Inspired careers...                        Newsletter Issue 4

Greetings!  This missive from Career Wisdom aims to inform and provoke thought, inspiration and action towards your career satisfaction. 

Feature Article – Exploring your Passions

In my workshop "Prosper from your Passion" we explore what we loved as a child, as well as participating in many other exercises to reveal our passions.  I am constanly surprised and delighted to hear everyone's different views on what makes them come alive. Whilst one participant loves gardening, another loves quilting. Some love horses, others love fixing things.  Isn't it great that we are not all the same?!

How do you start to unearth your passions?  A brief answer is....simply start living!  Your passions - things you love to do, experience, become, are all around you.  Trouble is, oftentimes they are shut off as life gets more serious and there are bills to be paid etc. Take a walk up and down all the aisles of your local library. You will be amazed at the variety of subjects and resources available.  What leaps out at you? What areas of interest have you stopping and browsing?

Reconnecting with lost passions and finding new ones often creates energy around other areas of your life.  You suddenly feel more vital, more whole, more YOU.  I recently reconnected with my passion for dancing, after a wonderful dance studio opened up nearby.  There's something about the movement of muscles, precision, placement and music that "does it for me". 

Riveting Resources:

"The Wisdom of Passion" by Peter Wallman and Rachel Flower (ISBN 1-920688-20-X)

The cover of this book is very alluring - the information contained inside is equally so.  The authors have tapped into the heart of finding your passion and describe how you know when you've found it.  Just like finding love - the body responds in a certain way.  So too with finding your passion.  The authors give examples and stories to illustrate how you can listen to your body to create what they call your own "Passion Map."  I love what the back cover says: "Passion is like a river. A sparkling river of light and dark, full of energy. Here and now. Most of us are so far distant from its source, however, that we cannot live for the moment and fail to find the passion which can  transform our work and life. Or, maybe, we block the river itself, and place a dam of rationality across the tide and thus lose the wisdom which passion brings and the success which follows.

Fun Stuff:

If you went to a book store and asked where the Self-Help section is, would that defeat the purpose?

Why do the 'Alphabet Song' and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" have the same tune? Stop singing now!

(from The FUNMAN Collection)

And I quote:

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios (at a Stanford University Commencement Address)

Until next time, I wish you passion in work and life!

Lois