Category Archives: Motivation and Inspiration

Ten Questions to Help You Find Your Passion

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“Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night” wrote Glade Byron Addams.  It is not okay to NOT live passionately on purpose.  It is our destiny to take life in our hands and like clay shape and mold it into whatever gives us joy.  We are each creators and creators create!  Some are lost; some are on the wrong path, and some are stuck.  But a lucky few are on the right path even though they may not have reached their goal yet.  But, that doesn’t matter so much because when you’re on the right path, the journey itself is joyous!  Perhaps you have had to take a few detours, but you’ve kept your eye on the prize.  You realize why you are where you are and you know where that road leads.

Don’t Forget Where You’re Going

I’ve certainly had to do jobs that I didn’t want to do in order to get to do the jobs that I was born to do. The key is to not get stuck there.  During those times we have to do our best and have a process of continual learning that allows us to get better and better.  We also should align ourselves with those who strengths complement our weaknesses and our weaknesses complement their strengths.  Sadly, I’ve heard people say that there is nothing that they are passionate or excited about.  That just is not acceptable.  We were born to live a joyful life.  We were created to love life.  How could we be expected to live lukewarm, uninspired, dispassionate lives?  To help you figure out your purpose, your passion, so that you can attract possibilities and power to you, consider the follow questions:

  1. Are you currently doing work you love?
  2. Do secretly wish you were doing something else?  What?
  3. Rate your joy for your work on a scale of 1-10?
  4. What aspects of your current work do you enjoy the most?
  5. Do you find yourself daydreaming about the passionate work you hope to do one day?
  6. What is your talent?
  7. What are you good at naturally?
  8. What work would you continue to do even if you were not paid?
  9. Who do you know that excels in areas that you are weak in and how can you help each other?
  10. Who inspires you to live more joyfully?

Harold Whitman said, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Dream Derailer #10: Not Passionate about Your Work

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If your mind and heart are somewhere else, do yourself a favor and let your body catch up. Love is the greatest power on earth and when we love what we do, we’re able to tap into that life altering power.  We dissipate our power when we are doing one thing and wanting desperately to be somewhere else doing something else.  Our power is the most potent when we are focused wholeheartedly in the moment.

Do you love what you do?  I mean do you love it so much that if money were not an issue you would continue to do it anyway?  Does your work excite you?  It is the passion for what we do that attracts benefits to us.  It is the passion that keeps us on track even when we’d like to give up.  It is the passion for a goal that energizes us.  Without passion we don’t have the excitement, attraction, or energy that we need to make work meaningful.  Lack of passion and a sincere heartfelt interest in what we are doing surely has derailed many a dream.  Clearly there will be times when we have to do work that we are not as interested in, competent at, or enjoy.  But if that work will eventually lead us to our goal, then we need to stay focused.  That is what it means to keep our eyes on the prize.  Check back tomorrow for part 2:  Ten Questions to Help You Find Your Passion.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Dream Derailer #9g- Insufficient Education (continued)

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Can you imagine telling your parents you’re dropping out of Harvard to start a company?  That’s what Bill Gates did.  He had that much faith in his dream.  Andrew Jackson was a Congressman and President of the United States and never attended college.  Rachel Ray got her start teaching cooking classes even though she never went to culinary school.  She also has her own magazine and is a best-selling author.  John D. Rockefeller Sr. started Standard Oil and became the richest man in history with no college degree.  How many people reading this have allowed the fact that they don’t have a degree in a particular area to stop them from pursuing their dreams?  And, what if you wanted to be a movie producer but were denied access to film school, would that stop you?  It didn’t stop Steven Spielberg.

If You Need An Excuse, Any One Will Do!

Some people would allow the lack of money or age to keep them from going after their dreams, not  Mark Zuckerberg.  He had to borrow money to start Face-book and went on to become the youngest person to appear on the Forbes billionaire list.  And, Henry Ford never even graduated from High School.  That didn’t stop him from starting the Ford Automotive company.  Think of how many people were able to be employed and how his automating the car production process has changed our world.  One of his keys to success was that he surrounded himself with knowledgeable people.  Perhaps you should to.  Source- 10 Famous People Who Didn’t Go to College. What these extraordinary people show us is that if you have the talent, you can make it!  They followed their bliss.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Dream Derailer #9f: Insufficient Education

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Talent and Education Are Not  The Same

What do Halle Barry, Mary Kay Ashe, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Andrew Jackson, Rachel Ray,  John D. Rockefeller Sr., Steven Spielberg, Mark Zuckerberg, and Henry Ford, have in common?  You guessed it, no college degree.   That just proves that if you have the passion and talent, the lack of a formal education should not stop you from reaching your dreams.  All but one on the list are at least a millionaire and half were billionaires.

If you have the talent, you can go on to be a famous actress, build a cosmetics company empire, or start a computer company at age 19.  You can also become one of the most influential people of your time, the richest man in the world or in history, a talk show host, a movie producer and director, or create a social media phenomenon that would change how we communicate, or even revolutionize the auto industry.

Let Your Talent Guide You

No one would argue that all of the above mentioned non-degreed people are successful.  But none of them allowed the lack of a college degree stop them from reaching their dreams.  They had a passion and a drive and they went after it with all that they had.  Many even had additional obstacles to overcome beyond education.  Mary Kay Ashe didn’t let the lack of money stop her from starting Mary Kay Cosmetics.  Michael Dell didn’t allow the lack of proper facilities stop him and started Dell computers in his college dorm room.

The important thing is that their talent or dream empowered them to succeed.  What is your talent?  My friend and past mentor, Dr. Percy Thomas inspires his students with these words, “Keep your focus on your strengths and not your weaknesses. Life is too short to spend your time on acquiring talents that God has not gifted to you.” But, the talents you are gifted with, give them your all and watch magic happen!  And finally, the Buddha says: “Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”  (Continue to part 2 of this article)

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Dream Derailer#9d- Insufficient Time

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Let me start off by saying, “You have enough time.”  Or let me put it more precisely, “You have all the time you’re ever going to get!”  Time is the great equalizer.  Unlike money and talent, everybody gets the same amount of time.  Time is the one thing that no matter what we do we won’t get any more or any less of. Now, I have to admit it feels like time does seem to fly when we are doing certain things, drag with others, and to even stand still under certain conditions.  However unless you fly to the moon or evoke quantum physics theories, we each will have the same number of hours.

So with that said, let’s look at what the real issue is, managing the time we have.  One strategy for getting control of your time is to approach it like you would money.  You’ve got to know how much you have, where you’re spending it, and how much you have left.  It’s the same with your time.  When we value something we keep track of it, appreciate it, and don’t waste it. Where is your time being spent.  Do you know?  How much time did you waste today on things that did not move you in the direction of your most important goals?

How to Find More Time

As we’ve discussed, you will not find any more time, so you will have to redistribute the time you have.  Everyone gets 24 new hours every single day and most people say they are still too busy.   But, what we may not think about is how small amounts of time add up.  We’re looking for that big chunk of time which we may not be able to find so easily.  Did you know that if you just set aside ten minutes a day to work on a specific goal that it would equate to over 60 hours in a year?   What if you put just thirty minutes aside each day, that’s less time than one television show.  You would find over 180 hours.  That almost eight 23 eight- hour days in a years time.  What could you accomplish in 23 full work days?  It’s like the latte factor in saving money.  Now that we’ve established the fact that we have the time, next you need to determine how much time you need for your goals or dreams.   Next take a serious look at how you are spending your time now.  Find the time wasters and schedule your important work during that time. Before you know it, you’ll find that you have more time than you thought you did.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.