Passion Trumps Excuses

Passion Trumps Excuses

Finding your self in a malaise of “I don’t have the energy to complete this” or “I’m going to get to this later” or “that just isn’t a priority right now” is usually a result of little passion and too many excuses.

When I find I can’t get something done in my life, I have to ask myself the big questions: Why?

If my answer starts like this: “Well, I just don’t have the energy; I can’t find the time, I don’t make the time, or I’ll begin next week”; then, I can be assured that I lack the passion to get the task done.

If you lack passion for something, many ways exist to get the job done. You’re not completely bereft of choices. I give myself a payoff. If I can’t find the passion for something I must do, I combine that task with something that has a great, passionate payoff.

For instance, if you paint the porch, “Bo, then you will get to go on that ski trip to Lake Tahoe you’ve been dreaming of.” “If you finish writing your thesis, then you can buy that motorcycle.” “If you complete last year’s taxes, then you can start a course in Chinese, that you’ve been really wanting to take.”

Pay offs are like sending out a fleece. Even in the days of the gospels and the Old Testament bible, the prophets and men and woman of God made wagers with God. “If I do what you ask of me and go to Pharaoh, then prosper my family!” “If I go the king and tell him that you (God) are angry, then I expect that you will protect me from his wrath.”

You can set up a fleece—in the biblical sense of the word, a promise with a payoff—with your self and, perhaps, God too. A perfect way to add some fuel to your fire is by adding a spiritual element to the process.

One thing that gets me writing my blog every day is that I made a promise to God that I would write everyday—not for me, not for you, but for God. I don’t believe in making promises to God that I won’t keep. The fleece was that “if I serve you by being a conduit of your love and compassion and advice, then I expect that my earthly needs will be taken care of.”

Some people might think this, in some way, is anti-spiritual. But too many prime examples in the bible would suggest otherwise. In 2000, Bruce Wilkinson wrote a tiny book called The Prayer of Jabez that had Christians flocking to the bookstore. He sold millions of this simple book, all based on making a fleece with God. I remember getting the book and making a prayer similar to what Jabez did. I believe I still have it in my top dresser drawer. It read something like this: “Lord, God, I will use my time and money to give glory to your name and bring comfort to your people. In return I expect that all my earthly desires will be met according to your vast riches in glory.”

I read the prayer every day as the book suggested. The power of making a fleece pressed me forward out of my malaise and into prosperity. The combination of adding a spiritual aspect to any chore and a physical reward should be enough to give you some gas.

If it isn’t, maybe there are deeper wounds that haven’t been healed, causing blocks in your mind, concerning your goal. If this is true, then you may need to try something like psychotherapy or hypnosis to uncover what stands in your way to your deepest truth and greatest goals.

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Bo Sebastian is a Hypnotherapist and Life & Health Coach, available for private sessions to QUIT SMOKING, Lose Weight, New Lap-Band Hypnosis for Weight Loss, CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE! at 615-400-2334 or www.bosebastian.com. FOR COMMENTS: Go to the Bo Sebastian link under the title and there is a place there to create a comment. Thanks.

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