How to integrate passion into your life

There are points in our lives where it is impossible or simply not practical to start over, take time off to learn a new skill or go back to school. Only you can decide when and why to sacrifice passion in your career for the practicalities in life. But the good part is that it does not mean you have to sacrifice passion altogether.

Here are a few things to try:

• Discover

If you are not sure what your passion is, use some of your down time to do the self-exploration to find it. Just doing this work is exciting on its own. You cannot live your passion until you know what it is.

• Experiment

Finding and living your passion is not a linear process. Sometimes you have to test and try various things before you find what really makes you excited. It’s okay to try different things and reject them if they are not the best fit. Sometimes it takes experience in something to learn how profoundly it inspires you.

• Collaborate

Find a group of like-minded people who enjoy the same passion that you do. Having a community to support and share your interests adds another wonderful dimension to your passion. You can go online and find support groups and organizations for just about any hobby, interest, or pursuit.

• Integrate

Explore the possibility of integrating your passion into your current job or career. Maybe you can’t be a full-time writer, but perhaps you can do more creative writing on the job. With a little creativity, you can find a way to make your job match up with your passion.

• Activate

Don’t allow feelings of boredom or despair prevent you from taking action. Even if you can’t start your own business today, you can go out and explore your passions in other parts of your life through various networks, clubs, and organizations with people who share a common interest. Take some kind of action toward finding your passion and integrating it into your life. You will create momentum by taking that first step, and then you will become intrigued and determined to live your life with some degree of passion.

• Infuse

While you are at it, try to live your passion in a way that infuses your life with a sense of purpose rather than just entertainment or recreation. When you have a sense that your passion has meaning and impacts others in a positive way, it will energize and fulfill you more than you could ever expect. Your main purpose in life is to live authentically, when you know and understand that, it can provide the foundation for your actions and choices around your passion activities.