The Reason Is Your Passion: Thrive or Just Survive

Why are you in business? Are you considering starting a business or questioning why you are in business at all? There are numerous reasons why people go into business and many more reasons why people get out of business. Maybe life threw a couple of curveballs your way, pushing you toward business ownership instead of job hunting. Perhaps you’re burned out in your career and crave something new. Or maybe you feel lost in your current venture, unsure of its purpose.

Passion: The Non-Negotiable. After pinning down the reason why you want to start a business, the next must have is determining your passion. Entrepreneurship is demanding, and passion is the fuel that keeps it running. Without it, the grind will wear you down. If you have lost the fire in your belly, it is time to make a choice: either step away or rekindle your passion. Reflect on what excites you, what keeps you up at night, and what makes you leap out of bed in the morning. That’s the energy that transforms a business from survival mode to thriving success.  

Ask yourself:

·        Do you ever have times in your life, your current job, or business when you feel like there is something missing?

·        Are you lacking passion about the things which you invest your time into? 

·        Do you feel like you want to make an impact in the world that is far greater by opening a business?

·        Do you feel like you want to make a greater impact on the world and need to make changes to your current business?

·        Are you holding back because you just do not know where to begin?

This article will help you start the journey by discovering your passion and purpose. You will be able to take the information gained from these questions and other tools to really help dig into your reasons why you want to start a business or why you have lost your way in your existing business. 

Staying on track with your passions is at best difficult and we know it is at the heart of all successful businesses. Many people journey their way through their businesses feeling desperate for a deeper sense of purpose and connection but are not sure how to find it. 

If either of these statements resonate with you, please be assured that you are not alone!

The two most important days we have in business are the day we open the doors and the day we discover why we went into business. When we are unsure about the purpose of our business it can become increasingly more difficult to keep going. When we get off track with our passions due to many pressures it is extremely hard to keep going.

Most people try to think their way ‘in’ and ‘out’ of the challenges business throws at them. Albert Einstein was very accurate when he observed: “The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.” In other words, we cannot think our way into our business’s passion or purpose - we need a different approach. We need to start with the passion and think our way back out of the problem.

“Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” Harriet Tubman

Being inspired by what you do, motivated by making a difference, connected with other people and businesses in meaningful ways, feeling fulfilled, and being content are all necessary for a sustainable thriving business. By doing what you love in business you will begin to realize how much more energy and passion you have for your business. You will also start to recognize how much value other people find in your business and how much they benefit from doing business with you and your company. 

Time is the most valuable commodity that we each possess so be sure to treat the time we have with caution because once our time is spent it is gone forever! As such, it is imperative that we dedicate our valuable time to our passions in a meaningful way. We can spend our time making more money, but we cannot spend our money to make more time. Taking the time to really find our passions will add so much value to our time and the ways in which we spend our time!  

To find your passion in business you must first become familiar with yourself. You need to know what drives you, what you are naturally good at, what you genuinely enjoy, what inspires you, what excites you. Likewise, you also need to know what scares you, what you pretend to like, and what lies you are telling yourself about your skills, natural talents, abilities, and gifts. As you become more familiar with yourself you will be able to determine what is most important in the limited time you have in a day, a week, a month, a year, and throughout the lifetime of your business. By doing this you can maximize your time by doing more of what you love and less of what you do not love.

“Your purpose in life (business) is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.” Gautama Buddha

 Most of us are so busy reacting to the events in our business and we do not take the time to examine what is not working very well. If you have a genuine desire to find your passion and purpose in business, it is important to invest time in asking yourself the following questions and answering them as honestly as possible.

 Answer the following questions to start gaining clarity about the steps to take today towards a business that you will be completely passionate about opening or making some major changes to find the passion, or perhaps these questions will lead to closing your doors.

 “The purpose of life is . . . to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

 When answering the following questions write down the first thing that pops into your head. Give yourself less than 60 seconds per question. The questions are about business and life so if you do not own a business yet just answer the questions about your life and current job. Writing without editing is important and remember, be honest - nobody else needs to read what you write!

Getting to Know You!

There’s a lot to YOU so there are a lot of questions. Take the time to answer these questions. YOU are worth it!

Ø  What areas in your business and life are currently working?

Ø  What do you find fulfilling, meaningful, enjoyable, and valuable in business and life?

Ø  What current areas in your business and life are not working?

Ø  What stresses you out, makes you anxious, or drains your energy in business and life?

Ø  If you were financially secure and did not need a salary, how would you invest your time in your business and life?

“I want to live my life in such a way that when I get out of bed in the morning, the devil says, “aw shit, he’s up!” Steve Maraboli

Ø  What childhood interests or dreams did you have that you never got around to doing anything about?

Ø  Would pursuing any of these interests today bring more meaning into your business or life? If so, how?

Ø  After you die, how would you like to be remembered as it relates to your business and life?

Ø  If you were to die today, would other people remember you in the way you want to be remembered as it relates to your business and life?

Ø  Name three people (that you know or do not know) who inspire you. Explain why they inspire you.

Ø  What skills, talents, or abilities do you have that you are naturally good at and are passionate about using?

Ø  What skills, talents, or abilities do you have that you are NOT excited about using?

Ø  What good causes, projects, or charities do you firmly believe in or connect with?

Ø  Could you start a charity?

Ø  What tasks, jobs, or specific activities have you done in the past that you dislike and never want to do again?

Ø  In an average week, how many hours do you spend doing tasks, jobs, or activities that you dislike, that waste your time, or are not making money for your business (activities that are costs to the business)?

Ø  What are your most important values? What values give your life the greatest meaning (e.g. honesty, progress, faith, generosity, authenticity, connection, peace, security, friendship, peace of mind, serving others, personal growth, dedication to a social cause)?

Ø  How does the way you run your business and life reflect your most important values?

Ø  How do you reflect these values throughout your business, life, career, and educational pursuits?

Ø  What areas in your business and life do your decisions contradict your most prominent core values?

Ø  Which of your most prominent core values are you not giving enough time or attention to?

Ø  What lies do you tell other people about what is important to you and what you are passionate about?

Ø  In what ways do your actions not align with your words?

Ø  What is preventing you from fully committing yourself to pursuing your main passions in business and life?

Ø  What beliefs do you have about your ability or inability to succeed in pursuing your main passion in business and life?

Ø  What beliefs and fears have held you back from pursuing your main passion in business and life until now?

Ø  What evidence do you have that those fears or beliefs are accurate?

Ø  If there is evidence, is the associated risk high enough to hold you back from committing to pursuing your passions?

Ø  How much risk and uncertainty are you willing to accept for seeking and finding your passion?

Ø  What comes first before finding your main passion in business and life (e.g. your income, job, lifestyle, home, fear of what others will think)?

Ø  What is the primary concern you have about fully committing yourself to pursuing your main passion in business and life?

Ø  Would the potential benefits outweigh the importance of this primary concern you have?

Ø  What action(s) could you take to reduce or manage this concern?

Ø  Other than yourself, who else do you think is holding you back from pursuing your passion in business and how do you believe they are holding you back?

Ø  How can you address this person or people to either gain their support or get them out of your way?

Ø  What would you do with your business and life if you no longer cared about what other people think about you?

Ø  What would you do with your business and life if you no longer wanted to make a name for yourself or maintain a reputation with others?

Ø  What hobbies and interests do you have that intrigue you and that you might consider pursuing as a business and life passion?

Ø  Are you willing to spend time mastering these interests so you can become an expert, or to teach others?

Ø  What valuable lessons have you learned throughout your business and life so far that other people might benefit from also learning?

Ø  What valuable lessons have you learned throughout your business and life so far that you could start teaching other people today?

Ø  Do you have enough savings to allow you to live for six months during a business startup or transition or while you commit to pursuing your passion?

Ø  How could you save enough money to allow yourself to live for six months during a business startup or transition or while you commit to your passion?

Ø  Rather than working harder for more money, is there a way you can get money working harder for you?

Ø  Are there things you can live without as you commit to pursuing your passion and purpose?

Ø  What would the potential worst outcome be if you decided to commit fully to pursuing your passion?

Ø  Would you be okay with the worst happening?

Ø  What is the likelihood of this worst outcome happening if you fully commit to your passion and invest all of the energy and focus that you have into it?

Ø  How rewarding would your business and life be if you were doing something that you loved every day and were making money with it?

Ø  What unique talents or skills do you have that you have not fully developed or expressed? 

Ø  What changes do you need to make and what risks do you need to take to develop and express your unique talents and skills?

Ø  In what ways can you start expressing your passion in business and life more creatively?

Ø  How could you start being more creative in your business and life today?

Ø  What steps or risks are you willing to take to start being more creative in your business and life?

Ø  Is there a group of people somewhere in the world that you know could benefit from you living your passion in life and business? Who are they and where are they?

Ø  If you no longer needed to earn a salary, what would you spend the rest of your life doing?

Ø  How does running a less than passionate business and life affect you mentally, emotionally, and relationally? Give specific examples.

Ø  What achievements could you make in business and life that would inspire other people to start their own business?

Ø  If you had the chance to start your business and life all over again from scratch, what would you do differently next time around?

Ø  If you could get a message across to a large group of people, who would those people be and what would your message be?

Ø  If you only had one year left to live what would you spend this year doing and what difference would you want to make?

Ø  Given your talents, passions, and core personal values, how could you use these resources to serve, help, and contribute to society (i.e. to other people, animals, good causes, organizations, your community, the planet, etc.)? 

What’s Your Next Move?

If you’re at a crossroad, the next practical step is deciding if you want to open that business, if your current business needs to make some changes, or if you need to start wrapping up your business. Entrepreneurship isn’t just about making money, it’s about building something that fuels your passion and aligns with your purpose. What are the first few steps that you can take today towards pursuing a business that excites you? Revisit your passions and reconnect with what truly drives you!

Keep the fire burning! Stoke that fire in your belly and give life to you, your new business, or to your existing business. Your business, your life, should be your reason you get out of bed every day with a fervor to get your life going! Breathe life into your vision, and make sure every step you take pushes you toward a more fulfilling, purpose-driven future.