How to Channel Your Passion into Positive Momentum

I am just delighted to have Lisa Alessi of Renaissance Learner with us again. Last time she was here she cam waving her magic wand and today she is here to help us sustain our passion. In addition to her wise counsel Lisa is also generously offering one lucky reader a one-on-one coaching session designed to help you gain clarity and momentum to make your dream a reality. 

When it comes to achieving your heart’s desire, you may start out the gate thinking you have enough passion and energy to make anything happen but as time moves on, so many of us find ourselves losing motivation and drive.

I understand.  I’m a passionate person.  I’m known for leading with my heart.  I get very excited when doing something I love.

I used to tackle a project head on putting everything into making it happen only to experience heartache when I wasn’t making the headway I wanted and my passion would fizzle.

Passion alone is not enough.  You need to lead with more than just the intensity for what you want.

I used to work for a company that launched a new sales initiative every couple of months.  The marketing department spent oodles of time gathering data, creating new promotional material, and conducting elaborate training only to roll out the initiative to the sales force with little success.

They were clear on how to use the materials.  They put a lot of energy into creating and launching the new promotion but neglected to mention why the chose the strategy.

In the marketing department’s eyes, it’s obvious, sales people want to make more money and their research proved this is the next best tactic.

However, the incentive to make money is not enough to sustain motivation.  Dan Pink, author of Drive does a great job of describing the science around the evolution of incentives here.

To achieve positive momentum, you need to know the motivation behind the initiative.  What you do has to have purpose.

Why do you want what you want? Why do you want to achieve this? If you don’t do this thing, what’s at stake?

Once you’ve clearly defined the why behind your passion, write it down and look at it every day.   When you encounter an obstacle, remember why you are doing it.

Another passion killer frequently seen in the blogging community is burnout.

Laurie Foley, a brand strategist and blog coach starts her Blog More, Stress Less course letting her clients know it’s common for newbie bloggers to pour their hearts out into a series of 4 posts.

They’ll painstakingly put everything they know in to a series of initial articles only to abandon their blog 6 months later because it takes too much energy.

When you are passionate about something, it’s important to pace yourself and stay grounded to prevent burnout.

Take time throughout each day and note your pace.  Is your intensity too extreme? Are you letting other responsibilities fall by the way side?  Is your head spinning? Are you practicing self-care?  Just be aware and take steps to ground yourself when things go off kilter.

Another roadblock to positive momentum is the art of procrastination.

I recently had the opportunity to coach someone struggling to finish certification in a particular coaching discipline that required thesis level material.   He desperately wanted to move forward but every time he sat down to write he got stuck.   He was looking at the big picture and taking on the project in one fell swoop.

I worked with him to break down the project in chunks and found approaches to do it in ways he found rewarding and stimulating.  By crafting a doable plan that he could achieve in small doses every week, he found tremendous relief.

It was as if the heavy clouds had lifted and the sun was finally shining through.

When you find yourself struggling to move forward with something you are passionate about, it’s undoubtedly a sign you’re trying to tackle too much at once.

Find ways to break up the tasks to your goal into smaller steps.   Set small, clearly defined attainable goals that feed into the bigger initiative and more importantly, make sure you use methods you enjoy.

Are you ready to channel your passion into positive momentum?

In the words of Oprah Winfrey, “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”

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Thank you so much Lisa!

And now on to the giveaway.

Set Your Desires in Motion with Lisa Alessi

Do you have lots of great ideas that never seem to get implemented? Or possibly a big goal that you’ve been chomping bit by bit but not making headway? Join Lisa Alessi for a 1 hour coaching session and together, you’ll discuss what you want to achieve, apply a goal alignment process and establish a plan that will help you gain clarity and momentum to make your dream a reality.

 

 

 

How to win

1. In the comments below answer Lisa’s question, “Are you ready to channel your passion into positive momentum?”

Bonus Entries:

2. In a separate comment tell Lisa why you would like to win!

3. Stop by Lisa’s blog and leave a comment on Great leadership starts with one step.

4. Tweet the following:

I just entered to win @LisaAlessi  ‘s Dream Coaching in @BlissHabits Blogversary #apolooza   http://bit.ly/JxbuoA
Do all four and you have four chances to win!

Winner will be selected at random from all entries received by Friday, June 1, 2012 

We have a winner! Congratulations Lisa!

Check out the complete Blogversary-apolooza giveaway list and learn how you can double your chances!!

Good Luck!!