What are you passionate about? This is my favourite question, as I have found it’s a great way to start a meaningful conversation with people. I hope you understand the principle of doing activities and tasks that you love as a way to recharge your batteries and rekindle your spirits. If you still don’t know what you are passionate about, that’s okay. Some people have suppressed their passion for so long it’s hard to define what it is anymore.

It’s all okay! The answer is always in the questions we ask ourselves. In my Passionate People Program, which is a day workshop we conduct all around the globe, I have the workshop participants answer a series of questions that clarify their passion or purpose and what they have to do to make it a reality in their life. (You can go online at www.passionatepeople.com and download these questions and do the exercise for yourself.)

1. What are you passionate about in your life? What do you love to do?

   This is not about writing down just one passion; list at least three to five passions. When I ask this question, many people list their family as their passion, and so do I. I am passionate about my wife and daughters. My second love is the work I do. I am really passionate about working with people to discover and pursue their passion and live a passionate life. My third love is photography and my fourth is travel. Now what I really love is when I can combine all four loves.

2. If the money was handled in your life, what would you love to do with your time, energy and skills?

   Not how would you spend the money, but what you would do with your time. Some people would do what they have always done — same job, same role, same routines. That’s okay. There are no rights or wrongs in this activity.

   What this question does is give you the opportunity to dream of how you would choose to spend your time, what type of meaningful work you would do, and the difference you would make to those people who mean the world to you and those people you may not even have met yet.

3. What do you need to change in your life in order to achieve all that you are capable of achieving?

   After almost two decades as a professional speaker the one thing I have learned is that the audience always knows the answer. I just need to ask the right questions and create the right environment for them to discover the answer for themselves. So I believe you know in your heart of hearts what you need to change. Identify the three things in your life that are holding you back.

4. What do you need to focus on in your life right now to make you happy, satisfied and passionate?

   As I have already suggested, it is what we focus on that counts. What is it that you need to focus on right now? Maybe it is getting to base camp in your life, such as getting healthy, finding your mojo again, repairing a broken relationship or just creating the space to do what is important.

5. What advice would a 95-year-old give to you?

   Imagine you are 95 years old and have lived a great life, and someone your age now, just like you, turns up at your door. They seek your advice on how to be a better person, a better professional, a better leader, and how to have a better life. What advice would you, the wise 95-year-old, give to the person you are today about what is important and what is not so important, what matters and what doesn’t, what counts and what doesn’t count? What advice would the older, wiser you have for the person you are today?

6. What do you believe is the noble purpose in your life?

   These are not your everyday, run-of-the-mill questions. They have been designed to make you think. Henry Ford once said: ‘Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it!’

   Robert Byrne gave us these words …

‘The purpose of life is a life of purpose.’

What is your purpose? What do you want to be famous or known for? I am not talking about being famous like a movie star, but famous in the hearts and minds of the people in your life who matter. Your answers to the following questions will form the basis for your purpose now.

• What matters to you in your life?
• What is important to you in your life?
• What do you want your life to stand for?
• What type of work would give you the greatest meaning?
• What do you want to do that would make a difference?

It’s all about making you think, stretching your mind so you can have a more meaningful conversation with yourself and those people who mean the world to you. To follow your heart you first need to know what is in your heart. These questions will lead you to find out what is in your heart.

TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART YOUR FIRST NEED TO
KNOW WHAT IS INSIDE YOUR HEART.