When Passion Rules Johanna Lindsey

One of my favorite authors is passionate about her craft, which she preaches to other writers. She says that if you want your writing career to succeed, you must love what you do. You have to feel passion for it at all times, or it will die.

I’ve heard this said so many times that I now agree with it. If you don’t enjoy what you are doing, then chances are you won’t be sticking with it for very long.

You will put in the effort at the beginning, but soon enough, boredom will set in and you will stop trying as hard. At that point, quitting is the easy thing to do.

It’s harder to stay motivated when you don’t really care about what you are working on. And we surely should, because we invested our time in learning how to write!

Writing is a skill that can make us rich, or at least pay the bills, so why not try our hand at it with passion? Why not strive to give our best every day?

But aside from being an inspiring motivational speaker, novelist Johannah Lindsey also happens to be a successful writer herself. Her work has earned her several awards and she even inspired me to start writing. So let’s take a look at seven ways that she built her writing career on passion! Read on to learn more.

What does it mean to be passionate?

Being passionate means having a strong internal desire for something or someone. It is feeling an intense emotion towards a thing or person.

It is experiencing significant motivation towards the object of passion. In other words, you have to want what you want. You need to feel this love inside.

When we are not passionate about something, there can be many reasons. Sometimes, we lose interest because nothing seems to make us very excited.

Other times, we cannot find the thing that makes us feel passionately about it. We might get so close, but never really fall in love with it.

There’s no wrong way to be passionate, but if you notice that you aren’t quite as enthusiastic about something these days, try looking into why.

Maybe you lost touch with your inner-passionate self, or you just didn’t invest enough time in the things that you do like before.

Give yourself some extra time to explore all the things you loved and then add new experiences to your life by investing in different activities.

What does passion mean in terms of leadership?

It’s not something that happens once in a while, it’s an everyday occurrence

That is what makes it so powerful. Leaders who know how to tap into this source of energy are always surrounded by strong relationships, incredible loyalty from those around them, and effective communication.

When we connect with people on a personal level, when we listen to their stories and ask questions about them, they feel acknowledged and understood – which is one of the key components to creating trust.

It also means taking time to understand their strengths and weaknesses as a person, and using these qualities to motivate them towards greater achievements.

Having a passion for your job can help you inspire and influence others to perform better. You will be able to relate more easily to them and get more out of them.

But being passionate about leadership doesn’t just apply to colleagues — it applies to yourself too.

What are the benefits of being passionate?

We’ve already discussed how passion can help you achieve your dreams, but what is really exciting about this quality is that it helps you to connect with other people.

It makes interacting with others more interesting because you want to learn more about their ideas and thoughts. You feel an urge to understand why someone else feels passionately about something so you do too.

This feeling is called empathy. It comes from understanding what emotions another person is experiencing.

By having empathy for other people, they will trust you more easily and be willing to let go more quickly when you need to move onto something new.

What are the challenges of being passionate?

It can be difficult to identify what passions you have and how to bring them out. Some people may feel that they do not have any passion or cannot find their passion, but this is usually because they think that passion should be about something materialistic – such as a career or money.

It can also be hard to know when it is time to let go and pursue your dreams, even if things seem completely impossible.

If you ever feel like giving up, remember that it took a lot of work and energy to get where you are now, so dont give up!

Never forget why you originally wanted to achieve your goal. Keep learning and developing yourself and these lessons will keep coming in new forms.

You may need to reevaluate your goals, however, depending on whether you've hit a wall and given up. You might want to try looking at your goal from an angle that you had previously overlooked.

What can you do when you are passionate?

The first thing is to recognize that passion is not necessarily a good thing. Sometimes, it is an expression of fear or insecurity.

Something we become addicted to is often due to how satisfying it makes us feel. Having something we love so much that we have to work hard to achieve it gives us a sense of fulfillment and success. It also makes us happy because we get to enjoy it.

But in addition to these benefits, there are possible negative effects as well.

When we lose control over something we love, it can hurt other people. We might spend money we don’t have on things that give us small boosts, but eventually cost us more than they worth.

It is very important to be able to distinguish between what adds value to your life and what doesn’t.

What should you do when you are passionate?

What should you do when you feel passion for something? You can choose to give up or not, but if you really want it then you have to go after it with all your heart and soul.

It will take time and energy, but don’t expect quick results. Take what is needed to get there and once you arrive at the destination, enjoy the experience!

Does this mean quitting your current job so you can pursue your dreams full-time is the best option? Definitely not, unless that is the path you truly desire.

Having a career and life balance that works for you and your family is an important part of happiness. Plus, being able to walk away from a position because you wanted to do something else isn’t good for anyone.

If you need help supporting yourself while pursuing your dream, consider investing in some savings or increasing your income.

What does this mean for your health?

As discussed, passion is one of the most important traits to thrive as an individual. If you lack passion in your life, then it is difficult to achieve success or happiness. You may also struggle with symptom relief and disease prevention because you do not enjoy doing these things.

For example, someone who is incapable of experiencing strong emotions can be hard to motivate themselves to exercise or make healthy food choices. They may even avoid seeking medical help due to fear of what doctors will ask about symptoms.

If you feel like you’re running out of steam at work and home, try looking into why that is. Is it financial problems, relationship issues, or feeling stressed out?

Take some time to evaluate those factors, and see if there are any underlying causes. While no one ever says they wanted their job, or person they were married to, to end up breaking down and crying every day, sometimes things just don't work and need to be terminated.

What does this mean for your relationships?

It’s great to want what you want, but when passion becomes more important than anything else, it is no longer passion, it is obsession.

This isn’t good, and it’s very dangerous. We all need to understand that if we have feelings for someone, then obviously they matter to us, but we should be able to balance those matters with our other commitments (work, family, etc.).

If we can’t, it may indicate a deeper problem within ourselves.

We might feel compelled to focus almost exclusively on our romantic desires because we expect nothing in return, or we don’t trust ourselves to satisfy our own needs. This doesn’t make sense unless you consider yourself a pretty passionate person!

If you ever feel like your love life has gone from casual to serious, it’s probably about time to reevaluate how you're handling your career and personal lives. You deserve to enjoy both of these things, and you'll know when you've reached this stage by yourself.