“I don't feel passionate about anything. How can I do The Passion Test?” Think
about the things you love. What do you care about? What's important to you?
The Passion Test Frequently Asked Questions and Issues “I don’t feel passionate about anything. How can I do The Passion Test?” Think about the things you love. What do you care about? What’s important to you? Who is important to you? Start from where you are now. It could be as simple as, “When my life is ideal, I have good food to eat, three times a day”. Or, “When my life is ideal, I have a place to sleep that is warm and comfortable.” Here are three strategies if you are feeling stuck: 1. Think about all the different parts of your life and what is really important to you in each one. For example: a. Relationships – partner, family, friends, work colleagues and associates b. Career – what you love to do, what you are good at or others tell you that you’re good at, what skills you have, what you dream of creating. c. Finances – what your ideal financial life looks like, how you choose to live your life, what you would really love to have or buy. d. Health – what matters to you in terms of your physical health, how you’d like to feel, how you’d like to look, what you’d love to do or be able to do physically. e. Spiritual Life – your relationship to God, to the Creator, your church, your devotional activities, your connection to the deepest part of your own soul. f. Environment – what kind of environment do you love to be in, to live, to work in. 2. If you’re still stuck, think about anything you really hate, that you absolutely do not want to have in your life – then turn it around to the positive. For example, if you never want to be with someone who lies, cheats and steals, then write your passions as the opposite – When your life is ideal you are surrounded by people who are kind, caring and have the highest integrity. 3. Image having all the money you could ever want in your life. You can do, be and have anything you choose to have. Now, what is important to you? What would you do? Who would you be? What would you choose to have in your life?
“OK, I’ve clarified my top 5 passions, now what? How do I put my passions into action?” What action you take is less important than taking action. Make a list of all the possible things you can do to begin aligning your life with your passions. Then use the same comparison process we use in The Passion Test, except when you compare the items on the list, ask, “If I could do #1 or#2, which one needs to be done first?” Use this process to clarify your top 5 action steps and start doing them. Then stay open to what shows up. You will find yourself faced with choices, decisions and opportunities. With each one, consistently choose in favour of your passions. You don’t have to know all the “hows”. The “how” of it will show up when you begin taking action in the direction of aligning with your passions. With each decision you face, ask yourself “Will doing this help me become more aligned with my passions, or less aligned?” If it will help you become more aligned, then go for it. If less aligned, then say “No, thank you.” www.your-passion-coach.com
The Passion Test “What do I do when people want me to do things, which are not aligned with my passions?” Learn to say “No” lovingly. There are three elements to this. The first is to express your love and appreciation for them. The best way to do this is to understand what they are feeling, why they are asking this of you, and appreciate that. Appreciate how you would feel if you were in their position. For example, if your boss asks you to shortcut a report you are preparing which would require not doing it up to your standards, and your passion is doing very high quality work, you could say: “ I know how important it is to get this report done on time” or “ I really appreciate how important it is to you to get this report done on time” The second element is to connect your love and appreciation for what the other is feeling with your own needs. You do this by using “and” rather than “but”. “But” separates, “and” connects. The third element is to state your own needs. We call this loving yourself. So the whole formula is: 1. “I love and appreciate you” 2. “and” 3. “I love and honor my own needs” In the example above, this could sound like this: 1. “I appreciate how important it is to you to get this report done on time” 2. “and” 3. “I need to do this thoroughly in order to be true to my own standards.”
Does this mean your boss will like your response? Not necessarily. And this is clear communication. You may be willing to work more hours to do it to your standards, or not. The key is to be true to yourself and then you will see that miracles happen. The same method of communication applies when someone asks you to do something and you just need to say no because it is not aligned with your passions. Then the communication can sound like this: “I am so grateful that you think highly enough of me to ask me to do this, and I’m not able to at this time”. When you begin appreciating the other, by understanding what they are feeling, then you create a bridge for connecting with them. If you want others to understand you, then begin by understanding them. When this understanding is reflected in your communication, you will find you are living in a very understanding world.
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The Passion Test “How can I reconcile passions that seem to be conflicting?” This is a fundamental question of life. How do you reconcile any situation in life which appears to conflict? How do you reconcile two businesses that seem to be competing? How do you reconcile two countries that seem to have conflicting interests? Here is the critical point: There is always an answer which will satisfy both interests as long as there is sufficient commitment to find it. The only conflict between two ideas is a conflict about our concepts about them. All ideas can be reconciled when we are sufficiently open to accept a new or different perspective. It begins with understanding that we live in a world of abundance, not a world of scarcity. There is more than enough for everyone. In the world of ideas, this abundance means there is more than enough room for all ideas, for all possibilities. Every concept is viewed from one perspective. Take a different perspective in order to reconcile apparently conflicting passions. The secret is to expand the pie, to look at a bigger universe of possibilities. In business you can expand the pie by looking at new markets, more marketing channels, more distribution channels. For example, expanding to new markets could mean expanding from Los Angeles to California to the U.S. to the world. Expanding new marketing channels could mean expanding to TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, internet, direct mail, live events. Expanding to more distribution channels could mean expanding from wholesale to retail to Internet to special events. Or you can create more pies – take a book, and create a workbook, a video, a web site, a seminar, a radio program, a TV program, and on and on. When we have two passions that appear to be in conflict apply this same principle. For example: Passion no. 1: Spend as much time as possible with my family Passion no. 2: Create a multi-million dollar company. It could appear that these passions are in conflict if you have the concept that you need to spend all your time on the company in order for it to be successful. What are some possible ways these passions could be reconciled: 1. Build a business in which all your family is participating 2. Build a business that allows you to work from home Internet marketer Alex Mandossian was faced with this dilemma when he lived I New York and was a highly paid marketing executive. He decided to move his family to California and created a marketing business online. Today he makes millions of dollars working from his home, and spends lots of time with his family at the same time.
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The Passion Test “I want to be a millionaire. What is the real passion?” Many people list among their top passions something like: being a millionaire, enjoying financial freedom, having more money than I can spend, etc. Most of the time, money is a concept we hold as a necessary means to enjoy our passions. We confuse the means for the passion itself. If you love the process of making money, and it doesn’t much matter how you do it, then being a multimillionaire is a passion for you. Your passion is the PROCESS of making money. Remember, passions refer to “how you live your life”. Goals are “what you choose to create in your life”. However, in our experience, it’s a minority of people who are truly passionate about the process of making money. The vast majority is passionate about other things, and money shows up on their list because they want the security they associate with having money. When you follow your passions, all the money you need will show up in perfect timing. Buckminster Fuller appreciated this when he wrote his list of “Self-Disciplines” well before he ever became well known. The last on his list was: “Commit wholeheartedly to the above and pay no attention to “earning a living” in humanity’s established economic system, yet find that my family’s and my needs are provided for by seemingly pure happenstance and always only in the nick of time.” There are many other examples to show us that when you follow your passions, the finances will be taken care of. Mother Theresa had all the money she needed, as she pursued her passion for helping the poor and indigent. Mahatma Ghandi had the finances he needed as he followed his passion for standing up against injustice. You will have all the money you need as your pursue your true calling in life, and sometimes it may appear seemingly by pure happenstance, and only “in the nick of time”.
“If I have this, then will I have the other things on my list as well?” This is a common trap the mind creates for us. “If I am a millionaire, then I will live in a beautiful home”. Or “If I am enjoying good health, then I will be able to travel the world”. Passions arise from the heart, not the mind. They are not logical, sequential, nor do they always make sense. It is the mind, which rationalizes and tries to convince us, justify, or create an explanation for why we should choose one thing or another. Avoid this trap. Each time you go through your list, respond innocently to each choice, choosing the one that feels best to you, regardless of whether it seems to make any sense, whether anyone else will approve or whether it seems possible or not. Listen to your heart, and then follow your heart’s desire. This is the technique for clarifying passions. Remember, your responsibility is to clarify the “what” of your passions and then take whatever action you can think of to begin aligning your life with that. It is Nature’s job to provide you with the “how” and Nature will do a very good job once you are clear. www.your-passion-coach.com
The Passion Test “I’ve listed my top 5 passions, but I don’t seem to be able to choose in favour of them.” It’s time to take The Passion Test again. Something is more important to you than what you have written down. Think about what that is. Passions shift as life changes. In The Passion Test book, Janet shared her story of her passion to spend time with the enlightened. Then her stepmother was diagnosed with cancer. In that moment, Janet’s passion shifted. She couldn’t choose in favour of pursuing her passion to spend time with the enlightened. Spending time with her stepmother became much more important. So, she chose in favour of this new passion. When her stepmother passed away shortly thereafter, Janet’s passion to spend time with the enlightened got fulfilled in a completely unexpected way when Prem Avadhoot Bapuji came to pay respects to her stepmother. Then Janet discovered she had inherited money that would allow her to go to India in pursuit of this passion. Janet could never have predicted the chain of events that occurred. And you will not be able to predict in advance the path your passions will take you on. All you can do is be clear on what matters to you most, and choose in favour of that. Use The Passion Test as often as it’s useful to help you with that process. The key is to stay open to what is appearing in your life now. Your passions, the things which matter most to you will lead you down the path of your destiny, as long as you continue to choose in favour of them. “How do I know if I’ve worked my passions correctly?” As long as you know what they mean, you can’t word them ‘incorrectly’. We do advise to turn any negatives around. For example, “I am not worried about money” becomes “I feel at ease and comfortable about money”. Or we would even reword “I am debt-free” to “I am enjoying financial freedom”. The purpose of the other exercises in The Passion Test process – Markers, Passion Pages, Vision Board, 100th Birthday Speech and Appreciation Game – is to help you clarify exactly what you mean when you imagine each passion being fully lived. When you write your top 5 on your Passion Cards after having done all the other exercises, then whatever you wrote to describe each of those 5 will contain the seed of what you wrote in all the other descriptions of your passions.
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