Passion can be soft or loud, enthusiastic or quietly determined. Passion is not an obsessive focus on some ideas or outcome to the exclusion of other alternatives. It is a pure, abiding commitment to something meaningful: a cause, a principle, or set of beliefs. 

A truly passionate leader invites and encourages dialogue. A passion leader enlists people. (S)he is able to speak about their passion in a way that’s inviting and compelling, prompting people to feel challenged and included at the same time. (more via free D/L at ChangeThis by Erika Andersen)

1. Burn your plans. Your life will not go according to plan. Nobody’s ever has. So don’t worry if you get off track. The track was imaginary anyway.

2. Do not follow someone else’s dream. Your parents want you to be A. Your boss wants you to be B. Your friends want you to be C. And society is clamoring for you to be D. You can’t please everyone, but if you do what YOU think you should, at least you’ll be able to sleep at night.

3. Seek out people you actually like. It’s more satisfying to dig a ditch with friends than to design a skyscraper with a team of sociopaths.

4. Ask the elderly for advice. They’ve been there, done that, got the AARP card. You’ll find that happiness and satisfaction have more to do with love and purpose than dollars and cents.

5. Roam a library. You never know which book, author, or topic will speak to you from the shelves. You might just find what you didn’t even know you were looking for.

6. Seek support, not tolerance. You’re going to need help with anything and everything. Make sure you have people in your corner who do more than just nod and say, “that’s nice,” when you tell them your dreams.

7. Don’t confuse a job with a purpose. If you are working to support your family, they are your real bosses. If you are working to further a goal or idea, don’t let your paycheck (however plump it is) become an obstacle to it.

8. Be authentically uncool. Stick with what you love, even if others sneer at it. This is also referred to as integrity.

9. Spend time before you spend money. Invest in reading and talking and finding out before you plunk down a ton of money on a degree or a certification or a relocation. You might find that you don’t have to write a check to compose your future.

10. Relax. There’s no right answer, but there are thousands of viable options.

For 10 more “Ways To Find Your Calling” check out the full article by Jessica Hagy.

Illustration by Andrew Rae. Click HERE to enlarge the illustration and read more. 

This is a pretty interesting question to ask ourselves. I won’t launch into a long discussion about the “Lizard Brain” or “The Resistance,” but suffice it to say there are large powers at work that trick us into not completing our work. As weird as it may sound, new ideas and creativity can actually keep us from shipping or in simple terms,  finishing our work. I’m all for having multiple projects at the same time - I think it can be a great idea, but if each new project prevents you from completing the last, we need to catch it and put an end to the cycle quickly. Do not overlook the importance of this question and all the other distractions (all of which are fear-driven) that lend to the same conclusion.

Complete your work. Ship. Repeat.

I try to make small changes & improvements every day & have seen that cumulatively a lot can change for the better - even when it doesn’t necessarily feel like it at the time. Conversely, consecutive days of inactivity & waiting around can lead to things getting far out of hand in a negative way (and quicker than we think). Reclaim Your Time & Adjust Your Perception. Peace n love. 

Juno Award winner, Shad, from Ontario - Where I’m At … Where I Wanna Go … What I Wanna Be. A nice outlook & some excellent perspective. 

There’s not much we can do to affect our external environment. But we can shape our internal one by following these seven practices. (via Michael Hyatt)

1. Give yourself a deadline. 

“Though I often dislike them, the truth is I usually perform better when I have a clear deadline. It provides clarity, efficiency, and the ability to persist until I am done—even when it is totally self-imposed.”

2. Get a good night’s sleep. 

“Don’t you find yourself more unfocused when you are tired? You may have to reread the same paragraph four times to get the meaning. Being fully rested just makes you more productive.”

3. Eat the right foods. 

“Certain foods hinder focus. In my experience, these include high glycemic carbs (e.g., white bread, potatoes, pasta) and sugars. After the initial burst of energy, I get sleepy—and lose focus. One food that almost always gives me more focus is juiced beets, probably because they stimulate blood flow to the brain.”

4. Listen to the right music. 

“We all know music can affect our moods. But it can also affect our brain activity. According to several studies, baroque music helps you focus by changing your brain waves. If this kind of music doesn’t appeal to you, try something else. Personally, I do best while listening to native American flute music.”

5. Eliminate distractions. 

“This is just common sense, but find a quiet, distraction free environment—or one that has consistent background noise that quickly turns to white noise. Turn off the Internet or at least the social parts, like Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail that endlessly ping you. One great tool for this is Anti-Social.”

6. Focus on one task. 

“Multi-tasking is a myth. In fact, it’s impossible. What you are really doing is serial tasking—shifting from one task to another. The problem is that this actually destroys productivity. It is sometimes necessary but never efficient. When you are trying to focus, you need to work on one task at a time and set everything else aside.”

7. Take periodic breaks. 

“The key to staying focused is to adopt a rhythm of work and rest or what Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz call “the pulse of high performance” in their book, The Power of Full Engagement. I use the Pomodoro Technique to work for 50 minutes & then break for 10 mins.”

Here are 10 things Entrepreneurs can learn from Muhammad Ali:

1. Build a brand around your aspirations. “I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was. I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.”

2. Don’t be afraid to fight for what you want. “At home I am a nice guy: but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.”

3. Learn how to make friends. “Friendship… is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”

4. Embrace training. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”

5. Let your focus set you free. “I know where I’m going and I know the truth, and I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want.”

6. Don’t let defeats destroy you. “I never thought of losing, but now that it’ s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.”

7. Anyone can be great. “If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.”

8. What you think is what you become. “It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.”

9. Defeat leads to victory. “Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.”

10. The battle is won in your mind. “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”

*Bonus- Aim high. “What keeps me going is goals.”

-Reblogged: Click for Full Article by Tia Jackson