At this point, you should be raring to go. You should be ready to be different from the run-of-the-mill guy on the street, and be clear why you want to be different. You shouldn’t be afraid of being different. You should be aware of your passion(s), and aware that it is a long-haul commitment.
Are you excited? You should be – it’s time to put passion into action.
This is likely the hardest step for everyone. It’s nice to have a plan – to know your passions, and dream about putting them into action. But to actually put your passion into action, that is scary. Because suddenly it all becomes very real. The risks and trade-offs become very apparent all of a sudden. You begin to question your sanity, look at everything logically, see the trends…
And then you realize that you don’t want it anymore. You want security. You want guaranteed returns. It’s all too risky. Too uncertain. Too… Unconventional.
It’s crazy, I know. To against the norms. To go onto one path while you watch everyone else take the other safer path. To challenge the odds.
But I’ll ask you this question: “What if?”
What if you could do it – be self-employed, run your own business, build a community for poor people, feed the millions of starving children in Africa, write a best-selling book, travel to every single country in the world – but you gave it all up?
Life is too short to give into uncertainty; too short for what ifs. We were all put on this earth for a purpose, and each day spent not fulfilling that purpose is a day wasted, don’t you think? A life that goes about doing what it was not made to do would definitely be an extremely unfulfilling one.
So, do something new and amazing every day. Don’t pass up that opportunity given to you on a silver platter. Every day that you take breath is a brand new chance to do something incredible, so be adventurous. If you want something, go after it with all you’ve got – don’t live with regrets.
This is my challenge: Do something that will bring you one step closer to your passion each and every day. If you want to be an author, practice your writing – start up a blog. If you want to travel the world, start reading up and planning your travel route. If you want to feed the millions of starving children in Africa, begin researching the root causes of famine there.
Put passion into action in small ways each day, and it will accumulate.
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P.S. I will be beginning to chronicle my own journey of self-discovery as well in the coming posts: My story as I battle the odds to be different, and to pursue my passions (writing, non-profit causes) relentlessly. I must say it hasn’t been easy so far. There has been a lot of discouragement, but there also is an incredible sense of inner peace – knowing that I am doing what I want to. Stay tuned!
P.P.S. Two things are still ongoing:
1) The giveaway of the bestselling book Shake The World is still on – participate now, or forever hold your peace (and lose the book)!
2) Fundraising for the 2 Cambodian families is still ongoing. So far I have collected a few donations – thank you so much, you know who you are! I appeal strongly to you, dear reader, to donate as well. Do your part to save them from the poverty cycle. In case it’s not clear, email me at danieltay@theoriginallife.com stating the amount you would like to donate. Thank you in advance!