(click here to read a summary of this post)

 

Follow your passion. Follow your purpose. Follow your heart. Follow your bliss. Follow your dreams.

But most importantly… don’t follow the money.

There are so many different perspectives and permutations of what we should and shouldn’t be ‘following’.

All of these tropes are great advice… but they have become cliches.

They’re commonly passed around because they touch on a common theme: we are all searching for fulfilment. 

We want to be engaged in our work.

We want to find that which makes our hearts sing.

We want to chase that feeling of waking up in the morning feeling excited to take on the day.

In other words, we want to feel alive.

But in order to attain that feeling of aliveness, we feel like we should be ‘led’ or ‘called’ by something – whether it is our purpose, passion, dreams, etc.

Hence the very famous and superbly cliched advice of: Follow your passion, not the money.

The truth is, not all of us have the self-awareness to know what is our ‘passion’ or ‘purpose’.

While the advice is definitely well-intended and has been a time-tested adage in self-help circles, it causes young people to feel perpetually unhappy because they’ve not found that ‘one passion’ that they can follow.

On the other hand, we all eventually come to realize that ‘following the money’ would not bring us lasting happiness… and yet we still do it!

Why?

Because it’s the most straightforward path! 

For someone who has no clue about their ‘purpose’, ‘passion’, ‘bliss’, or any of these lofty, abstract things – following the money seems to be the next best option…

…and probably the most realistic!

There’s no way of sugar-coating it: money makes life better.

Money solves problems.

It’s not everything.

But it can definitely change A LOT of things!

Conventional wisdom like ‘follow your passion’ is effective advice – as long as it is followed up with clear, concrete steps on how to implement it. 

Without those clear, concrete steps… it becomes empty, hollow advice that gets thrown around more often than it should.

Having said that, motivational speaker Mel Robbins came up with a rather contrarian view, one which I find to be the most compelling advice so far.

Instead of following anything, align yourself with that which energizes you.

Do The Things That Energize You

When we are energized – we feel alive.

Energy gives us motivation, drive, discipline and confidence.

We do our jobs better when we have a higher level of energy. We take on new challenges when we have a higher level of energy.

We feel a strong attraction to people with great energy.

And we’re inspired by people with great energy.

Regardless of what you believe to be your passion or purpose, start with doing things that give you more energy.

Find time every day to do these things.

As human beings, we all have a limited source of energy to power up our waking hours. Like our electronic devices, we have a built-in battery that runs on our own unique form of energy.

Hence, we are all charged by different things.

It could be BIG things.

Some of us are energized by purpose – maybe it is to be an influential teacher, Nobel Prize-worthy scientist or billionaire philanthropist.

Some of us are energized by visions – it could be to build a thousand wells in poor countries, to revolutionize music or to build a home on Mars.

Some of us are energized by aspirations – it could be to become the CEO of a multi-million dollar company, to explore exotic places around the globe or to live a life free of worries, stress or financial concern.

But not all of us need grand visions to feel energized.

Some of us are energized by the simple actions that we can do often: meditation, walks in nature, yoga, rock-climbing, dancing or painting.

Some of us are energized by our children – spending time with them, working hard to give them a world-class education and grooming them to be paragons of society.

And some of us are energized by the pursuit of making lots of money and buying Ferraris, luxury watches and villas by the beach.

The million-dollar question is: what energizes you?

Your purpose, passion (or any similarly associated self-help buzzword) represent things that indefinitely give you that boost of energy that comes from within.

Regardless of what they are – they’re personal to you.

If you’re energized by big, ambitious goals – great!

Have those big goals painted all over your walls.

Then devote yourself to small, energy-giving actions that propel you towards your goals.

If you’re energized by small actions you can do every day – awesome!

Be ruthless about making them a priority. Schedule time to do them throughout your week so that you can never miss them.

The bottom line is: fill up your days with more things that energize you, and immediately you’ll see a shift in your overall levels of confidence and motivation.

Follow what energizes you… and you’ll find that sooner or later, others will follow you!

Summary

We do our jobs better when we have a higher level of energy. We take on new challenges when we have a higher level of energy. We feel a strong attraction to people with great energy. And we’re inspired by people with great energy.

Regardless of what you believe to be your passion or purpose, start with doing things that give you more energy.

Ask yourself the million-dollar question: what energizes you? Make a conscious effort to do more of these things.

(click here to read a summary of this post)

 

Follow your passion. Follow your purpose. Follow your heart. Follow your bliss. Follow your dreams.

But most importantly… don’t follow the money.

There are so many different perspectives and permutations of what we should and shouldn’t be ‘following’.

All of these tropes are great advice… but they have become cliches.

They’re commonly passed around because they touch on a common theme: we are all searching for fulfilment. 

We want to be engaged in our work.

We want to find that which makes our hearts sing.

We want to chase that feeling of waking up in the morning feeling excited to take on the day.

In other words, we want to feel alive.

But in order to attain that feeling of aliveness, we feel like we should be ‘led’ or ‘called’ by something – whether it is our purpose, passion, dreams, etc.

Hence the very famous and superbly cliched advice of: Follow your passion, not the money.

The truth is, not all of us have the self-awareness to know what is our ‘passion’ or ‘purpose’.

While the advice is definitely well-intended and has been a time-tested adage in self-help circles, it causes young people to feel perpetually unhappy because they’ve not found that ‘one passion’ that they can follow.

On the other hand, we all eventually come to realize that ‘following the money’ would not bring us lasting happiness… and yet we still do it!

Why?

Because it’s the most straightforward path! 

For someone who has no clue about their ‘purpose’, ‘passion’, ‘bliss’, or any of these lofty, abstract things – following the money seems to be the next best option…

…and probably the most realistic!

There’s no way of sugar-coating it: money makes life better.

Money solves problems.

It’s not everything.

But it can definitely change A LOT of things!

Conventional wisdom like ‘follow your passion’ is effective advice – as long as it is followed up with clear, concrete steps on how to implement it. 

Without those clear, concrete steps… it becomes empty, hollow advice that gets thrown around more often than it should.

Having said that, motivational speaker Mel Robbins came up with a rather contrarian view, one which I find to be the most compelling advice so far.

Instead of following anything, align yourself with that which energizes you.

Do The Things That Energize You

When we are energized – we feel alive.

Energy gives us motivation, drive, discipline and confidence.

We do our jobs better when we have a higher level of energy. We take on new challenges when we have a higher level of energy.

We feel a strong attraction to people with great energy.

And we’re inspired by people with great energy.

Regardless of what you believe to be your passion or purpose, start with doing things that give you more energy.

Find time every day to do these things.

As human beings, we all have a limited source of energy to power up our waking hours. Like our electronic devices, we have a built-in battery that runs on our own unique form of energy.

Hence, we are all charged by different things.

It could be BIG things.

Some of us are energized by purpose – maybe it is to be an influential teacher, Nobel Prize-worthy scientist or billionaire philanthropist.

Some of us are energized by visions – it could be to build a thousand wells in poor countries, to revolutionize music or to build a home on Mars.

Some of us are energized by aspirations – it could be to become the CEO of a multi-million dollar company, to explore exotic places around the globe or to live a life free of worries, stress or financial concern.

But not all of us need grand visions to feel energized.

Some of us are energized by the simple actions that we can do often: meditation, walks in nature, yoga, rock-climbing, dancing or painting.

Some of us are energized by our children – spending time with them, working hard to give them a world-class education and grooming them to be paragons of society.

And some of us are energized by the pursuit of making lots of money and buying Ferraris, luxury watches and villas by the beach.

The million-dollar question is: what energizes you?

Your purpose, passion (or any similarly associated self-help buzzword) represent things that indefinitely give you that boost of energy that comes from within.

Regardless of what they are – they’re personal to you.

If you’re energized by big, ambitious goals – great!

Have those big goals painted all over your walls.

Then devote yourself to small, energy-giving actions that propel you towards your goals.

If you’re energized by small actions you can do every day – awesome!

Be ruthless about making them a priority. Schedule time to do them throughout your week so that you can never miss them.

The bottom line is: fill up your days with more things that energize you, and immediately you’ll see a shift in your overall levels of confidence and motivation.

Follow what energizes you… and you’ll find that sooner or later, others will follow you!

Summary

We do our jobs better when we have a higher level of energy. We take on new challenges when we have a higher level of energy. We feel a strong attraction to people with great energy. And we’re inspired by people with great energy.

Regardless of what you believe to be your passion or purpose, start with doing things that give you more energy.

Ask yourself the million-dollar question: what energizes you? Make a conscious effort to do more of these things.