Recharge Enthusiasm: Embrace Your Passion With Healthy Time Away
On The Go?
Enjoy this perfectly imperfect audio version of the article (complete with nature sounds and a few bloopers!)
In the society that we live in today, there is always an invisible but impressively powerful push to do more. To fill our days, to add just one more thing, to push just a little harder for the "hustle."
When looking to the future, I too, agree that growth is important...but differently than society, I believe that growth doesn't have to immediate. Valuable growth and learning doesn't happen overnight. It is more of a long-term ideal that happens when we don't realize or expect it.
Goals worth striving for and changes worth making rarely (if ever) happen quickly. It is persistence and purpose and learning that propels us along. So, if this is true, why do we rush around in hopes of fulfilling dreams automatically?
I've found it to be a sad truth how often passionate goals transform into soulless chores when we push too hard too fast. Something that once held potential and purpose and wonder can become an ongoing stressor. The passion fizzles. The joy dies. And the goal is still left unfulfilled.
So what are we to do? How can we be sure that we preserve the purpose and the passion in the goals and dreams we hold most dear?
We stay mindful, notice our truths, and know that it is completely okay to take a healthy and restorative break from the grind now and again.
1. Stay Mindful
Listening to your inner guide, your gut, your voices, whatever suits your taste, is absolutely key. Are you excited to make progress on your passion project or goal? Do you easily make time to do so and enjoy each moment of the work?
It's not all going to be glamorous, but if it is something you are doing simply out of passion, it needs to continue to offer you happiness and fulfillment along the way.
2. Notice Your Truths
If you are starting to feel less than enthused about the idea of working on your project or are finding it increasingly difficult to carve out a time to fit it in your day, notice and understand those truths.
By continuing to push the work, it will soon feel like a chore you are forced to do or an obligation you simple aren't fulfilled by. And if the passion fizzles in your passion project, what's the point in pushing and killing the joy you used to feel all together?
3. It's Okay to Take A Break
Despite what our society tells use about forward progress, progress is sometimes best made standing still. If the passion is fizzling, it may be beneficial to take some time away and set the project aside for awhile. This doesn't need to be a long time...sometimes just a few days or a week away is enough to restore the passion and drive to continue with purpose and joy. But sometimes, a longer break is incredibly powerful in restoring your fire.
I'd argue that maybe the best way to make progress is to miss the project for awhile. That way, you can pick up where you left off with restored purpose, powerful energy, and great enthusiasm. The project will undoubtedly be much improved in the long run with fresh ideas and impassioned fire behind it.
“Progress is sometimes best made standing still.”
My Story
This is just what I've recently experienced the truth and power of. This blog was born out of my passion for writing and sharing worthwhile ideas. But awhile ago, I found it was becoming increasingly difficult to it in the dedicated time it took to do my best and make my blog something I am proud of. I was rushing through things, sacrificing quality, and feeling it was a chore.
So I took about a month off. And you know what? I MISSED IT! By taking a step back, I was able to not only get some other areas of my life to a better, healthier place, but I was also able to relieve the pressure this blog had become, the chore it turned into, and restore the passion I have for writing and sharing stories and ideas. (Plus, I have some fresh insight and truly inspiring ideas I never had before!)
It may not have been conventional, and it may have not looked quite like progress on the outside, but in the grand scheme of things, both my work and myself will be much improved and full of purpose and love. I'm back to blogging with GUSTO!
All I can hope is that if you need it, you will feel empowered to grant yourself the same gifts.
With great enthusiasm,