1562: Enjoying the Journey by Steve Pavlina on Personal Growth Mindset and Choosing to Be Happy

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Work Daily, Enjoying the Journey by Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com.

[00:00:08] If you work really hard to achieve your goals but don't enjoy the journey, you're delaying the essence of life.

[00:00:14] Committing to your goals doesn't mean you slave away at work you dislike celebrating only the destination.

[00:00:19] A real abiding commitment means that you love what you do each day.

[00:00:23] You are at least as passionate about the path as you are about the results.

[00:00:27] If you love the path you're on, your passion motivates you to keep taking the next step.

[00:00:32] But passion alone isn't enough.

[00:00:34] Passion requires focused direction and that direction must come from three other areas.

[00:00:39] Your purpose, your talents, and your needs.

[00:00:42] First, purpose and passion go hand in hand.

[00:00:45] If you don't know your life purpose, your passion won't be guided by conscience.

[00:00:49] Many criminals go this route.

[00:00:51] They are very passionate about certain actions but those actions aren't motivated by a higher purpose.

[00:00:55] When passion and purpose point in the same direction, it means you fall in love with the path of service.

[00:01:01] You love what you do and it also contributes positively to the world.

[00:01:05] A synergy is created whereby your passion is increased many-fold,

[00:01:09] a natural consequence of doing something you love to do and which you know is making a difference.

[00:01:15] Secondly, passion must be blended with talent.

[00:01:18] Passion can get you pretty far but there are plenty of people who are passionate and incompetent

[00:01:23] and their passion isn't sufficient to save them.

[00:01:25] Have you ever known anyone who got really excited about an idea but couldn't follow through?

[00:01:30] The good news is that your talent can be developed.

[00:01:32] You can educate yourself to learn new knowledge and skills.

[00:01:35] But the ultimate goal here is to discover where your greatest talents lie.

[00:01:40] What talents, if you were to fully develop them, could be extremely strong for you?

[00:01:44] You may come up with several answers but which ones overlap with your passion?

[00:01:48] When you do what you love to do and you become really good at doing it,

[00:01:52] your passion will increase and your results will be amplified.

[00:01:56] Thirdly, passion must be blended with need.

[00:01:59] At the very least, you have to direct your passion in such a way that you'll be able to feed yourself.

[00:02:03] But if you master the blending of passion, purpose, and talent,

[00:02:07] it will not be too difficult to satisfy your needs, even to achieve financial abundance.

[00:02:11] The key to fulfillment is to work from your greatest strengths, with passion, in the service of purpose.

[00:02:18] Doing what you're best at ensures that you're working efficiently.

[00:02:21] Being passionate about what you do means that you'll work hard at it.

[00:02:24] And serving a purpose means that you're contributing and making a real difference in others' lives.

[00:02:29] When you do all three, you're contributing the maximum value you possibly can.

[00:02:34] And if you can't generate a fantastic income doing that,

[00:02:37] you won't be able to generate a better one doing anything else.

[00:02:40] This is the very definition of value.

[00:02:43] It is precisely what people will be eager to pay you for.

[00:02:46] I believe that everyone can find an area where the circles of passion, purpose, talent, and need overlap.

[00:02:52] The best place to start is with purpose, by listening to your conscience.

[00:02:57] Once you know that, then move on to passion and talent.

[00:03:00] Each of these will likely contain many possibilities.

[00:03:03] There are probably several things you love to do,

[00:03:06] and several things you can become really good at.

[00:03:08] List them out for each category.

[00:03:10] Then take time to reflect on possible areas of overlap between purpose, passion, and talent.

[00:03:16] Remember that the talent circle can be moved with additional education and skill building.

[00:03:21] When you find the area of overlap between purpose, passion, and talent,

[00:03:25] the need area tends to be fairly easy to fulfill.

[00:03:28] The first three areas will suggest potential careers.

[00:03:31] Here's another way of thinking about it.

[00:03:33] Need equals what you must do.

[00:03:36] Talent equals what you can do.

[00:03:38] Passion equals what you love to do.

[00:03:41] And purpose equals what you should do.

[00:03:44] Many people see these four areas as inherently in conflict.

[00:03:48] How many times have you heard people spout limiting beliefs, such as you can't make money, need,

[00:03:53] doing what you love, passion?

[00:03:56] Nonsense.

[00:03:57] I believe that everyone can find a path on which all four of these areas are in harmony.

[00:04:02] You can find a way to work from your greatest strengths, doing what you love to do,

[00:04:06] in the service of purpose, and taking care of all your basic needs,

[00:04:09] even achieving abundance.

[00:04:11] But the first step is to simply decide to do it.

[00:04:15] Decide that your life is worth enough to you to get all four of these areas working together.

[00:04:19] You don't have to go broke doing what you love.

[00:04:21] You don't have to work at a job you hate.

[00:04:24] You don't have to see meaningful contribution as something out of sync with your everyday reality.

[00:04:29] Take some time to reflect on what kind of career,

[00:04:31] what kind of life, would allow you to put these four areas in harmony,

[00:04:35] all of them pointing in the same direction.

[00:04:37] No conflict.

[00:04:38] It can be done.

[00:04:43] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:04:45] Enjoying the Journey by Steve Pavlina of stevepavlina.com.

[00:04:50] And thanks to Steve for letting us read his content here today.

[00:04:54] He's a huge blogger in the personal development space,

[00:04:56] and Justin actually reads a lot of his content over on the podcast Optimal Living Daily.

[00:05:01] And just a little more background information about him,

[00:05:04] Steve is widely recognized as one of the most successful personal development bloggers in the world,

[00:05:09] with his work attracting more than 100 million visits to stevepavlina.com.

[00:05:14] He's written more than 1,500 articles and recorded many audio programs on a broad range of self-help topics,

[00:05:20] including productivity, relationships, spirituality, and entrepreneurship.

[00:05:25] And conscious growth has been the central focus of his life.

[00:05:28] He studies what it means to grow and how he can deliberately invite, process, and integrate new growth experiences.

[00:05:35] So come by stevepavlina.com for a lot more and to show your support.

[00:05:40] But I think that does it for today.

[00:05:42] I thank you so much for being a subscriber to the show,

[00:05:44] and for sharing it with friends and family whenever you get a sec.

[00:05:47] Hope you have a great rest of your day,

[00:05:49] and I'll see you back here tomorrow for the Friday show,

[00:05:51] where your optimal life awaits.