Are You the Elephant in the Room?

Leadership

Mar 4

10 Questions to Help You Align Passion with Purpose

Most of us have dreams of something bigger. We wish for success and hope for the big break that will take us to the next level. We see stories in the news of people who are out there making things happen and defying the odds, at all stages of life.

People like Marshawn Lynch — the pro-football player who retired twice, yet came out of that second retirement this past December and earned the nickname “Beast Mode” for his powerful talents.
And unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you saw or at least heard about this year’s Super Bowl halftime show from Jennifer Lopez and Shakira — women who, at age 43 and 50, are still making waves as fearlessly strong entertainers.
And then there’s Ava DuVernay, who recently became the first black woman filmmaker to bring over in over $100 million at the box office. She had never even picked up a camera until age 32. She has broken boundaries left and right.

We hear these stories, and we feel inspired and empowered. Anything is possible! But then we fail to take action. We are held back by doubt and fear. Why?

Because we have failed to align our passion with our purpose.

Passion is about the self — what excites and motivates us. Purpose is about everyone else — how we are contributing to the world. It’s the why behind what we do. If purpose is a path, then passion is the fuel that helps us make progress down that path. When these two are well-aligned, there is amazing potential for skyrocketing success.

If you haven’t stopped to think about your passion or your purpose in a while, then now is the time. And from these recent stories in the media, we can see that it’s never too late to find alignment.

So in order to identify these two major elements that make up YOU (your passion and your purpose), we’ve come up with a list of 10 questions to ask yourself. Take your time with these questions. Don’t think about how others would want you to answer them. Or how you feel you should answer them.

Answer them genuinely and honestly, for yourself.

What are the top three things that other people say you are really good at doing?
What are the projects and tasks you enjoy doing the most?
What are the things that you are exceptionally good at doing?
If you had all the time, money, and energy in the world, what could you become the very best at?
What are you doing when you get in “the zone” (where you lose track of time)?
What interests you, and what are you drawn to in terms of hobbies and leisure activities
How will the world be better off because of your presence in it?
What pursuits would give you meaning and inspiration?
What impact would you like to make on other people?
In the past, when do you feel you were at your best?

These 10 questions will lead you to identifying your authentic purpose and your true passions. The next step is to visualize a successful alignment and what that looks like for you. How do your passion and your purpose connect?

When passion and purpose are in harmony with one another, the result is success beyond your wildest dreams.