Find Your Passion, Fulfill Your Potential

Posted by Joel Osteen 

Everywhere I go people ask for prayer for many different reasons, but one of the most common prayer requests come from people dissatisfied with their jobs. They may be paying the bills, but they don’t have any passion for what they do. Consequently, it affects every area of their life and drains them of valuable energy. In his new book, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, John Maxwell talks about it like this:

"I am amazed by how many people I meet every day who don’t like doing what they do for a living. Why do they do it? I understand the necessity of having to make a living. We’ve all done jobs we didn’t love. I worked in a meat-packing plant when I was in college. I didn’t like that job. But I didn’t stay there my whole life, doing something I found unfulfilling. If I’d loved it and it had fit my passion and purpose, I would have stayed there and tried to build a career. But it wasn’t what I wanted to do.

Philosopher Abraham Kaplan noted, ‘If, as Socrates said, the unexamined life is not worth living, so the unlived life is worth examining.’ If you’re not enjoying what you do for a living, you need to take some time to examine why.

Is it a risk making a change from what you’re currently doing to what you want to do? Yes of course. You might fail. You might find out that you don’t like it as much as you expected. You might not make as much money. But isn’t there also great risk in staying where you are? You might fail. You might get fired. You might take a pay cut. Or worst of all, you might come to the end of your life feeling regret for never having reached your potential or doing what you love. Which risk would you rather live with?

There is definitely a direct connection between finding your passion and reaching your potential. TV journalist Maria Bartiromo says, ‘Every successful person I’ve met has a strong sense of his or her unique abilities and aspirations. They’re leaders in their own lives, and they dare to pursue their dreams on their own terms.’

Have you found and harnessed your passion? Do you know what you would like to do? When you do, it makes all the difference. Why? When you tap into your passion, it gives you the E & E factor: Energy and excellence.

You will never fulfill your destiny doing work you despise.

Passion gives you an advantage over others because one person with passion is greater than ninety-nine who have only an interest."