Power of Passion

People ask me all the time, “How do you stay so motivated?”  Or they will state, “If I had your willpower, I could do that too.” I am going to tell you a secret....I am not always that motivated and I certainly do not have any more willpower than the average person.  I know, I know, some of you are thinking, “Yeah, right Summer!”    It’s not that I have more motivation or willpower; it’s that I have passion. What gets you out of bed in the morning? I have another confession...I hate mornings like Garfield hates Mondays!  If the world ran on Summer's schedule, nothing would begin before 11:00 AM.  It is not that I’m lazy.  In “Summer's World”, the day would just begin and end later.  Yet, on most mornings, I am up at 4:30 AM getting my cardio on.  How is it that I’m able to go against something I hate day after day?  Because I have a goal.  And not just ANY goal, a goal that I am more passionate about than my hate for mornings. Training the dog I am a proud mama to 3 dogs: Raphe, a regal male Dobie, Gracie-Lou, a little 5-pound Yorkie, and Chloe, a pig dressed in an English-Bulldog suit.  One of the main things any bulldog-mama learns is that when you want a bully to give up something that is in her mouth, you better have something else to offer that she would prefer or she is NOT going to give it up.  Well folks, that same principle applies to us too.  If you remove something from us we like, we must replace it with something else we desire more. Finding your passion To make a lasting behavioral change, you must be PASSIONATE about it.  You must want it more than you want anything contrary to it. Do you want to lose weight?  You must want to lose weight more than you want the bag of Doritos.  So how do you do it?  How do you find your passion?  What works for me is thinking of the one thing I hate...mornings, and what would I want bad enough to get me up at 4:30 AM every day? Sometimes your passion finds you It’s no secret that vanity was what originally started me on my fitness journey, but it’s not what keeps me on my path.  I may want to be fit or defy my age, but that is not something that would get me consistently out of bed at 4:30 in the morning.  What I’m passionate about is inspiring others to live their life to the fullest.  Carpe Diem!  The desire to be an inspiration to others found me.  I'd like to say that I started with a selfless, noble goal, but that would be dishonest.  It’s ok if your passion is superficial.  It’s ok if it isn't for the greater good.  As long as you're passionate about it, you'll be successful at it.  Being successful in any aspect has a limitless, snowball effect on your life; suddenly you feel like you could take on the world.  Someone who tenaciously tackles their goals will provide motivation for others to do the same, and by inspiring others you’ll often find they inspire you. "Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ~Dr. Howard Thurman