How To Get Rid of 'Passion Guilt'
It’s Monday morning… maybe you’re mourning the weekend and dreading the work week ahead… maybe you’re eager to jump in with both feet (awesome!).
Today is a reset day. A day to start fresh. A day full of hopes for the week.
But how does the week typically play out? You’re focused during the hours at work (maybe), tired by the end of the day, working hard to fit in the extra stuff you feel like you have to such as workouts, spending QT with your kids, meal prep, friend time, and suddenly it’s the weekend and you’re exhausted and trying to fit all you need to do into the precious moments of Saturday and Sunday.
It's crazy how fast the days turn into weeks, which turn into years, and suddenly you’re wondering why you never took that photography class. Why you never started that blog. Took the tennis lessons. Made time for the trip you wanted to take. There is a dull hum to life versus sparks of joy. And you recognize that and know something's missing.
This is auto-pilot mode. And it’s SO common. It’s how most of us live.
And we do it for a reason! Our brains can only consciously process so much, so we have established automatic patterns and behaviors. It takes some a major neural intervention to get us doing something different.
If this sounds like your week, don’t feel bad. You were biologically programmed to do things on repeat. But what you do with that extra processing power you have since you do so much on auto-pilot, is up to your conscious choice, my friend.
That’s why I’ve created the Passion Map Method. I’ve heard too many clients and friends talk about an idea they have, or the thing they really want to do, but don’t have time for. Or that doesn't feel like would fit into their lives. Or that they want to “find their passion” but they don’t know how, or *gasp* maybe they don’t have one?? Or *double gasp* they might fail at pursuing their passion so don’t even want to try.
The term “passion” is fully loaded. There is this storyline that plays out in our culture... That some people are the “lucky ones” who have found their passion (and even luckier are those who have found it early in life) and they are pursuing it with success and financial abundance. And that those who aren’t on this path have something wrong, or missing, or just aren’t meant to have the spark of passion in this lifetime.
That’s bullshit.
Let’s have a quick lil reframe about passion.
The dictionary definition of passion is “strong and barely controllable emotion.”
Passion is anything that lights you up. That gets you excited. That activates the part of you that thinks about new ideas and possibilities. The thing you do when you are in flow and totally immersed in what you’re doing. It’s curiosity. It’s activating your spirit. It’s heat and zeal and joy.
The good news here? Passions are unique to YOU. What is someone else’s passion is likely not yours at all. Only you know what your unique passions are and if they are true to you, they are totally legit. So, let’s figure out what those are!
I’ve combined my design thinking and coaching skills to create this simple baby-step place for my clients to start to uncover their unique passions, and I can’t NOT offer it as a gift to you.
What you’ll get with the free Passion Map Method:
The opportunity to map out YOUR unique passions in 30 minutes
My face walking you through 4 quick videos, each with a simple exercise
A creative process to narrow down your passions into 3 specific actions you can take THIS WEEK
Digital templates for your use (based on feedback from my sneak peek clients)
A little (or big!) spark of joy in your week
It’s available this week.
It’s free. It’s fun. There’s really nothing to lose and a lot of clarity and joy to gain.
AND, if you sign up and complete the Passion Map Method this week, you'll get a 40% discount on my 5-week Success Mindset Program! (coming soon)
Sign up here , leave a comment on this post, or e-mail me at elizabeth@elizabethstjohn.co if you have any questions.
Cheers!
Elizabeth
"I loved that the end result is an actionable game plan to hold myself accountable and have milestones to achieve bigger goals."
"The activities really helped me realize how much time I am/am not putting toward the things I'm passionate about and created some brain space to redirect my energies."
"Taking the time to sit down, breathe, and get some perspective on passion in my life - all the things that are connected to passion, expanding each with details, and then beginning to rank how present they are in my life with an easy assessment tool."
"This activity helped me create more awareness around passion in my life and places to celebrate how I am cultivating passion as well as places to put more energy towards cultivation."
"This was a short, simple way of building awareness and getting clarity. Thank you!"