Learn To Live Your Life With Passion

It's a new year, and as such, people love to make resolutions. Why? Because they desire more out of life. Unfortunately, poor planning and a lack of real desire and passion cause people to give up early. We were designed to be creatures with a purpose. We yearn deep down for something more. Yet, we rarely do the things necessary to make our lives any better than the status quo. People make broad New Year's resolutions like, "I want to lose 50 lbs." or "I want to quit smoking", yet have no detailed plan or milestones along the way to keep them going. If your goal is to lose 50 lbs., how many times a week are you going to exercise? How is your diet going to change? Do you reward yourself along the way (maybe every 10 lbs.)? Most importantly, IS YOUR PLAN AND PROGRESS WRITTEN DOWN WHERE YOU CAN LOOK AT IT EVERY DAY? We need to keep ourselves reminded to stay motivated. I'm passionate about doing a lot of things, but it take me making yearly goals and weekly/daily lists to map out the path to success and to see the progress along the way. I refer to my yearly goals list on a weekly basis to list out what I can do NOW to move closer to my goals. Then I prioritize, and assign certain tasks to each day. This way, I am taking small steps every day toward meeting my goals.

I list everything out: career goals, outside commitments, personal needs/goals, family, home improvements, etc. If you want to take a trip to Brazil, do some research. See what it will take to get there, and plan out how much you have to save, what you need to get there, etc. Write it into your plan. If you want to finish your basement, break down what you need to do it, and add what you can do now to your list (frame bathroom, add second layer of mud to drywall in closet, paint family room, etc.). Actually schedule it into your day planner. Keep your day planner open so that you can always see it (or better, that it can always see you). I know, it sound tedious. With a little discipline, however, it becomes second nature. I sit down one set evening per week and figure out everything that I can get done now, for that week towards my yearly goals. Does everything always get done? No, but I give it my best, and when I look back, I see progress. Then I try to finish that stuff up the next week.

The only way to get the desires of your heart are to do things that will get you closer to your goals. Planning is a vital part of making that journey possible. But a plan is only as good as the paper it is written on without the passion to make it go. Why do you get up everyday? I don't believe that it is so you can make your boss rich, pay bills, or to see your favorite tv shows. You have desires in your heart. You want more. You are just afraid to let yourself dream. You need to overcome that fear if you are to ever put yourself on the path to making a life, not just a living. It's not the money you make, it's how you live your life! However, if you're being crushed by debt, you'd better get passionate enough about it to put a plan together to pay that stuff off. If you want to accomplish something great, it may take some posturing to put yourself in a position to do it. Plan it out, but only if it's something you're serious about. Without the passion, it will seem like more things you have to do. The passionate person will see these things as opportunities, pieces of the puzzle, to achieving something great. The passionate person will crave the next opportunity to take one step closer. When the passionate person hits an obstacle, it will tear him or her up. The passionate person with a plan, however, will be able to make a plan to overcome that obstacle. It's not when you hit your goals, but that you do it at all, that is important.

This is not a once-a-year New Year's stunt. This is a way of life. Our lives are complex. It takes a complex amount of coordination to get our lives into focus, so that the things we really want out of life can happen for us. It's what we need to feel satisfied. It's ingrained into our make-up as human beings. It's what we are created to do. Don't cheat yourself. Decide here and now that you will not fail, and you can not be stopped. Happy New Year everybody!