THIS IS BS: Find Your Passion. Live Your Passion

It has been a while (wow, three months!) since the last THIS IS BS post, and I thought it’s apt to add another entry into the series.

What is THIS IS BS? THIS IS BS is a thought/rant-piece series of my best (/poor) attempt to debunk some of the quotes being passed around that are either incorrect, misleading, or just plain bullshit.

If you’ve been to a few motivational seminars, you’d probably heard the pumped up statement, supposedly to pump yourself up…

“Find Your Passion. Live Your Passion.”

…because of that, you may look at your crappy job, the face of your boss that you just can’t stomach for another day, that piece-of-sh!t colleague whose larynx you just wanna crush for good, and decided “F*ck it! I am gonna find me a better job and live my passion!”

…because of that, you may look at your seemingly sinking boat of a relationship, the companionship that has watered down to epic mundaneness, that non-instagramable-couple-life, and decided “F*ck it! I am gonna find me a better partner and live my passion!”

Sounds familiar? Something you have heard others say before, or maybe you (more than once) said that to yourself? I am not gonna deny it: I’ve bought into that piece of BS advice before, and it just smack me right in the face.

Sure, before you go on and assumed that Maverick had turned jaded, or just behaving like that fox who couldn’t get that sour grape, or just in a b*tching mode, let me tell you why I think Passion Is Over Rated.

PASSION IS FOR EASY ON A SUNNY DAY

When the sun is shining bright, when the winds are blowing in the right direction, when the stars are aligned and your day’s like it’s taken straight out from a children’s fairy tale, passion is not needed. As a matter of that, in those times of unicorn farts and Midas touch, passion is seriously over rated.

Let’s face it, when you’re in a good mood, you can easily find passion in all that you do. Bills are being paid, conquests are being logged on your Facebook, your 4th selfie of the hour is being liked for the 93rd time… the good days indeed they are. And in the midst of it, you decided to find your passion, and to live it. You think off what you had always wanted in the world - what you wanted to see, hear, feel in the world - and decided, “Heck yeah, that’s my passion.”

Kid, you’re being euphoric.

Or maybe in those moments of bliss, you belt out a heck of a good song and decided your passion is singing. Or you scored your 7th three-pointer in a row and decided your passion is basketball. Or you wrote an epic post on Steemit and decided your passion is blogging.

Kid, you’re still being euphoric.

And you jumped into the boat of denial, with the train of justifications trying to make you so sure that those “passions” are gonna make you money, and you will live a happier life simply living your passion on a daily basis. You thought to yourself,

"Boy, I can do this all day! I’m so fcking good at this! This is gonna bring me fame and fortune, yo!"*

You know how people often say never to make big life decisions when you’re in an emotional state? Would be good to listen to them for a bit.

So, here’s the thing - fck your passion*. (Unless Passion is the name of that prostitute down at Madam Selma's Jungle Bar and you’ve paid for her "services".)

"So Mav, are you saying that all the motivational gurus are wrong? Are you saying that passion is crap and following it is bad advice?”

Not really. I’m just saying don’t count on your passion on a sunny day, in a state of euphoria. But there’s a place for passion, and it’s this:

PASSION IS THE FUEL FOR YOUR RAINY DAY

When the road is long and the days are hard, when the light at the end of the tunnel seemed far and forever out of reach, when the world beast you down and kicked you to make sure you stay down, you will feel this tingling sense of strength coming up.

It’s like a fighter within, beaten to a pulp, blinded by the blood and sweat, limping from broken body parts, that is looking for that window of opportunity to nail that perfect upper cut.

It’s like the down and out artist, avoiding the landlord by sneaking in late at night, pawning off his wife’s jewellery to buy more time, cutting up his loaf of bread into slices so thin it dissolves the moment it touches the tongue, but still looking up with teary eyes, begging for his chance to play, and to be heard.

When your spirit is being tested and you still find the strength to persist for another day, that’s passion.

When you wanted to throw in the towel but remembered the age old advice - You can always quit tomorrow, just not today - and decided to give it another shot, that’s passion.

When you had to beg for a chance of your lifetime, that one lucky break that will pivot your entire life, that little nudge to push you over the fence, that’s passion.

The world may laugh at you, your loved ones may ridicule you, your friends may stay away from you, but if you still commit to your beliefs and persist, knowing that you’re doing is the right thing, hey, that’s passion.

It’s the energy from within that inspires others so much that it sends goosebumps down their spine when you talk about it. Heck, even you feel those goosebumps! When you close your eyes and think hard about it, it tears you up, trailing down your cheeks, to a smiling face. When you hold yourself tight during those tough nights, you feel the warmth, and you shiver with a sense of certainty.

Yup, if you’ve felt that fire, that drive deep within, you’ve experienced passion. And looks like you’ve lived it.

SWAP PASSION FOR PURPOSE

But Mav, what if I don’t want to go through those tough times just to discover my passion?

Yeah, good point, because any pain that is self-inciting is hardly healthy, and praying for shit to hit the fan basically just puts you between a drama queen and an avid trouble maker.

Here’s a suggestion - discover your purpose, and live your purpose. And I’m not gonna leave you hanging like some cheap-ass motivational guru who is making money dishing out advice rather than living them himself. So here are some coaching questions to help give you clarity. Take some time off in the evening, or get your partner or close friend on the activity with you, because it is in the clarity will you find your purpose in life, your place in the world, your passion for the stormy days.

• What is something that when you say you want to do, sends goosebumps over your arms, shivers down your spine, and you feel yourself grounded in absolute certainty?
• What’s a scene in a movie so memorable, so moving, that you had to widen your eyes and look up, so others won’t see you tear up?
• What’s something that when you see others do, and deep down, in a totally non-cocky way, you know you can do better?
• What’s the injustice in the world that causes your fist to clench up, that causes your heart beat to pace up, that causes your anger to fire up?
• What’s something you would go to the end of the world to do, even if it causes you to go from riches to rags, from winning applauses to being ridiculed at?
• What are your strengths that you and your loved ones can always count on?
• What are your talents that leaves others in awe, that makes your parents proud beyond words, that makes your mentors bow to you in respect?
• What are the skills you are willing to bet your life on?
• What's one thing that you can never stop talking about, never cease learning about, and never back down when being challenged?

Looks like some heavy questions, eh?

Purpose, unlike other things is life, is something you need to find inwards, not outwards. Those questions are keys to help you unlock the doors to your true potential. And you wanna know one more thing? You must be honest because seriously, you can lie to others all you want, but you'll be a fool if you lie to yourself.

FORMULA & FRAMEWORKS TO PURPOSEFUL LIVING

I wouldn’t say I had tremendous success in life, but I had the privilege of working with some of the world’s top coaches, best-selling authors and award-winning entrepreneurs. And along the way - over those long conversations we had when being stuck in a traffic jam, or behind-the-scene conversations that uncovers the raw and brutal truths of their success - I was fortunate to learn their success formulas and growth frameworks.

I tested it on myself, and also those who came into my life looking for a way out of their misery and confusion. I taught it to underprivileged kids, and tested it with my own 10-year old son, William.

I tried to live a life worth making an example of, so when others were to ask what were the tools I used, I have the strategies to share, and the stories to inspire.

So when @karinzdailygrind invited me to speak at one of her initiatives - LIVE YOUR PURPOSE - I knew exactly what I would want to impart during the sharing session.

In a nutshell, here’s what I intend to cover:

• How to leverage on your unique Strength Formula
• How to fortify your mindset to overcome the obstacles life throws at you
• How to uncover the inner values that drives your every thought and action
• How to channel your passion into side hustle projects that rewards you intrincally and extrinsically.
• And get ready for some deep dive conversations that will give you a better perspective on things, and chart a map to your own unique success

WHAT’S LIVE YOUR PURPOSE?

It’s a community initiative started by our very own Steemian in TeamMalaysia, @karinzdailygrind, who wanted to get normal people like you and me to share their strategies to living their purpose. What are the habits they adopted? What are the questions they asked? What are the strategies they used?

In a sweet hybrid of TED-like talks and well-facilitation group coaching sessions, it’s purely non-profit. All the proceeds will be donated to a cause picked by the volunteering speakers.

Sounds like something you had always wanted to gift yourself but never got the chance? Life’s short, and here’s the registration link.

Of course, more info about the other speaker, @coachmelleow, at the event page as well.

---

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by. I mostly blog about Steemit Success Strategies, business, marketing, entrepreneurship, psychology, community and random thoughts.

Talking about Steemit Success Strategies, if you want to 10x your results on this platform, perhaps some of these guides will be able to help you.

1. How to generate at least 365 post ideas for your Steemit Life (and possibly never run out of ideas again!)
2. The 4 Big Cs of Steemit Success
3. 8 Content Strategies to Excite & Engage your Steemit Followers
4. 29 Steemit Post Types to Attract More Followers & Boost Your Popularity (Part 1)
5. 29 Steemit Post Types to Attract More Followers & Boost Your Popularity (Part 2)
6. Copywriting Magic for Steemit: "How To" Post Titles
7. Copywriting Magic for Steemit: "List Type" Post Titles
8. Steemit Success Strategies #1 - The Law of Requisite Variety
9. Steemit Success Strategies #2 - Batching + Parkinson's Law
10. Four + Four Free Tools to get more exposure for your Steemit Projects
11. How to apply the 80/20 rule to your Steemit Life
12. Steemit Experiment Report: 21 days, 21 minutes, 21 posts later, PLUS an 8-Step Guide on How to Write a Steemit Post every day under 30 minutes
13. Case Study on Bid Botting - A Steemit Bootcamp follow-up module, a cheatsheet and why I probably won't use it

At least once a month, I run Steemit community events and training workshops with my buddies at #teammalaysia too. Some examples are:

1. Steemit Bootcamp March 2018 - KICKSTART Your Steemit Success
2. BoilerRoom 03.03.2018 | Let's Huddle, Hustle & Hack Out Awesome Steemit Contents!

I'm also grateful to be part of #steemitbloggers , SmartSteem and the sndbox.

_{Animated Banner Created By @zord189}

---

Wait, why's Mav posting on Steemit nowadays?

Well, unlike other blogging and social media platform, Steemit is the only platform that allows me to earn cryptocurrency when I engage with it. Yup, one Steem is about USD5, and you, too, can earn Steem Dollars every time you:

• Create content (articles, blog posts, podcasts, videos, photos)
• Upvote (like) other people contents
• Comment on other people's posts
• Have discussions, share opinions etc!

Yup, basically it's the very same thing you're doing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc all along!

The only difference? For once you can earn a nice income on the side!

Sign up for a free Steemit account, and you can thank me by coming back and upvoting this article. And guess what, you will earn Steem too for doing that! #awesome