So recently, I’ve been getting a lot of direct messages on Instagram from young hustlers, and that’s how they’re self-describing themselves. And often times there’s a theme. In these particular string of messages, and there’s three to be exact, they’re asking me, “Doug, you know, how do I go about finding my passion. I want to make the world a better place, I want to go out and make changes, and I really want to go after it. What’s the first step? What do you recommend?”
It’s interesting when I get asked this question of, “How do I find my passion?” And I think what people are envisioning is kind of almost like a monk or somebody sitting in a cave meditating for weeks on end. And I’ve done Vipassana Meditation, which is a 10-day silent meditation retreat, although it seems like 12, but anyway … And I’ve done these different things, I’ve gone to the jungles in Columbia, and been with the native tribes and done Yahweh. I’ve done all kinds of stuff. And I can tell you as something who’s found their passion that it doesn’t come from the meditation, and that’s not why I did it, really. I did it because that was my spiritual quest of just peeling back the layers of my own life.
And so, what I’m going to tell you is what I told them, and this is really for them as well, but it’s also for that 50, 60-year-old that has reached out to me asking about how do they find their passion in this next stage of their life. And the truth about it is, it doesn’t involve meditation, although I recommend it, and it can certainly help. Really what finding your passion is about is just doing the things you like, doing the things you enjoy. And as you’re doing the things that you really love and enjoy, your passion kind of finds you. And how that works, I know it sounds weird, but as you’re doing the things that you really love to do, you’re doing those little things that you enjoy so much, you get filled up with energy, and it becomes infectious, right?
I love coaching, I love helping people, I love teaching. It’s just what I love to do. I also love to learn. So, I learn something, and then I take whatever that new knowledge is, and I scramble it up, and I repackage it in a way that people can understand it. It’s palpable. That’s what my goal is, it’s just something that I’ve always been good at. And so the more I do it, the more energy I get. Right?
So, I go into a coaching call, and maybe an hour, an hour and a half, it could get really emotional. Things could come up for the business owner that I’m working with via video, and by the end of that coaching call, I have more energy than even when I started. And the reason is, is that it’s something that I love to do. And so, that’s my passion, and I found to because, out of just constantly doing what I like to do, and I love to help people.
And so, for other people finding their passion, what do you like to do? Do you like to be around people? Do you really prefer to do things yourself? And start narrowing that down. And start putting yourself in a position where you’re doing more of the things that you love and enjoy, and are doing less of the things that you don’t. Now, I know it sounds simple, but I bet if you look at your calendar, and you say, “Hew, Doug, here’s my calendar from last week,” and we went down that calendar, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, et cetera., my guess is you’re spending a lot more time — if you’re like most people I work with, and the way I used to be — you’re spending a lot more time in the zone, or in the areas of doing things that you don’t like to do, things that don’t fill you up.
Now, I’m not saying, that you just go out and just do things that make you happy and ignore the rest of your responsibilities, I’m not saying that at all, so don’t use me as your excuse, but what I me saying is plan your weeks ahead, your days, your times, and allow yourself to fill that up. Now, if you’re a business owner, and we have a ton of business owner and entrepreneurs that watch or listen to these daily growth hacks, this means focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses.
For decades, it seems like, I was so focused on bettering those areas I wasn’t really good at. So I would take areas that I wasn’t strong in, I’m not a very detailed-oriented person, per se, so I would spend so much time going through David Allen’s book on organization, and I hired professional organizers. In fact, I had a girlfriend hire one for me to come into my office and help me clean up, and get things, my organized chaos. But that’s not me. Right?
Every time I would go through and start organizing files, and stuff like that, it would be like drudgery. But when I would get in my Zone of Genius. When I get in front of somebody and share my gifts, share my knowledge, and just try to help them, whether I was making money, or not making money, I was just on fire. I was filled up, and I absolutely loved it. And the more I focused on getting better at that, getting better at that skill set, so coaching.
So for me, it was learning neurolinguistics programming. How can I communicate to someone that allows it to land on them and make sense to them by using analogies, and things of that nature. I started focusing on my strengths and making them stronger. That’s when I had skyrocketed growth. And that’s also when I was able to go on that path that I call the Author of Your Own Story journey. Right? Because I started writing things my way. People would tell me, “Oh, well you really should be doing this, Doug. This, this, this, this, and this.” And what they were really saying is that was what they saw in them. Like the strengths in them are the things that I should be working on because maybe they weren’t strengths.
And we all have weaknesses and strengths. You can call them whatever you want. I know some people don’t like that language, but whatever. I do. And so, what you want to do is find your strengths. Find what fills you up. If you love kayaking, like kayaking is your thing, or being outdoors, get outdoors more often. That’s going to fill you up. It’s going to fill your cup. And we’ve talked a lot about filling your cup first in our daily growth hacks. Like at them, look at the past episodes, and go back there and do the work, and make sure you’re finding those zones that fill your cup.
Now, if you’re just out of college, maybe, and you’re a young hustler like these people are, find out what you’re great at. What are those things that you do naturally? Your friends like it, and you just naturally do it? Are you the person always giving advice? Are you the person that loves to organize? If you’re the person that loves to organize, and you’re the detail-oriented person, and you love checklists, I need you. Right? I need you because that’s not me. Focus on getting better at that. Focus on systems that work for people like myself.
If you’re the person that really loves big parties, you love events. You need to get off work, and you need to get out there, whether it be happy hour, whether it be a social event, whatever, that fills you up when you’re tired. You need to get out around a lot of people, do more of that. That is going to allow you to find your passion. Your passion is going to find you, right? It’s going to find you as you do the things that fill you up.
That’s the dirty little secret, right? You know, not many people talk about it, because it’s hard to sell a book on that subject. But I’ve seen it time, and time, and time again, guys. I get paid a good amount of money to help people find their passion, and really that’s exactly what I would tell them. Maybe a little bit more structured, but you want to really just spend more time in your Zone of Genius. And finding your Zone of Genius really starts with doing the things that you like to do. Doing those things that fill you up. And when you do those things that fill you up, you’re going to be great at them, people are going to recognize it, and they’re going to recognize that it’s probably something that they need help in.
So, again, that organized person, if you’re that organized person, and that’s what you really enjoy doing, if you’re doing more of that, I’m going to find you, or you’re going to find me, and I might need what you do, and that’s how you start building that passion, and finding out what your purpose is, and then allowing your purpose to fill your bank account, and your soul, at the same time. And there’s nothing wrong with doing what you love and getting paid for it. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, as long as you’re doing it with integrity, and leading from your heart, and really helping people out.
That’s it for me today. As always, go out, find your passion, do what you love, fill your cup, and be the Author of Your Own Story. Please go over to AuthorofYourOwnStory.com, if you haven’t already, and get on our mailing list. This mailing list allows us to let us know the things that are going on within our company, within Author of Your Own Story and allows us to better serve you. Plus, when we see the numbers, and we see who’s joining, we’re able to tailor the message, and hopefully get out there for more.
And of course, like these young hustlers did, find me online. I’d love to hear from you. It really warms my heart to be able to help people. I mean, that’s what I’m great at, and that’s what I do, and that’s why I do these daily growth hacks. It’s a commitment I made almost a year ago, at this point, and we’re here in the 200s, well into the 200 episodes. And so I said I was going to do 365 of them, and I want to do that to help you. I hope you’re enjoying them. So, let me know how that is for you. That’s it for me today. Go out, be the Author of Your Own Story.
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