Stop Judging. Discover Your Passion.
Stop Judging. Discover Your Passion – Part of Chapter IV of the upcoming book “Find Your Passion”
Do you want to discover your passion so you can create a more successful and fulfilling career? Then, stop judging yourself.
“I’m not _______________(insert your comments) enough to find and follow my passion.”
This is the ultimate voice of discouragement in its purest form. The main thoughts that come for this belief might sound like this: “I’ m not: old/young/experienced/smart/intelligent/capable/creative/attractive/strong/motivated/resilient enough”, and so on. These thoughts undermine your strengths, talents, qualities, and your real infinite potential. They can also take the direct form of negative adjectives, such as “I am (too): old young/inexperienced/uneducated/ignorant/dumb/stupid/incapable/unattractive/weak/unmotivated/ small/powerless”, and the like. You might have had a specific incident or experience in the past that convinced you to undervalue yourself. It could be many failures in school exams, rejections by the person you were in love with, or anything else.
That’s right. We cannot separate your limiting beliefs, and your beliefs in general, per life area. Your subconscious mind doesn’t work this way. It doesn’t categorize all the judgments against you in the ones that have to do with your career, finance, hobbies, personal growth, and relationships. Generally, if you are convinced that you are not, for example, intelligent enough, you will believe this as part of your identity; not just in a specific area of your life. That’s also why I never said that the beliefs we examine are exclusively related to your career. It doesn’t work this way. Here’s the good news: the work you’ll do here not only will it have a great impact on your career, but your entire life!
Moreover, it’s worth mentioning here that perfectionism, although it can come from one’s overcommitment to the values of excellence and mastery, can also originate from the “self-judgment” belief. Why? Because if every time “it’s not perfect enough” or “it’s not________(your adjectives) enough”, then maybe it’s not about what you do that it’s not enough. Maybe it’s about who you are. Maybe you are not enough. This is often the case when you say to yourself “I need more time to improve my skills/qualifications/credentials/services/products to add value to others by my passion/ to have a successful career transition.”, or something similar. You want to be and feel 100% ready; absolutely prepared.
Perfection gives you certainty, security, and the sense that “everything is under control.” When things don’t go as you planned though and the need of sailing toward unchartered seas comes up, stress and paralysis take place. So, remember this: It’ll never be perfect. You’ll never feel completely ready. Start before you are ready!
“It’ll never be perfect. You’ll never feel completely ready. Start before you are ready!”
Why? Because the best preparation has less learning in advance, less theory, and more action. That’s right. This type of learning and preparation is called experience. You get prepared for something by doing it; over and over again; not by reading books about it without ever trying it out in real life. How Olympic athletes prepare for the Olympics? They go to college, study for five years about sports in general, and then they do their master’s degree to specialize in the sport they love and are great at? Never. They just learn enough theory for them to practice properly.
That’s also the best preparation for your passion discovery and career transition. Pay attention! If you are a “perfectionist” and you don’t get this right, you’ll be procrastinating your transition to a career with more income, impact, and fulfillment for quite a long time. Can you afford to wait for more? Can you afford to spend more time, money, and energy in a position that stops you from reaching your full potential?
So, let’s reframe, shall we?
Reframe:
- You are experienced, young, old smart/intelligent/capable/creative/attractive/strong/motivated/resilient enough to discover and make a living from your passion.
- You are enough to discover and follow your passion.
- Start before you are ready.
Feel free to pre-order the “Find Your Passion” book to transform your career and life by visiting my personal site here. It’s coming on January 15!
Passion & the Future of Work – Part of Chapter VI of the upcoming book Find Your Passion
The Value of Self-Care – Part of Chapter II of the upcoming book ”Find Your Passion”
How to Turn Your Passion into Profit – Part of Chapter VI of the upcoming book “Find Your Passion”
About Author
JimPanos
Born in Athens, Greece and now based in Geneva, Switzerland, Jim Panos is a graduate of Democritus University of Thrace, Law School, a participant of Erasmus+ Program in Université de Liège, Belgium, a marathon runner and a strong advocate of human diversity, speaking Greek, English, French and Spanish. As a passionate champion of humanism, human rights and personal development, Jim strongly believes that every human being deserves an outstanding and fulfilling life. After accomplishing his Law studies and after 8 years of searching for the work he truly loves, he fell in love with coaching. In spite of the social and family pressure, Jim listened to his gut feeling and pursued his passion: Serving and inspiring people to discover and pursue their passion. He attended and completed his coaching training in London through the Co-Active Training Institute(CTI) Core Curriculum and Certification program, certified by International Coach Federation(ICF), the largest coaches association in the world, and started out his coaching business. Being a passionate advocate of lifelong learning, Jim keeps on attending and looking for the best professional coaching techniques and training in the world, constantly deepening and empowering his coaching skills. The cornerstones of his coaching are passion, positivity, directness, integrity and championing. Last but not least, Jim longs for breaking his comfort zones and being challenged, hence challenging plays a key role in his coaching style as well. In a modern culture that promotes work just as a money-making tool, for people to survive and get by, Jim Panos is the Transformational Career Coach who empowers professionals across the globe to find their dream career, by inspiring them to discover and follow their passion. His vision is to serve and inspire 3 billion people in 195 countries to find their passion at work!