Why Should You Enjoy The Ride?

What’s your passion? Answer this question to yourself before you read on.

You may have been asked this question before, and I’m sure your answer has evolved over your lifetime. Many people answer this question with remarks about their hobbies, their pets, their families, social causes and the like. Many of these same people spend a large part of their lives traveling back and forth to their “good jobs” so they can make the paycheck to pay for the house in the neighborhood they’re “supposed” to live in and the car they’re “supposed” to be driving. They’ve been putting their true passions aside to pursue the world’s definition of success.

Why do so many of us search for a good job instead of looking for our life’s work that fits our passion? All too often, it’s because family, friends and the world expect something different. It’s tragic to think these people will work all of their lives doing something they moderately enjoy for the sake of someone else’s approval. They will wake up every day with no desire to go to work and feel empty most days because they realize that they never pursued their passion.

Our life choices SHOULD be made based on our talents and passion. I know some of you may be thinking, “It’s not that easy. I have a mortgage, children and responsibilities. I can’t just walk away from my current position and start over.” I’m not saying that you can, but starting at this moment, you should be motivated by the fact that you can begin to develop a long-term plan to gradually put you where you want to be.

Learn how and why you should laugh out loud with Steve Gilliland!

Steve Gilliland is one of the top-rated funny motivational speakers, master storytellers, and inspirational business speakers around the world. He regularly updates his blog to give you a chance to laugh out loud while at the same time get your dose of motivation. Also, don’t forget to check out some of Steve’s renowned books like Enjoy The Ride, Making a Difference, Hide Your Goat and Detour.

We may have to make sacrifices or disappoint a few people to reach our goals, but that brings us back to the original issue of why we are making our life choices in the first place. I once sat beside a woman on a flight who embodied the concept of Enjoy The Ride. Both of her parents were doctors and expected the same of her. When she was younger and a student nurse, she befriended a woman who eventually died from cancer. It was then that she knew her passion was to work with cancer patients. She decided to skip medical school and has woken up every day for the last 40 years loving what she did, loving why she did it and loving who she did it with. Guess what? Her parents never totally accepted her decision, but she didn’t let that stop her from being the best person she could possibly be.

So, to answer the question I proposed in the title of the blog post – Why should you Enjoy The Ride? – because, until you do, you will never be living the life you were destined to live. It’s never too late to start working to make your passion the primary focus of your life.

So let’s try this again. Answer honestly to yourself – What’s your passion?

Enjoy The Ride,

Steve Gilliland