How many times have you caught yourself dreading the day the instant your alarm goes off in the morning? I know I have, more often than I would care to admit. But maybe the real question should be why we’re feeling this way. Why do we continue to dread being wake? I would argue it’s because we’re too focused on our obligations, which often don’t line up with what we’re passionate about. Just imagine what life could be like if it aligned with our passions and interests.
Increases in Self-motivation
When I have something to look forward to, whether it’s something as simple as date night or something more drastic like traveling out of country, I suddenly find the motivation to get ahead in school, work, and even packing. Taking the time to invest in your interests can help keep yourself from falling into a rut of unproductivity. But, if you take the time to weave your passions into your everyday life, suddenly you might find a whole secret store of motivation that you didn’t know you had.
Decreases in Stress
I’m a very strange person. When I am assigned anything for school or work I stress out, procrastinate and end up completing it mere hours before it’s due. But, if I develop an interest in something I will research for hours, days, weeks, or even months and remain totally invested with no stress anywhere in the picture. Whether it’s looking into a new animal that I want to keep as a pet or looking up every possible fact about my new tv show obsession, I can get lost for ages without feeling a single bit of stress (until I remember all the ‘real’ work I was procrastinating). The point is that when you’re working on something you enjoy doing or learning about, it doesn’t feel like work anymore because you eliminate the stress.
Achieving Better Results
Beyond having the motivation and the lack of stress towards working on things that you’re passionate about, you can actually achieve better results. Why? Because when you genuinely are emotionally invested, or when you actually care about the outcome, you’re more inclined to try your best. You put 110% in when you are passionate about the work you are doing. When I put together travel plans or an assignment about a topic I love, it turns out so much better than anything that I am forced to work on with an assigned topic that wasn’t my choice.
Enthusiasm!
And that leads me to the point of having enthusiasm. When you care about what you’re doing and you are totally invested, you have this passion and motivation to tackle the project, and life really, head on. Whenever there’s something that I’m interested in and working on I look forward to waking up and getting on with it. I have a newfound love for life and the work that I am doing because I am enthusiastic about it. It’s a refreshing break from the monotony of forcing myself to do things I have a lack of interest in.
Being True to Yourself
Bringing your passions and interests into your everyday life also allows you to be true to yourself. You don’t have to hide facets of yourself because they’re out in the open and you’re sharing them with the world around through your actions and words. You can gain confidence in yourself and not feel ashamed of who you really are. It allows you to not only be yourself during your “down time” but you can be yourself all the time because you have managed to implement the things you care about into your daily routine.
Becoming a Role Model
Strangely enough, when others see people living to fulfill their dreams, 9 times out of 10 they find it to be a source of motivation for chasing after their own goals and interests. By incorporating your passions into you life you can become an inspiration and a role model to those around you. You can encourage others to live life passionately, to live a life that makes them excited to roll out of bed and turn off the alarm in the morning. And really, that’s kind of a gift.
Whether it’s through incorporating your passions into your career or taking the time to more fully invest in your interests, life needs to be worth living so we no longer dread being awake. I decided to pursue an education in English because I adore reading and writing. I work with organizations that have a focus on writing and publishing because it allows me to keep those interests and passions as a center point in my daily life. I joined and help out with groups that keep me active in my other interests as well. Life has to be worth getting out of bed for, and the easiest way to do that is by living passionately.