You are an amazing person with gifts to share with the world. Your gifts are unique. Maybe the world doesn’t know about your unique gifts. Maybe you don’t even know, or you have forgotten what they are.
Trust me on one thing – you are here to do terrific things on this planet. I would love to help you along the way as I learn and grow. I am not the expert, but I have discovered something that I will use in the yoga consulting work that I do.
What is Your Passion?
In 2016 I started to dig into defining my niche as a yoga teacher. Along the way I recorded what I was doing and what was working. Out of that was born a workshop. I taught it in person first and now I offer it online. It continues to evolve as I continue to learn.
For instance – instead of always talking about passion I now like to add in the word curiosity. If you are asked to follow your passion – how does that feel? What about following your curiosity?
The work by Elizabeth Gilbert about passion has really started to sink in.
To learn more or register for the
Define Your Yoga Niche workshop – click here.
This niche / passion / curiosity work has become a regular part of the decisions that I make as a yoga teacher. It helps to clarify my path forward and gives me guidance when decisions arise. I wanted to check that my values and goals were reflected in what I was offering as my work in the world.
“Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.” ~Napoleon Hill
Part of this work came up as I was listening to a podcast by John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire. He was talking about making a list of your passions and your expertise. It is about defining a topic for a podcast, but it translates well to choosing or confirming a career or path.
I did it and it was so useful for me. To hear the podcast with an online slide show click here.
I have also outlined the easy steps below along with some questions that have helped me.
- Divide a piece of paper with a line down the middle.
- On the left side write PASSIONS/CURIOSITY at the top.
- On the right side write SKILLS/EXPERTISE at the top.
- Over the course of at least five days add to this list.
- Ask others what your passions and skills are. Reach out to people who knew you as a child or to those who know you now. Call someone and ask them and/or ask your social media friends. Don’t skip this step. It is worth it.
- Draw a line from one side to the other when you see that an item is on both sides.
- Don’t worry if this points to a career or yoga style that someone else is already offering.
You are unique and you can choose to offer this in your own way.
I will say that number 5 is crucial. Asking the people who know me well was so inspiring. My children told me that I have a skill for looking after children. I hadn’t added that to my list, but it was so great to hear it from them and add it. So many of my friends told me that I have been good at caring for animals and people since I was little. Many of them used the word nurture. How cool is it that it is already in the name of a business that I love and am a part of – MamaNurture!
Need Help?
Here are some questions that will help you to define your passions and your skills.
Define Your Passions/Curiosities
- What excites you now?
- What did you love doing as a kid? (No matter how silly it seems – write it down)
- What do you lose track of time doing?
- If you had an entire free day or weekend what would you love to do?
- What games did you or do you love to play?
- Are there books that you read or music that you listen to that inspire you?
- What were your favourite subjects in school?
- If you were to volunteer your time to something what would it be?
- What are you interested in learning more about?
“When you are passionate about something, you don’t notice what time it is because you are so engrossed in what you are doing.” ~Joe Sweeney – author of Moving the Needle: Get Clear, Get Free, and Get Going in Your Career, Business, and Life!
Define Your Skills/Expertise
- What skills do you naturally have?
- What do you know about now or are interested in learning about?
- What have I been trained to do?
- Am I good at cooking, talking with people or inventing things?
- What are the skills that I would put on my resume?
- What were you good at as a child, teen and in the past?
- What do people ask for your help with?
- Do you know how to ride a bike? Remember the skills that might seem ordinary.
- Do you or others see you as an expert at something?
