Nothing great in this world has been accomplished without passion.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

It’s hard to get anything meaningful done if you don’t believe in all you can be. If you don’t have passion for life.

Sounds like a advertisement for the Army, but it’s true  To be all you can be you must be-lieve in something important. Something that gets you of bed in the morning excited about what’s in store.  Something that you can feel passionate about.

What Gets You Out of Bed In The Morning?

You may have spent your life committed to your work, committed to your family, and committed to your way of life. But now you may be reaching a place where you start to wonder what’s next.

You’ve heard the expression ‘follow your passion‘ and may wonder what that means. For some, it’s the expectation of some great romantic fling or an overwhelming physical experience. For others, it feels like a foreign country. A place you once longed to visit and somehow lost the map that would lead you there.

Passion can mean losing your head or losing control. It can also mean overwhelming emotions and possibly anger and rage. A passionate murder…lost in a fit of passion. It can also be an experience of following something that you love, that sets your world on fire, and makes you feel as if every day is a gift from God.

While I was growing up, my mother admonished me with, “Don’t get carried away.” But it was hard, maybe impossible, for me not to. I’ve always been a passionate individual. I’ve always wanted to experience life fully, and frequently followed my passions to all the wrong places.

My mother lived in fear of her passions. She suffered for them and transferred that fear to me until I rebelled against it. But when you are passionate, it’s not rational. It’s pure emotion. You can’t explain passion except by the actions it inspires.

Three years ago I started Fearless Fifties, and as I reflected on what my life has been I realized that P.A.S.S.I.O.N was an acronym for the seven stages I went through to make changes in my life, and it applies equally to everyone I’ve ever spoken with about the nature of change. The seven steps are:

• Permission,
• Action
• Strength
• Support
• Inspiration
• Owning (confidence)
• Nurture.

◊ Permission. Step number one was giving myself Permission to move beyond the limitations and fears that held me in a negative grip, Permission to step away from asking others if it was okay for me to live my life the way I wanted. Permission granted to myself to create whatever
I wanted. To take a new direction. To make decisions that were good for me.

◊ Action. I had to make a plan, or at least have a sense that whatever I wanted was possible if I would only do things differently. I began to focus on what was true to me. I began to think about what it would take for me to do what I wanted to do. To become who I wanted to become. To write well, I need teachers, to sing well, I need teachers, to become a black belt in karate, I needed teachers. But I also needed commitment and focus, and a stick-to-it attitude that evolved as I made my plans.

◊ Strength. When I took action I began to understand my own Strength. All my life I had battled the demons of insecurity, lack of self-esteem, depression, and abuse. I began to understand that not everyone makes it through to this other side. Many, like my brother, end up in jail, or, like my father, succumb to the deadly grip of drugs and alcohol. You could say the deck was stacked against my succeeding, but somewhere buried under the dung heap was the belief that there was always something more for me. On reflection, I realized that it took
enormous strength of will to overcome many of these obstacles, and that would continue to support me in my forward motion.

◊ Support. As I developed my strengths, I searched for Support to help me get further along the path. I found therapists, coaches, inspirational speakers, books and tapes to educate myself and learn from the past. Getting support was the key to my success. Without these amazing guides on my journey, I would never have known which path to take.

◊ Inspiration. On this journey through my own jungle I received Inspiration from all the people I had worked with, and met. As a result, I was hungry for more and began to feel confident about what I was doing.I wrote books, recorded music, sang for thousands of people and became a student of martial arts.

◊ Own It. Developing confidence takes time, and a lot of people who believe in you as you learn how to believe in yourself. I began to Own who I was becoming because I could see ME more clearly. I removed the veil of the past and I developed confidence in my skills, my experiences, and my knowledge. I called it standing in my own shoes.

◊ Nurturing. I had to learn how to Nurture myself. I gave myself permission to do what was good for me, had regular massages, went to visit the chiropractor, and exercised regularly. Stopped drinking, gave up drugs, learned how to speak to me with kindness and compassion, and did this because I realized if I took care of me I could then take care of others more appropriately.

The passion I speak of is the thing that gets you out of bed in the morning. In the best possible circumstances, passion drives your choices around work, money, relationships, and what to do with the rest of your life.

If you’d like to know more about putting PASSION into your life then order your copy of The Fearless Factor today.