Passion and Purpose
Passion and purpose are sometimes used interchangeable. But there are differences. It’s important to clarify what those are.
I was asked to speak on the topic of purpose and happiness on the radio. I need to be prepared. So, I got my talking points ready.
My mission was to share with the host and audenice the connection between purpose and happiness. That by serving something greater than oneself, we often feel a greater life satisfaction.
I thought I’d share the talking points with you.
Passion and purpose are sometimes used interchangeable. But there are differences. It’s important to clarify what those are.
Passion is serving a personal interest.
Passions are really just interests that you’ve decided to invest time and resources into. Anything you devote your time, energy, and money into can be called a passion. Your passionate about your dog, your passionate about your job, your passionate about your art, and so on.
Passions give back to you. You gain a sense of joy, love, comfort, or accomplishment.
And the thing about passions is that they can come and go as your interests in people, things and projects change. For example, you were once passionate about Pokeman cards, but now no longer invest time or money into them. You lost interest and that passion has waned. Or you were once a passionate lover but have stopped devoting time or effort into the relationship. Or you were once passionate about the job and spent more time and energy doing the work, but now things have changed.
Purpose is serving something greater than yourself.
While you can certaining be passionate (devoting more of your time and energy into doing so), purpose is about serving something greater: your children, a community, a project, or cause.
You hear things like, my purpose are my children, my purpose is to slow down climate change, my purpose is to make people laugh or my purpose is to serve my community. You get the idea.
I want you to think about it this way: An interest is something that piqued your attention. We then devote some time and energy exploring the interest. When we invest a lot more time and energy into that interest, it becomes a passion of ours. And when that passion serves others, it’s become a purpose.
Said in another way: I was interested in traveling the world. I am passionate about traveling more and so I spend most of my time and money doing so. Today, I feel driven to help others explore the world and have it change their life.
In my book, Happy Money Happy Life, I have a chapter on Happy Spirit. In it, I share studies that show serving a purpose often results in higher sense of wellbeing. When we feel connected to others through service, it often results in feeling happier.
Purpose gives us a shared connection with others.
We’re social beings and need human connections. When you spend time with others whose purpose is aligned with yours, you feel connected, and which results in happiness. Social health contributes to happiness and when you’re surrounded by those who share your passion and purpose, you’re wellbeing improves.
Here’s an example: You are passionate about your dog and when you decide to contribute your time and resources into dog rescues, you’ve found a purpose. And by serving that purpose, you begin to meet others and become part of a community.
But what keeps you from passions and purpose?
You don’t have enough time.
I want you to know that you can do everything you want, but you can’t do it all at once.
Be honest with yourself on how your using your time. Time is finite. And we all have other obligations that require our time and commitment. When you’re doing one thing, then it means you’re not doing the other thing. It seems simple enough. But, we often are easy prey to time suckers. Think scrolling social media or binging shows.
The skill we all need to master is managing time.
Another reason is that you don’t have enough resources. This is either money, energy, or both.
When we are too busy working and living paycheck-to-paycheck, it’s challenging to find the time to do anything else. It can also be impossible to think of serving others when you’re struggling to keep yourself afloat. This is why mastering our money is vital to living a happy life.
When your finances are in order, your relationship with money is healthy, you can make better financial decisions. It can lessen the financial stress and burden you face. It will free up your mental bandwith to think about passions and purpose.
In You Only Live Once, I addressed the importance of achieving financial wellbeing that will lead to more time and resources to invest in your passions guiding you live a more purposeful one.
Through the years, I’ve connected every aspect of living well with money. Whether you agree with that or not, money weaves itself into everything. It’s a fact of life. Understanding this has empowered me to become better with my finances, so I make better choices that don’t end up trapping me back into a passionless and purposeless life.
It is not selfish to want financial freedom.
In fact, becoming financially free means you have more control over your time and have a bit more money to pursue your passions and serve your purpose.
To serve your purpose you must take care of yourself first. You must be mentally, physically and financially sound. You cannot serve your purpose if you’re mentally drained or physically tired. You cannot serve your purpose if you’re stressing about your finances.
Take the time to think about how you’re spending your time and what financial challenges your facing that keeps you from doing the passionate and purposeful things you desire.
