“Doing what you love is the cornerstone to having abundance in your life.” ~Wayne Dyer

For most of us, life is so busy.

I’m usually up at 5:30 a.m. with my two-year-old, and spend the next 16 hours chasing, wiping, cleaning, (coaching), snuggling, (writing), playing, dressing, (emailing), on-my-tummy-looking-under-the-couch shoe finding, and ending ‘I-had-it-first’ wars involving my 5-year-old.

In addition to being a mom of two, I’m also a life & career coach and a blogger. So I’m busy!

And whether or not your day involves diapers, I’m sure you have an equally busy (if not equally sticky) list of things to do. With so much on your must-do list, how do you find the time to even find, much less do, what you love?

9 Ways to Actually Do What You Love

Here’s a list of 9 ways that you can actually implement into your life whatever it is that you love.

1. Find what you love

It’s hard to follow your passion if you have no idea which way it went. If you already know your passion, you’re ahead of the game. But if you don’t this is the place to start. Generally, if you don’t know what you love there might be a few things happening:

a. You haven’t encountered your passion yet: In this case, get out there and start experiencing life. Try anything that sounds remotely interesting. Look to your personality, your past and your own hopes and dreams for clues.

b. You’ve “forgotten” your passion: Maybe it’s been so long since you did a particular thing that you’ve forgotten the love you have for it. Or maybe the love you used to have for something has faded. Work to rekindle the flame or remember the core of why you loved what you loved, and apply that to something new.

c. You’re afraid: Maybe your passion eludes you because you’re too afraid of what it would mean to know what you’re passionate about. Did you have a bad experience pursuing a passion in the past? Are you afraid that your passion will call on you to be bigger, stronger, brighter, and more out-there in the world than you feel comfortable with? It’s time to face your fear.

2. Make yourself a priority

You’ll need to actually carve out the time to do whatever you love. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time – any amount dedicated to what you love will make your life better.

But, to make yourself a priority, you’re going to have to practice the art of saying no. No to things that waste your time, to things you don’t want to do but feel you should, and to things you want, but that don’t actually make you happier.

3. Shift your mindset

It’s not groundbreaking to think that you can actually make time for your passion. What is groundbreaking though, is the shift that comes with actually knowing to your core that you can make time for your passion. It’s one thing to know it in your brain, and quite another to know it in your heart. Shift your heart so that you know that a passion-filled life is possible for you.

4. Consider other people

Sometimes the difficulty in doing what you love comes in the form of feeling you’ll be disappointing others by taking time away from them.

You can choose to involve other people in your passion, or you can make room for others to enjoy their own passion.Make it ok in your relationships to pursue things on your own, knowing you come back together as more whole people.

5. Lower the bar

In my work as a coach, I help people find their passions and put them to work – literally. But you don’t have to be paid to do what you love. Sometimes this requirement is just too much out of the gate. For now, begin doing what you love to do. If you love writing, write.

If you love cooking, cook. Don’t worry too much that it’s happening in your precious few “spare” hours. As it evolves, you may be able to find a way to make your passions pay the bills, but for now, just do what you love and don’t put so much pressure on yourself.

6. Do what you don’t love (with a happy heart)

Life is funny that way. But when you put your best energy into everything you do, you are rewarded. I can’t pretend to really know the mechanics of this, though I have some ideas. The point is, though, when you constantly push yourself to be the best you can be in any situation, you begin to invite abundance and opportunity into your life.

7. Be fearless

So often I see people get paralyzed by fear. Their brain fast forwards to a yet-to-happen event which causes them to stay stuck. “What happens if I’m not good enough? What happens if I can’t make it?”

It’s these fears – fears in anticipation of something that hasn’t even had the chance to occur yet, that prevents some people from even starting. Rest in the knowledge that you can handle whatever comes your way. Then keep moving.

8. Be positive

It’s easy to be beaten down by life sometimes, and the view from deep in that rut is less than hopeful. Consciously cultivate a positive attitude. It will carry you through the days when it’s easy to give up on passion – the days when you call your passion names like “pipe-dream.”

9. Do what you love

Don’t waste too much time planning to do what you love. Just do it. Pick up that paintbrush, your guitar, or your running shoes. Remember that often the barriers to doing what we love are of our own creation. You love what you love for a reason. Now get out there and enjoy it!

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