What’s the secret to doing things you love every day?

In the past few months, I’ve been enjoying some amazing adventures – from going on a weeklong retreat in Costa Rica, to taking a yoga certification — with many exciting excursions and pursuits in between. And as I’ve been having the time of my life (and doing this all while happily married, being mom to 3 kids ages and running my own business), I’ve noticed a recurring question from those around me:

“How can I find the time, focus and energy to identify and prioritize doing what I truly love?” 

I know this question well, because I was asking the same thing just a couple of years ago. And what I’ve noticed is that often when we ask this question, we really want to know, “Is there a secret?”

It’s one thing to wishfully profess a big dream, but it takes much more effort to consistently identify and take the small steps needed to manifest into a big leap we truly desire.

Is there a magic switch that allows us to live more intentionally, focus on our priorities, and feel a greater sense of balance?

The reality is, the things that can make us happiest are mostly elusive. Only the truly dedicated and devoted learn how to access and radiate the joy that we all truly want. The rest of us get tied up with the busy lives we’ve created right in front of us, sometimes going weeks, months or even years getting so caught up in the motions, we’ve forgotten what truly drives and excites us.

When we notice something is missing, we tend to seek out solutions to happiness that only scratch the surface –

• If we want to have more fun in our lives, we may socialize more, but this may not fulfill our sense of purpose and desire for joy on a daily basis.
• If we want to get healthy, we sign up for a 6 week bootcamp, but once it’s over, have trouble keeping the commitment to the exercise or diet routine that we had.
• If we want more mindfulness or quality time with family, we take a vacation that fills our need for escape and recharging, but we don’t know how to hold onto that feeling once we return.

If you feel like you’ve been in one of these situations, you should be commended for recognizing what you need and going out to get it – because any step in the right direction is a step towards pursuing your best self.

But if you’ve noticed that the steps you’ve been taking haven’t created the consistency or deep level of changes you really desire, it’s possible that you need to first look deeper within.

When I saw this repeatedly with my coaching clients, I realized the power that journaling has had in my life to reflect more deeply, and decided to offer something a little different than just simple business guidance.

Because before we can follow our dreams – whatever they may be – and live a fulfilling, purposeful life, we need to understand the deepest motivators and desires within ourselves. What drives us, where is our unique brilliance lies, and where will we find the motivation to pursue our best self?

We just wrapped up the first group of women who took my 30-day journaling challenge to dig deeper into questions like what truly drives us, where is our unique brilliance that can be a gift to the world, and where can we draw motivation to pursue our best selves?

The transformations, revelations and actionable changes from this group of women has been amazing. You can read more from many of them below.

If you’d like to begin using journaling to reflect deeper into what you really want to invite in your life, you can sign up to get the writing prompts below, and join the Facebook group by clicking here.

What women who’ve joined the passion & purpose writing challenge have said

“I loved every piece of the challenge! I feel like this has helped me not only place self-care as a higher priority in my life, but also find new ways to practice self-care in the first place AND actually act on it! I know self-care needs to be a huge part of my life as preventative care. Yet I often neglect to act on that knowledge. This has inspired me to start walking the walk instead of just giving self-care lip service, which is HUGE. I’ve learned so many self-care ideas over the years, so I was really surprised to discover even more through this challenge (the exercise on what you like about vacation was super eye-opening!). And this was all with doing just a third of the prompts! As a part of making my self-care a priority, I’m going to go back through and catch the ones I missed. These prompts were MUCH more beneficial and creative than other journaling prompts I’ve found. I think it would even be helpful to redo them every year or so. Definitely grateful I stumbled upon this!”

– Ashleigh

“Thanks to the challenge, I really made myself a priority the last 30 days and tried/learned not to apologize for it or feel guilty about taking the time. I feel like I have a clearer path ahead of me on directions to head. The challenge helped me say no to things I didn’t want to spend my time doing and yes to things I had put off, freeing up time to think and pay attention to little whispers, and being more aware of how I spend my time. For example, I started doing research on a topic I was interested in, and connected with a woman who asked if she could pay me for my help in the area. I would NEVER have thought to charge for sharing knowledge like that. I also started going to an exercise class that I would not have dared to go to before. I loved it so much that I have been back and am looking forward to going again!”

-Sharon

“The challenge helped me dig into me and connect more with myself.”

-Jessica

“The challenge helped me dig rather than deflect. I hadn’t thought about many of the questions before, and realized that I needed to listen to myself. It has helped me try to connect more with people and start talking to others that are in the field that I think I want to pursue.”

-Julie

“I loved the daily questions/interactions on facebook. I loved the concept of this challenge and just having a challenge in general! I love getting outside my box and taking time to analyze things!”

-Kayla

“Since starting the challenge, I have been saying no more. I’ve noticed that I do put myself first a lot. I just have more balance with playing with my kids, taking time for me, and having boundaries around my work with less guilt. I’m more in touch with my true desires. So happy and proud of your heart felt work. You don’t mess around.”

–  Tonia

“I spent quality time on myself. I have learned so many things about what I want in life and what I have to do to achieve it.”

-Heather

“I have reflected daily about each question posted. I started out strong, reviewed and started the monthly journal and then had some great things happen in my life. I started to tell my husband/family/friends of my intentions and goals. I started putting myself first! I invested in me!!! I started a new nutritional system that has giving me great energy. I am meeting my fitness goals and seeing changes with my body, mind, and spirit. My job assigned me additional accounts and praised my work (and got crazy busy – adjustment period). Next week I am taking a vacation to visit with my family. Going home always grounds me. I am looking to spending time with my family and best friend. I also know I will finally have some quite and down time, so I can dive deeper into the daily writings and putting my intentions and goals down on paper. These reflections have not only made me look at myself, but also at what I want to achieve and the steps I need to take to achieve them.”

– Rochelle