Our last event on Wednesday 20th July was on discovering your passions, and using certain tools to bring them into your life. Following a brief interview from the evening’s host Mary Daniels, Steve Buxton shared the Passion test process. The first part involved the participants listing the 10 things which made their life and work feel ideal... There was much more to this process, a pity you were not there to discover the whole process. The evening ended with Steve sharing The Seven Secrets for Living a Passionate Life.
Steve made a number of interesting comments during the evening, here are a few to give you a flavour of what you missed….
"As life inevitably presents you with choices and opportunities always choose in favour of your passions."
"As you answer The Passion Test questions you get clearer about your heart's desire. Passion is an on-going process."
"Whenever you are faced with a decision, a choice or an opportunity, choose in favour of your passions."
The feedback from the evening included comments such as:
“Thank you for such a simple and useful tool.”
“This evening has given me the confidence to follow my heart.”
“Simple and profound.”
Thank you, it was wonderful. I discovered it was ok to follow my heart.”
“I found my passion is strong as a bulldozer.”
“Thank you for your clarity, and for making it so effortless.”
“It was so useful to take the time to stop and ask myself these questions.”
“I know see that hurdles can be opportunities.”
Steve shared 7 principles to living a passionate life at the end of the evening:
1. Commitment - choose in favour your passions every day, and soon you'll discover that you are living a passionate life. Until you are committed, nothing will happen for you. Keep your passions where you can see them and learn to say no lovingly. When you're asked to do something that is not aligned with your passions, practice saying "I so appreciate you asking, and I'm not able to do that now". You can vary the words to make them appropriate. What is important is to first appreciate, love, understand and value the other person and then to state what you need. Use "and" which connects, rather than "but" which separates. Be committed, and be prepared to be flexible
2. Clarity - when you are clear what you want will show up in your life, and only to the extent you are clear. Gaining clarity is not a one-time experience; it's an ongoing process. You have the tools to create clarity now, so take the passion test at least every six months and review your markers at least once a year.
3. Attention - what you put your attention on grows stronger in your life. Pay attention every day to what you're putting your attention on. As you shift your focus to living your passions you will notice all of the good that is flowing into your life, and how your life is transformed.
4. Stay Open - stay open to your dreams showing up differently than you plan, and there is nothing that can stop you. When you are open to whatever is appearing now, even if it's different than the way you think it should be, you release your individual will and open to God's will for you. When disaster strikes and you are open, you are able to take advantage of the opportunities that inevitably present themselves.
5. Integrity - be as true to yourself as you are to others, and as true to others as you are to yourself. The biggest challenge most of us face is to meet our responsibilities to others while being true to ourselves by pursuing our passions at the same time. When you make commitments to others, make sure those commitments are aligned with your passions
6. Persistence - fulfilment belongs to those who stay the course. Many begin the journey, those who finish it are the ones who achieve success and fulfilment in life. When you are living a life truly aligned with your passions, persistence is not hard. Your deepest passions will drive you, in spite of yourself. When you experience setbacks, be gentle with yourself, nurture yourself, then pick yourself up and begin again when you are ready.
7. Follow Your Heart - when in doubt, follow your heart. Passion arises from the heart. The mind will only complicate matters. When all else fails listen to your heart. When you feel confused, or lost, or don't know which direction to head, then just start walking and pay attention to what your heart tells you
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