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When I was a little girl I discovered the savory, salty taste of sunflower seeds. I’ve always loved eating sunflower seeds, especially the ones still in the shells.
When my dad first noticed how much I liked them, he decided to use that as an opportunity to teach me about growth and the importance of patience.
He showed me how to plant sunflower seeds in order to grow beautiful tall sunflowers. He taught me even though I couldn’t see any growth right away, that didn’t mean I should give up.
Digging up the seeds before putting in the effort of watering them and waiting for them to take root would be a mistake. I’d have to wait a reasonable amount of time to see the fruits of my labor.
After sufficient time and watering of the sown seeds, I saw results. The sunflowers began to grow. And grow they did!
They were towering over me! I don’t remember how old I was at the time. I just remember they were up to a couple feet taller than me.
Watching Seeds Grow
For the past three years I’ve focused my work on helping people discover and pursue their passions.
This includes helping them find ways to incorporate those passions into their careers. And when that’s not possible, helping them find outlets for their passions in other ways and other areas of their lives.
This work has required the planting of seeds. Seeds of confidence and seeds of encouragement.
Other times it’s included watering those seeds so clients’ dreams wouldn’t dry up and they wouldn’t give up when they didn’t see their own growth happening as quickly as they’d like.
For some clients it’s been a fairly quick growth process with a direct line to their next opportunity.
For others it’s been a longer growth process that includes just helping clients get to their first (or second or third) stepping stone that will eventually lead them to a full pursuit of their passion.
There have been small successes, set backs (many of which were blessings in disguise), and big successes (harvests).
I love watching my clients grow in their passions. It’s like watching the growth process of a beautiful tall sunflower.
Resources to Help You Pursue Your Passions
Do you want to sow the seeds of your own passions so you can grow in your career and your life? Here are several resources I’ve developed over the past three years to help you get started in pursuing your passions!
- Articles and blog posts on the topic of pursuing your passions: You can always access numerous posts on this topic by clicking on the “Pursuing Your Passions” link in the category list on the right.
- Pinterest board: follow paNASH’s Pinterest Board on the topic of pursuing your passions.
- Free webinar: Check out the complimentary webinar entitled 5 Ways to Pursue Your Passions in Work and Life.
- Recommended reading: The book Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans is a great resource full of exercises to help you create a life and career that incorporates your own personal passions. I’ve used many of their exercises from the book with my own clients.
