Find and Pursue Your Passion

Hello and welcome back my dear friends. I am so grateful for you. I can not express how amazing it feels to be here with you today. Recording the podcast and hearing your feedback is the highlight of my week. I am so thankful to each one of you, you have become part of my life. I am incredibly grateful for this journey. I am experiencing this immense joy, this fulfilling feeling because one day, I decided to work on my passion. I absolutely love writing and I absolutely love talking. Podcasting gave my passion a way to express. Today, I am going to take you along on this journey. I know, each one of you is incredibly talented and definitely have a passion, hidden somewhere. I am determined to help you find your passion. So let’s begin our quest to find the passion in this episode but let’s take a quick pit stop. Are we forgetting something, yes, you guessed it right.. Happy Moment of the week. There is no way I am going to forget this segment. This is my happy place and I love to share the small and trivial moments from my life which make me happy. 

Happy Moment Of The Week

So, what happened the other day? We wanted to go on stargazing adventures for the past so many months but somehow, it never happened. We have telescopes and we love to go to the parks and look at the sky through our telescope. Every time, I see through that telescope, I could not stop wondering what could be out there? It always makes me do a reality check , how small and insignificant our world of worries is. It makes me feel calm. So, when one of our friends suggested that we should meet in the park for stargazing, we accepted the invite without thinking even for a second. We drove to the park, it was located in a calm locality with very minimum light pollution. My husband set up the telescope. This is the trickiest part. It takes a lot of patience. With two little ones in our toes, we always worry whether they will be patient enough for us to set up the telescope and then calibrate it. But kids are now used to our adventures so they were fairly easy to handle. We along with our friends had a nice time, of course a socially distanced nice time. Finally after a lot of setup and calibration, my husband said, look I can see Jupiter. We all were waiting to see something.  It was worth the wait. When I saw Jupiter through the lens, the only word I can think of to describe the experience is surreal. Jupiter was bright, with its two moons on each side. We could see its color and lines on its surface, We also saw Saturn with its bright rings. We all live in a fast speedy world. I always feel that I am always running somewhere, I always have something to do, somewhere to go. I am always in a rush but here under the bright night sky with twinkling planets it is almost impossible to be in the rush. I automatically slowed down. The quiet, the slowness pulled me in, it felt just wrong to be loud or fast.  I feel connected to nature, I can not help but sink in the extra ordinary experience. I started appreciating the vastness of the universe. I can not help but think how tiny part I am of this vast and amazing universe. As I said, the experience was surreal. In that moment, I realized this is definitely going to be my happy moment of the week. 

I am still in awe of that experience, what about you? What did you do past week? Did you have any fun, inspiring moments that you want to cheris? Don’t forget to share your happy moments of the week on my amazing facebook group. Morning Cup of Sunshine community. As I always say, it is your group, it is your happy place. Let’s be happy and spread some joy and positivity. 

Alright, are you ready to dive in our amazing topic today? If you type how to find your passion into Google, you will find more than a billion records within a few milliseconds. Somehow, I feel this topic is overused and mostly misunderstood. So, what are we going to talk about here? You can find thousands of self help books,  magazines dedicated to this subject, then what are we going to discuss? As you know, this podcast is not just talks, I always try to bring an exact action plan to get closer to the goal. All those books and countless google results are definitely helpful resources but I am trying to bring you what I learnt from my experiences. The experiences are always unique to that person. That gives a unique value to each of that resource. I highly encourage you to listen to this episode, but also read those amazing self help books. Our end goal is to find and pursue our passion so get all the help you can. As you can tell, this topic is extremely close to my heart and as I said earlier, I am determined to make sure that by the end of this episode, you are inspired to find your passion and start working on it. So, let’s start. Shall we? 

Step 1 : Look Intentionally

Before you start pursuing the passion, you need to find your passion. But how to find your passion. I know you are busy in your day to day life, it always feels like 24 hours are not enough to complete all the tasks in hand. Is it really necessary to add something new to an already full plate? I can see you chuckling. But trust me my friend, once you find your passion, something that you absolutely love, it will not feel like a task, a chore, instead it will boost your energy to work through your to-do list. So without wasting any more time, let’s find what’s your passion. I want you to ask yourself a series of questions. Close your eyes and ask yourself, what inspires you the most? What kind of books do you like to read? What are some role models that you look up to? What kind of movies do you like to watch? What are the subjects that you constantly gravitate towards? What is something that you love to talk about? What is something that you never get tired of? Is there something that you want to learn or teach others? What brings you the most joy? What will make you so happy that you will jump out of the bed in the morning to work on it? What are you good at? What are your talents, your unique qualities? What is that one thing that makes you lose track of time? 

I know these are many questions but I guarantee you they will lead you to your passion, which might be hiding inside your core existence. Connect with your inner child, try to remember what you used to like as a child. Passion is not any kind of object or magic that once achieved will suddenly make you rich but it is beyond that. Passion is the purpose of life, it is a constant source of joy. Always remember, everyone is unique and your passion should represent you, unique you. Sometime, it takes time to find your passion. People spend their entire life span without even looking for their passion. You are lucky, you are already a few steps ahead of them. You are already asking the right questions. Let me tell you a quick story. I used to take part in a lot of elocution , debate competitions when I was in school. I always used to love the process of selecting the topic, researching about it, writing the script and finally presenting the final product in front of the audience. I enjoyed each and every step. I still remember, when I was in 10th grade, the principal of my school asked me to see her one day. She was my teacher for 5 years and was very involved in every student. When I went into her office, she told me that, “Madhura, you are a bright student and you will do good in any career you choose. But always remember, you are very good at talking to people, getting them involved in your speech so try to be in a field where you will get a chance to interact with people. “  I was young and naive to ignore her advice. Everyone was going to Science stream and becoming either doctor or engineer. I chose the routine path and became an engineer. Somewhere deep down in my heart, I was always searching for opportunities to interact with people. But never realized that this is not just something I like to do but this is my passion. Few years back, when I went to see my teacher, she was really old and weak but she still in those few moments, she asked me if I am doing something to use my talent for interacting with people. I sadly told her that life is too busy with kids and the office that I really don’t have time to add extra to my plate. I could see sadness in her eyes. But she did not say anything. From that day onward, I was trying to figure out if it was really my passion or it was just a passing phase. It took me 3 years and a lot of trial and errors  to figure out my passion. It took additional one year to actually work on it and pursue that passion. That is the only reason why I am talking to you today through my podcast. It is my passion to talk to you , motivate you, write more and more meaningful articles. If I can do it , you can too, I promise you that. As the inspirational Oprah said, Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you, 

Step 2 : Let Go of Fear

Are you with me till this point? Did you think about the questions we discussed in step 1? 

If you are now able to at least figure out what you really love, what excites you, then it is time to take action on it. But before we go there, let me tell you one thing, after asking all those questions, you might get more than one interest. It is okay. Once you start working on it, you will either find a way to collaborate those interests in one final goal or there is also the possibility that you will realize you love one thing more than the other. So don’t get stuck on a number of interests. The important thing is to think and find the things that really excites you. After that, just take the pressure off of you. Don’t think of the outcome. Start with the right perspective. If you go shopping with a strong mindset that “I am not going to find anything good. Nothing fits me here in this shop. The clothes in this store are really not my style. Do you think you will find anything there that you love? Do you think you will enjoy the experience of shopping? The exact same thing applies to pursuing your passion. If you start your journey with the negative mindset, thinking, you are not going to get time to follow through or you are not going to be successful in pursuing your passion. What do you think will happen? Will you be able to enjoy the thing that used to excite you the most? Do you think that this will be a fulfilling experience? No right ? So start with a positive attitude. I know, it is not easy to get out of your comfort zone and start something totally new. It is scary sometimes. But you have to let go of your fear. You have to trust yourself. You have thought it through. You know you love this thing and you are going to be happy if you just pursue this one thing.  Keep your eyes on that end goal, that constant source of happiness and overcome your fear. But what should you do to overcome your fear? That’s what we are going to discuss in the step 3.

Step 3 : Take Action 

If you are starting something totally new, something that never existed, start small. Let me give you an example. Let’s say you are totally inspired by those big time authors with New York time best seller books on their resumes. You are absolutely passionate about writing, expressing yourself through creative writing, but you have not really written anything till now. Or maybe you have a small blog or you write for your own pleasure. But you know that writing is your passion. But you are scared, you have a full time job and don’t have much time to dedicate to writing, you think it is almost impossible to reach their level when you are just starting. I hear you my friend. I hear you. But does that mean , you should not even dream about it? No. absolutely not. Just be mindful of two things, one start small and second never ever compare your journey with someone else’s journey. Don’t quit your job on the day you decide to write the first page of your book. Start small, be proactive. The very first thing that you need to do to pursue your passion, is act one it. You need to actually write something, am I correct? Be disciplined. Dedicate 30 minutes in your day to write. Rome was not built in a day. If you write 30 minutes every day, for 30 days, I am sure you will be much more comfortable thinking about your passion. Practice, practice and practice some more. This is the only way to get closer to your dream life. Be ready to accept the challenge. Just keep on working on your passion, day in and day out. Consistency is the key to success. I think I have said this multiple times in previous episodes. Consistency will take you a long way in your pursuit of happiness. 

We live in a world where all kinds of information is available on your finger tips. You just have to know where to look. There are thousands of books on every topic in the world, you just have to look for it. Read, research and retain the information. You will find all the help you need. But don’t start worrying about how I will find publishers to publish my book when you have not written even a single page yet. The important thing is to take action, take baby steps.

I read a quote somewhere, if you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have passion for it then stop wishing for it and just do it,

If you want to build a business around catering food, start small. Start trying different dishes. Start asking friends if they need food prepared and delivered for their next party. Once they love your food, they will rave about it to their friends and you might get more connections. But you have to come out of your comfort zone, overcome your fears and take the first step, ask that first friend. It is not that hard. He is your friend. That is the reason why having a community is absolutely important. That brings us to the last step. 

Step 4 : Build a Tribe

This is pretty straight forward, you need your people to support your dream. You need your people to guide you. You need your people to work alongside you. You need your people to help you. You need your people to lift  you when you fail. You need your people to cheer for you on your success. Having supportive friends and family is your biggest strength. If you stay alone, you will have to spend so much time figuring out things that might have taken very less time if you were working in a group. If you are part of a group, where everyone is working towards a similar goal, you will get more opportunities, more learning experiences. Talk to someone who is passionate about the same or similar thing like you. Share your experiences. Everyone has to start somewhere. Be accountability buddies to each other. If you are passionate about running, find a buddy who is also interested in running. Together motivate each other. Work with each other. When you have someone to share your journey, your ups and down, the journey becomes more enjoyable. Always remember, your vibes attract your tribe. So be open, be receptive to others' opinions. You are in this together with your tribe. One successful person in your tribe can help thousands others, so there is no need for jealousy. Your tribe will make your problem their own problems so that you don’t have to go through them alone. If you remain in a company of like minded people, you will always find yourself in a positive spirit.  As Harriet Tubman said, “Always remember,  You have within you the strength, the passion and patience to pursue your passion” 

Recap

On this note, let’s recap today’s episode. In this episode,  Pursue your passion, we discussed how to find your passion and how to pursue it. We decided to overcome our fears and have courage to pursue our  passion to end up where we meant to be. The steps that we discussed to achieve this goal are

Step 1 : Look intentionally

Step 2 : Let go of fear

Step 3 : Take Action

Step 4 : Build a Tribe

This week, I am going to ask you to work on only two things but those two things will help you transform your life. let’s work on these action items. 

1. Ask yourself questions that I mentioned in step 1. Answer those questions honestly. You will figure out your passion. 

2. Start working on your passion every single day for at least 30 minutes. No exception, you can find 30 minutes in a day. It is not difficult my friend, be creative and figure out that time for yourself. 

I want you to have this amazing feeling when you see the first result of following the passion consistently. It is absolute joy, happiness and satisfaction . It is the feeling beyond the words. I am eagerly waiting for your feedback. I want you to tell me your success story soon. I am always here to help you in any way possible. We have our amazing and uplifting community on facebook, Morning Cup of Sunshine community which will always be there for you to support, guide and cheer you. I would love for you to leave a review on apple podcast. This helps me keep going. Always remember, when your passion and purpose are greater than your fear and your excuses, you will find a way!