Whether you are in school, working or retired -- it is never too late to figure out what you love to do and to create a life around your dreams. So the first step in following Joseph Campbell's advice to "Follow Your Bliss" is to get busy finding it.
Where Do I Start?
Regardless of where you are in life, the first thing you need to do is realize that ...
If you want to find your bliss, you are going to have to discover it yourself.
The answer to who you are and what you love is not contained in any book or sold in any store. Instead, the answers to what fires your imagination and makes your heart beat faster are found inside of you.
In order to find them, you will have to go on a journey of self discovery. And you will have to keep at it until you find what you are looking for. That means that you may have to create some new habits, such as ...
Turning Idle Daydreams Into Actively Imagining Your Future
We all have daydreams of working at the perfect job, making a great income and spending it to make all of our dreams come true. But often, that is as far as we get -- idle daydreams which we have no idea how to make real. These daydreams are, in fact, seeds of possibilities that need to be nurtured. By actively imagining possibilities for your future, you begin to explore the clues your imagination holds about what you love to do.
Relying On Yourself To Figure It Out
We know that many people think they will someday stumble upon their bliss. But figuring out your potential is not taught in most schools. And few parents, teachers or bosses know how to help. No one else can know what makes your heart leap, keeps you up reading late into the night, or draws you to it like a magnet. So you need to put yourself in the driver's seat and take control of your search for your bliss.
Realizing It Is Never Too Late
Your whole life is ahead of you -- even if you are retired or in the middle of your career. By any calculations even if your life is half over, there is still another half to be lived. Right now is the time to start improving your life. So why not take a few baby steps and see what you can find?
Realizing You Are Not The Only One
Millions of people all over the world graduate from high school, get up and go to work each day, and retire only a vague idea of what they really want to do with their life. Yet, everyone of them had childhood dreams of greatness, and most still think about what they would do if they no longer had to earn a paycheck. So you are not alone if you are still searching for something more extraordinary out of life.
Knowing Where To Start
Finding your bliss is like learning to drive or ride a bike -- much easier if someone else can show you how. Unfortunately, few people have found their own bliss, and even fewer are skilled at helping others find theirs. That is why we created this web site and share so much information online. We wanted to help people like you who are searching for their bliss and do not know where to start. Our online pages provide a ten step process and recipe for discovering your bliss (aka your potential, "your thing" or your dream job, career or business). And if you need more help, we also publish guidebooks to walk you step-by-step through the process.
Along The Way ...
In addition to creating new habits, you may also have to overcome some common obstacles that may hold you back. These include false beliefs and hidden fears such as ...
My Life Will Change
Learning what your bliss or potential is will change your life. It can transform everything from how you see yourself and the way you look at the world to what you believe is possible for you.
That kind of change can raise a lot of fears about losing your friends and alienating those close to you who are more comfortable with the old you. You may also fear that you are risking a safe job and a secure paycheck for a pipedream.
Hidden obstacles that have been holding you back can also emerge from the shadows, blocking your progress.
If you are a student, you might find that you have a whole new perspective on why you are going to school. And that could mean realizing that you need to change your major, choose different classes or get serious about your grades.
If you are working, finding your bliss can mean you are no longer satisfied with your job and spark the desire to find new work that is more meaningful or fulfills your life calling. It could translate into needing to go back to school, starting a business or moving across the country to be part of the industry you feel called to.
And if you are retired, friends and family may not understand your becoming passionate and action oriented just when they expect you to slow down and spend your days enjoy your grand kids and doing your favorite hobbies full time.
I Cannot Make A Living Doing What I Love
Often, fears of financial hardship stop people from even taking the first step in discovering their bliss. They try to figure out how to make a good living before they even know what it is. Which makes as much sense as trying to figure out what you are going to spend on airfare before you have decided where you are going on vacation. All over the world people are being handsomely paid for excelling at the work their gifts and talents make them perfect for. If they can do it, doesn't it make sense to at least find our what you can excel at and love to do -- before deciding if you can afford to do it for a living?
What Am I Looking For?
To find your bliss, you need to know what you are looking for. However, definitions of "bliss" rarely capture how you feel when you have found it or are in it. Here are a few of the ways we have personally experienced what it is like when you find and follow your bliss ...
your feel at one with the world, as if everything is in its rightful place and all interconnected
you feel totally alive, as if your body is resonating at a slightly higher frequency
you eyes light up and you feel like you could spend hours talking about the subjects you love
you see things more clearly, as if a mist has cleared or a fog has lifted and now you can see more clearly or deeply understand
you feel totally at home within your skin and so comfortable within yourself that you the ideas of who you are fade
time ceases to exist when you are following your bliss - whether that is researching at home or being on stage
you feel surrounded by kindred spirits when you find other people who are passionate about the same things
you have deep, insightful discussions with people you have known only a few minutes
you experience leaps of insight and the profound understanding of concepts and ideas that go beyond words
you find yourself creating at an extraordinary level far beyond your normal abilities
worlds of ideas and knowledge that you never knew existed open up to you
the world becomes a place where synchronicities start to make sense and form a subtle path pointing you to the things you need to discover
you find yourself (many times unknowingly) amassing a collection of resources built around your bliss
you feel the touch of unseen hands guiding you
you feel like a light deep inside of you has been turned on
days you follow your bliss start to feel a bit like Christmas morning, making you want to jump out of bed and see what the day holds
you surprise yourself by the things you say and do because they make you seem much smarter and gifted than you usually think you are
So, know that you have a few ideas of what it feels like to have found your bliss, are you ready to go find it?
Taking The First Step
Step 1 in finding your bliss is taking a journey of discovery, where you get to explore your past and discover all the things you love. We think all the things you love are sprinkled throughout your life like powdered sugar on a donut. Most people do not pay much attention to it, but it is there if you look for it. And it is what gives life its sweetness.
Most people think of their bliss as just one thing. But our experience is that it is a combination of over 30 ingredients, and the more you find the more bliss you create. So we created a recipe for a day following your bliss. That is a day when you are living an extraordinary life ...
Using your gifts and talents
Doing what you love
Using the things you love
Surrounded by the people you love
Spending time in the places you love
Having the experiences you love
Working on the problems, issues, and needs you love
While following your life calling
And being inspired to live an extraordinary life story
Creating a day like this starts with spending some time exploring your past and remembering all the things you truly love -- not a bad way to spend a weekend in our opinion. Then you collect them all together and list them out on one sheet of paper so you can start to see the pattern they create. It doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but imagine how you would if this before and after example described you and put into your hands a shopping list for creating the life you dream of but never thought you could live? We all start with a few vague ideas like this. And it is not that difficult to transform them into a description of your ideal day or the ingredients of your dream job.
The Next Step
If you want to take the first step, we recommend you start with these links ...
