Fueled with Passion

What is the Purpose of Life? Hasn’t this question crisscrossed your mind several times? I would be lying if I said that it bothered me only a couple of times! Till date, no one has given me a simple answer to this question but they did tell me that this was something to be self-explored.

I don’t know whether purpose of life is synonymous to fulfilling the needs of life. I compared this thought with Maslow’s theory of needs of life which is a hierarchy of basic needs, psychological needs and self-fulfillment needs.It means that the individual at this stage seeks personal growth and attempts to achieve his full potential through some creative means.

 

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Personally I would term this “creative means” as some sort of a hobby or something that one is passionate about. For one it could be athletics, for another it could be being an ideal life partner or for someone it could be climbing the mount Everest. Because, hobby is one such thing which gives you sense of satisfaction and makes you feel so good about yourself. Even if you are having a bad day or unhappy with your workplace or boss or co-worker or having troubles in your personal relationships, your hobby will never give a sense of disappointment because this is something that defines you and will always give you a sense of happiness.

So if you already have a hobby or a passion then life becomes simpler, but if not then it’s very essential to identify one. Think about it, what is it that brings a smile on your face? What is that you will never mind doing for free! What is it that you can spend hours upon? What sparks your creativity? What do you love talking about? These are certain questions that may help in figuring out what you are passionate about.

Once you have discovered your passion, what is the game plan? Does it mean that you quit you school, college or job and just pursue your passion? If you feel that this is the answer for it and by pursuing it you will be able to make a living for yourself or by adopting an alternate career option you will be able to devote more time to your passion then yes, you should go ahead!

But, for those of who want to pursue their existing career and think that they can chase their passions later in life should take a pause. The answer is not to take an extreme step but it can also be to adopt a middle path whereby you can work towards your career and passion both!

What I mean is, to adopt certain lifestyle and mindset changes that will help in achieving this “middle path.” If you think of your hobby or passion as a habit then it becomes as easy as brushing your teeth every morning. You can never go a day without it (I assume 😀 ). Another one could be doing some changes in your daily schedule and keeping a specific time slot  for it. If you think you can’t then maybe putting an alarm on your mobile can help! Look out for opportunities, people and forums that help you work towards your passion.

There have been days in my life when I felt that I have such a hectic schedule and only those people who are in schools or colleges can spend time on their hobbies. Then, i decided to keep a note of the way my day was spent and realized that i was just fooling myself by saying that there is no time. If nothing else, then i would fool myself by saying that the travel time to work is so high and so there is no time left. Someone then questioned me, why can’t you use your travel time to plan or read about your passion. Many of us including me spend atleast 15 minutes on social networking sites every day, what if we actually read about our hobby or even planned something about how to work towards it? Maybe the solution is to put “passion” time ahead of pleasure time”.

Sometimes, it also helps to have someone as your role model in that field. When you look up to that person it automatically inspires us to work on our passions.

This obviously doesn’t mean that we ignore our work or career and put our jobs on a backburner. But it definitely means that we need to work towards our passion and not just dream about it. Talking to others whom you are accountable to, for example your spouse or children or even your boss or co-worker may help. If we openly speak to them about it and seek their cooperation it will make things easier.

For me, when I spend time on my passion, which is dancing it is the most ecstatic feeling in the world and gives me a sense of being “alive” and not just living!

I still do not have an answer to my question on “purpose of life” but there is one thing that I have realized for sure and that is having a passion will surely make life meaningful!

“Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.”
– Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Career Characteristics

I thoroughly believe that though many things are destined in life but generally the things in life you do is a consequence of the choices you make.

Most of the far impacting choices we make are the ones in the formative years of life. One such choice is choosing the right career for you. It’s very common to see students making career choices either by compulsion of elders or peers or lack of knowledge or half baked knowledge and then later in life they regret their career choices.

I would not say that i always had a clear vision of what i wanted to do in life. But, yes i was pretty sure by the time i was in grade X. I always knew that science was not my cup of tea even though i had great scores in it. Having a liking for a subject is always different that scoring well in that subject. I knew that i was more interested in business, economics and finance. So, before my board results were out i was clear in mind to opt for commerce.

Now days, students are far clearer of what they want from life and have a great access to a lot of information. It may not be an easy choice but i think that with the kind of information available on every subject, taking this decision would not be such a tough one.

I would never propagate being a book worm and just doing well in academics! It is essential that you live your life by following your passions along with having a right career for yourself. This may mean that you also adopt your hobby as your career but make sure it is a long term and a sustainable one.

From my experience I can surely tell that being an all rounder is the key to success not only in school or college but also professionally. I would define all rounder as someone who follows one’s passions, is good with people and is knowledgeable.

To give a personal example, even though i have burnt midnight oil in school and even later to become a Chartered Accountant i never gave up my passion for dance and habit of reading. And, believe me this has truly helped me shaping a better personality for myself and having a holistic view in life.

This is something i practise even today…. My normal work schedule is quite hectic but i make it a point to manage my time in such a way that i can spend about 6-7 hours a week either in dance or exercise.

As far as building meaningful relations with people is concerned, it’s very important to value diverse opinions, respect everyone, be genuine and communicate effectively.

Having a great academic background will help you getting into your first job but to grow up the ladder it’s only about your attitude and the way you deal with people. A person’s character is built during the formative years and i believe that one should start practising and develop these skills right from the beginning.

One thing that i truly believe in is that there are no free lunches; so don’t let go of even a single day of your life and work as hard as possible towards your dreams and passions and it will surely pay you back.

Until next time, “Keep calm, work hard and be nice to people.”

Hello world!

A Chartered Accountant by profession and born to dance! Strongly believe that dance gives me the strength to sail through my life. Am not a genre specific blogger and this is my first attempt at blogging. I do not feel the need to write about any specific topic but want to write about topics close to my heart.