3 Steps to Finding Your "Passion"

If we’re being honest, I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of the word "passion"—at least not in this context. It's too abstract and can seem daunting to people who are just starting out.

Instead, I prefer to talk about excitement because it’s a more tangible, practical method for creating meaning in your life and work.

I've found that acting on the small things that excite you will help you get on the right path, which will lead you to your passion, which will eventually help you discover your purpose or mission in life.

The best part is that you do not need to know what your “passion” or “purpose” is before you start taking action on what excites you.

When you have the courage to consistently take action on the day-to-day things that excite you, the necessary people will appear in your life, the right opportunities will be drawn to you, circumstances will work themselves out and you will have an overall richer, more enjoyable life experience.

3 Steps to Succeed on Social Media

No matter how you slice it, we live in a world of likes, followers and views. Because of this, we are often looking to be validated in all of our social media channels. One of the most common questions I receive via email is how to make content go “viral” and get a large social media following.

I decided to answer this FAQ with a blog post. :)

Social media is everywhere and it’s no longer something that is viewed as a waste of time. Quite the opposite. Social media is now a marketable job skill, it’s something you can put on your resume (or LinkedIn).

Whether you approach social media as an entrepreneur, employee or just for your personal life there seem to be so many strategies, complicated processes and filters that you need to be successful.

I think it’s a lot simpler than that.

There are three foundational things that most people and brands with large and engaged followings are all doing.

How to use negative thinking in a positive way

Since launching the "Mindset Shift Mini-Course." I've received a lot of emails asking me how to make the positive effects of the course more permanent in their lives.

Most of these messages present a similar issue: 

"I found the course extremely helpful while doing it but I found myself going back to my negative thought patterns just a few days after finishing the course."

I'll address this FAQ in two parts:

  1. The truth of the matter is that the Mindset Shift Course is NOT designed to be a quick fix or the last word on developing an effective mindset. Life is messy and isn't always solved by one specific philosophy or set of rules. I've found the most effective way to make mental strategies and habits stick by taking daily actions and having a variety of tools at my disposal that help me feel balanced and focused.
  2. When I was just starting my journey, I also got discouraged when I found myself thinking "negative thoughts." Over the years, and after some study, I now know that I can use these kind of thoughts to my advantage! Negative thinking does not have to produce a negative outcome.

Because of books like The Secret and The Law of Attraction, many people think that we should never have negative thoughts and that negative thoughts are always a bad thing.

I wholeheartedly disagree. Not only is this idea impractical and stressful, I’ve found that it’s simply not true. We don't need to completely rid ourselves of negative thoughts, we just have to learn how to use them to our advantage. 

3 Ways to Increase Your Happiness

To be clear, this isn't a "get-happy-quick" post. Rather these are some concepts and mindset shifts that you can apply to your life in a way that makes sense for you.

1. Make peace with your past

I used to drive myself crazy trying to figure out why certain things happened the way they did. Usually it was some kind of negative event that I wished had happened differently. I would replay different scenarios in my mind over and over again, wishing I would have said this or done that, etc.

Doing this stole a lot of my happiness. Even if something wonderful was happening in my life at the moment, I couldn’t fully enjoy it because I was mentally stuck in the past.

Have you ever experienced this?

I’m going to tell you something that you already know, but may need to hear again:

No matter how much you dwell on the past, it will never change it. It will only take away from your ability to enjoy the present moment.

Also, obsessing over negative past events makes it more likely that you’ll recreate those same kind of events in the future since that’s where your focus is.

We’ve all had challenging things happen to us—maybe even things that seem unfair or undeserved. I don’t mean to discount these at all. I only want to remind you to focusing on things you cannot control (like the past) greatly diminishes your happiness and focusing on things you can control has the power to increase your happiness.

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