Yesterday I discussed Kate, Jeff and Paul, three people who, while very different from each other, shared the fact that they were living in harmony with their passions and as a result had self actualization.

Now it’s time to talk about you.  Are you in harmony with your passions?If you remember, there are ten passions that rule humans:  learning, achieving, leading, harmony, serving, organizing, individualistic, intimacy, adventure, and spirituality.  We all have all of the these within us, and they may emerge at any moment.  But as you go through the different ages and stages of your life, different passions will be dominant.

Let’s take a lot at how passions work in your life with these exercises:

• Which passions have motivated you in the past?  Take some time to remember key moments and life changing decisions, and reflect on how your different passions interacted with you.
• Rank the ten passions from one to ten in order of how prominent they’ll be going forward.  Which ones motivated you to be the best that you can be?
• For numbers one through three on your ranked list, write a paragraph or two about what you can do to live in harmony with that passion.  For example, if one of your passions is serving, you might consider volunteering at the local food bank or reading to kids at the children’s hospital.  If one of your passion is spirituality, maybe you need to find a church that meets your worship needs or set aside some time each day to tune into to your faith.

Passions should never be your master, but if you harness them well, they will drive you forward into self actualization and happiness.  It all comes back to the theme of this series of blogs – understanding yourself and what motivates you.  Now we’ve focused on your personal history, your personality.  Tomorrow, it’s time to consider your principals.

Would you like to read more? Have a look at our blog post Beyond success.

Roger K. Allen, Ph.D. is an expert in personal transformation, leadership, and teams. His tools and methods have helped hundreds of businesses and tens of thousands of people transform the ways they work and live. To learn more, visit www.rogerkallen.com.