Starting the fire...

In my chapter of the book Inviting Dialogue, I talk about finding your "burning desire" and acting upon it. Today, I decided to devote this blog post to talking about that burning desire, do you have one? Perhaps you have an inkling of a smoldering ember, or just can't put your finger on what that passion in your life is.

In the book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill talks about "Desire" in chapter 2. For those who are in the midst of a job/career change, now is a great time to dig deep and determine not only what type of a job you could do, but what is that one position that would light you on fire? If you haven't gotten to a seminar or have read the book, finding your genius is a great place to start. Pick up Dick Richards Is Your Genius at Work? and use the workbook to discover what your genius is, that will be a great start. When you look at what your "desires" in life are, here are a couple of questions to ask, to get to the heart of what you really want?

1. Would you do if for free? An artist that I had met early on had bestowed the advice, "Find what you love to do, what you would do for free and find a way to get paid for doing that." If you had an entire day off of work, all to yourself with no commitments, what would you choose to do?

 2. What are your hobbies? What are the things that you are doing in your spare time, have you ever thought of making that your life's work? Is that even possible? Don't just write it off, maybe there is a unique way you can bring your skills to that type of industry.

3. Ask the "Why" questions. You might say that you want to be rich or famous, but Why? Once you can answer that, ask Why again? What will you do then? What is it about achieving that goal, or chasing that dream that is going to keep that fire burning? What is it that you are going to do once you are rich or famous? Why is that important to you? Is that what you REALLY want in life?

4. Get some perspective. Think about it this way, when you look back on your life in later years, how important is what you are doing right now? Will you look back fondly and with excitement that you lived your dream, or will you look back and acknowledge that you were stuck, wishing you would have taken a risk and followed a dream? What will you look back on and regret that you never did?

5. Forget the Joneses. Are you doing something because that is what you think someone else expects of you, or to keep up with friends or neighbors? Don't forget this is your journey, live your life so that it honors who you are and who you choose to be not trying to keep up with the Joneses. There will always be someone who appears to have more, better or different. What counts is that you love what you have, that the things you surround yourself with truly enrich your life. Either they serve you, or you serve them. Look around, who is doing the serving?

6. Reflect on childhood. What was it that you absolutely loved? Wished you could do every day? Dreamt that you were an adult so that you could make decisions so that you could follow what really made you happy. Is that spark still there? What about trying to fan those flames? Think creatively, is there a way to make that dream a reality, maybe it a bit different way than you had thought?

And what if you just don't feel you are in a place to chase your dream, or it has been so long since you allowed yourself to dream that you are going to need some time to get back in the habit of dreaming. What then? Find someone else who has a dream, a burning desire, and be their bellows. Last week, Steve Farber visited Fargo and talked about his book and the Greater Than Yourself movement. It is an excellent book and easy read. Seek out those in your life who have that special energy, who are chasing their dream, and find a way to make them Greater Than Yourself. From what I understand, you will benefit more than you could ever know, by helping to change the life of someone else.

Here is a quote that I will leave you with today:

Never extinguish the fire in your heart that sparks your desire for success and rekindles your hopes and dreams, no matter how small the flame gets or how hard the wind blows.

-Vince Lo

Singing...Throw another log on the fire...Who wants s'mores?