Lately, my bio reads like a gal off in too many directions. One week, I’m in Vancouver doing a presentation for Hands & Voices. Then I’m off in another direction doing a workshop for parents of deaf and hard of hearing kids or “Beyond the Limits” for deaf and hard of hearing students. Yet another week, I’ll be at the World Barefoot Center (Thanks to my sponsors, ZVRS, Phonak and Tommie Copper) learning how to get up backwards behind the boat or working as a Blog Manager for the site.
Then there’s BookHands discussions every six weeks, Mentoring with families. I’m a Manager with SendOutCards so I share that resource everywhere I go. I’m a Passion Coach and a Certified Passion Test Facilitator–I help people unwrap their top five passions. I’m an author of three books with several more on the way. When I have a free day, I substitute teach. I’m also a mom of three teens and a wife.
Someone recently asked me, “How the heck do you do all that?”
The answer is pretty simple: when you do what you love to do, you can do so much more in a day. You let the insignificant stuff fall to the wayside because you’re deeply immersed in your passion.
My friend, Sutton Parks, whom I met at Dan Miller’s Coaching with Excellence (affiliate link to some great stuff!) workshop recently posted a great quote by Kix Brooks on Facebook which pretty much sums it up perfectly:
“I am definitely working more now,” he says, “but the word ‘work’ is the confusing part of that. People ask me all the time how do you fit all this stuff in, how do you schedule it? The secret is everything I’m doing is something that I really want to do. It’s just like if you go to the beach for the weekend, you’re gonna fit it all in. I want to go here, I want to go to my favorite place to eat, I want to ride go-karts, I want to rent wave runners, and I’m gonna sit here and put my legs up and read a book. You get all that stuff in because you want to. That’s how my life is. It’s like I’m running from place to place and I can’t wait to get to the next one because when I show up, I — for the most part — kind of know what I’m doing. [laughs] It’s all interesting and fun to me, and I just can’t wait to do it all.”
I probably will narrow all of this down at some point, but right now, I have a lot of overlap. For example, I write when I’m on the plane, I network for SendOutCards/my books/future gigs when I travel, and I’m home the rest of the time hanging with the family.
How can you do more of what you love in your life? First and foremost, you have to identify what it is you enjoy doing most. What brings you joy? Set your intention–what do you want to intend in your life today/tomorrow/this year? With every action, you are either moving closer to your passion or further away. Choose wisely.