Follow your passion

Sure, but how do you go about finding your passion?

It is not something innate, something you have inside and need to get out, something you have to dig deeper and deeper to reveal.

Passion gets built.

It is about doing, and doing, and doing some more. It is about getting better at what you do, master your area, connect with others that do the same, share and grow. And it is about ensuring that what you do and excel at aligns with who you are, with the narrative you want to promote about yourself as a human being.

Follow your passion is a great advice, once you know what your passion is. And to get to that, you need to be ready to not give up when things get tough, to not withdraw in front of adversity and challenges, to not change course every time something new and potentially brighter shines on the horizon.

Are you ready for that?

Building on success

A weird year ends tomorrow, and many will think at some kind of resolutions for 2021. I want to share (again) few tips that have helped me stick with my resolutions throughout the twelve months in the past few years.

And one more important thing.

If you have recently developed a habit you are proud of, double down on it in 2021.

If you have meditated 10 minutes every day, make it 20 minutes in 2021.

If you have dedicated 2 hours a week to writing that novel, make it 4 hours in 2021.

If you have successfully delivered 5 blog posts a month, make it 10 in 2021.

If you have landed 4 speaking gigs, make it 8 in 2021.

You do not have to reinvent the wheel every year, just continue on the journey. Building on success is a sure way to continue being successful.

A little celebration

I started writing on this blog exactly two years ago, with the intent to share one thought every day. 733 posts later, I want to take a little time to celebrate the fact I stuck with it.

I am still motivated by the same reasons that got me started: getting in an habit of doing and clarifying my thinking around issues that are dear to me. During the journey I got some companions and some appreciation, and for both I am thankful. While I still don’t want to measure success with views, likes, or comments, everyone who interacts with my ideas is a blessing and fuels my writing fire. Thank you!

I don’t think there is a good time to stop celebrating milestones, so I will just promise I will not make of this type of posts a lazy habit.

See you for the 10 years anniversary, I guess. ☺️

Insurmountable

Nothing is easy, until it gets done.

At that point, it becomes the easiest thing you ever committed to.

That is because starting something new feels insurmountable. It makes us go against our beliefs (about ourselves and the world we live in), it forces us to question things we used to take for granted, it puts us in front of the fact we might have been wrong all along.

It is also the reason why there is rarely a deep connection between someone who has already done and someone who is about to do. To the former, the thing is trivial. To the latter, the thing is impossible.

So, if we ever want to share anything, it is important we talk about the journey rather than the destination. It’s the only way to build common ground, to put empathy at work, to elevate.

And if we want to do something, as we often do, the best way is to set out on the journey and just do it.

All-encompassing

When you are sending a message to the mass, the tendency is to make it as all-encompassing as possible, and by doing that you probably fail to make it relatable, motivating, effective.

A great example is what happens every year when companies share season’s greetings with their audience. And as it is possible to send a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (accompanied by the emoticons of your choice) to a vast number of people, individuals got lazy as well.

Next year, instead of sending a mass message to all your team, your group of friends, your family, pick a finite number of people that had a significant impact on your life in the past twelve months, and share a personal and emotional message with them. Tell them why this Merry Christmas is different. Tell them what they mean to you. Tell them how they have succeded in their job. And let them know why you want them close in the New Year as well.

The return on this small investment will be huge.