and see what you still love doing? Can that be your actual passion? Give it a try and see what stays – what gives you energy, a sense of fulfillment and a happy state every time you do it.
For people having “the blues” and those in anxious and depressed states, there is a course I have just launched on how to being back to feeling better – and passion is something I talk about as part of the plan on being back to feeling good. Check it out here and give it a try!