Be Like Bo: Three Ways to Embrace Your Passions

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It is great to be back with another episode of Redefine Rich. For those who listen regularly, I apologize for the delay. The past couple of weeks, I have been traveling, but I have saved some great content for today’s episode.

Bo Knows the And

As a kid, I idolized Bo Jackson–likely the greatest multi-sport athlete of all time. As a professional football player with the Oakland Raiders and a professional baseball player with the Kansas City Royals, Bo’s athleticism was poetry in motion. But it was his horrific football injury that derailed his professional career and kept many other exceptional athletes from pursuing the multi-sport path.

But I think Bo taught us something important.

While some of us may be geared toward one passion–one career path–many of us are multidimensional. Like Bo, we excel and have opportunities in many different fields. And when we try choosing, we feel trapped or cutoff from fully living. In fact, the world tells us to find a niche and to become an expert in one area (and one area only).

Personally, I have felt the pressure to pick–to fit into a mold. Truthfully, these molds don’t feel comfortable. I recently discussed this struggle in another post and I referenced a concept from business consultant and author, Jim Collins.

In his book, Built to Last, Collins discusses the need for companies to embrace the and–to be both grounded and revolutionary. I think his principle applies to us as individuals as well. I think that we need to embrace the And.

Like Collins suggested, there’s genius within the And.

Finding and Embracing Your And

Are you embracing the And in your life?

Here are three ways I am learning to embrace my own And:

1. Clearly Define Your Passions

You can become diluted by chasing too many passions or spinning too many plates, so you need to clearly define all of your passions. From there, understand the difference between your passions and your hobbies.

For me, I love the sport of triathlon, but it’s unlikely that I will be a professional triathlete. Similarly, I love playing the guitar, but I doubt that I’ll be on tour next year.

Conversely, in regards to writing and speaking, I have found a passion along with a skill set that allows me the opportunity to provide an income for my family.

As I distinguish between my passions and my hobbies, I can prioritize my time around the two. Your hobby should never overtake your passion on your priority list.

In your life, look to your passions and see how they line up with your talents. From there, start adding value to people’s lives and you’ll find your And.

2. Seek Wisdom Outside of Yourself

Whenever we create something, we’re proud of ourselves and that kind of pride is a good thing. However, there’s a difference between loving what you’ve created because you’ve created it and loving something purely for its creation–admiring it as much as you would if it were created by someone else.

In short, you need to be objective about what you’re creating and the value you’re providing to others.

It’s great for your mom to love your blog, but would she love it if you weren’t her child?

Seek out others who will be honest with you and willing to tell you the hard truth. Maybe you love writing, but maybe your skill set isn’t there to publish your first book. Maybe you love art, but you need to hone your craft a little bit more before quitting your day job.

As you pursue your And, be open and seek out the objective feedback from others.

3. Submit Your Requests Before the Lord

I am very convicted that we don’t talk enough about praying to God and seeking out His will over our own ambition. In Psalms, it tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord and He will give us the desires of our heart, but how often to we really go before God and lay our requests before Him, allowing ourselves to be guided by His will?

A lot of times, we’re demanding of God. We don’t ask, we tell. Rather than going before God with humility, understanding that everything we’ve been given is a gift, we go before God with an entitled spirit.

A prayer that I’ve often prayed is this:

“God, bless the things that You would have me to pursue and diminish the things I am pursuing out of my own ambition.”

As you discover your And, lay it down before God and ask for His guidance.

MH

Questions: What is your And? What is keeping you from fully embracing your passions?

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About the Author

Matt Ham is dedicated to guiding others toward rich living. His own experiences have led him to the understanding and freedom of a rich life, and through his RICH Principles he helps folks uncover true richness, identifying real treasure and discovering true joy and contentment.

His first book, Redefine Rich, is a journey of uncovering a deeper, more fulfilling life by shifting your perspective. It is available in both Kindle and paperback on Amazon: here

You can order a limited hardback version of the book at www.redefinerich.com

To contact Matt, visit www.mattham.com/speaking