The Conscious CEO & The Awakened Corporate: Your Passion Isn’t Perfection

by Jennifer Peters | Apr 30, 2019 | The Conscious CEO

I want to tell anyone out there pursuing their passion a big lie somewhere along the way I’m sure someone (maybe it was “THEY”) told me: If you pursue your passion, it will be perfect & you’ll love every aspect, every day of it.

It’s 100% false. Just like I’m sure giving birth isn’t a breeze, getting waxed isn’t comfortable (who the hell came up with that one?) & not all workouts are fun even if you love exercise, you will not like all things about pursuing your passion all the time. Period.

I had this silly view that I was meant to love every minute of pursuing my passion & also that if I was doing “what I was meant to do” that it would be unicorns & peonies and everything would go smoothly. So, I don’t mean to burst your bubble but whoever came up with that was the same poop head (I mean I’m sure they were perfectly well-meaning) who invented pantyhose & convinced us it made our legs look better ?

It’s just not true.

I LOVE sooooo many aspects of what we’re doing at Just BE Kitchen. The list is long. And as much as I want time away from the space, I also go nuts sitting at home trying to do computer work thinking of all the people I could connect with or what I need to do at the site. I love being there. And so many other things.

But, there’s stuff I procrastinate doing. There are things I simply don’t enjoy. There are actual things I hate. And, gulp, stuff I’m not good at. At all. And I’ll tell you flat out – it’s NOT easy. It’s hard doing what you love.

And really – when did we determine that HARD equaled BAD? It doesn’t. But we have to accept that it is going to be hard. I had this misconception that when you were living your purpose, the sky would open, the Universe would deliver & it would be breezy. I was told that when you’re living your dream, it’s effortless & you wake up every day ecstatic. It’s. Not. True.

Also, I felt that if I didn’t LOVE every aspect – then I was unsure if this is truly what I wanted to do. So, many times, I started to get into my head & bat around what else I would do. I had left a Corporate job, I had zero desire to look for another corporate job & so there were days, seriously, that I did my passion because I had no idea what else to do. But it was some silly story in my head that was telling me that maybe I wasn’t really authentic in this passion because I didn’t enjoy all of it, all of the time.

My big Ah-Ha on this was when I was really deflated about a year ago, frustrated where the business was, feeling like I was getting nowhere – I had lost another potential space & detested cooking out of my home. I went to bed & signed up for a course by Brene Brown online. I watched at least 4 of the modules & she says in one of them that she absolutely hates writing! YES – Brene Brown hates writing. She lives for the research but struggles with the prose. But she explained, it was just one part of her overall job & generally, she feels blessed & loves what she does.

It was the most liberating moment for me. I finally allowed myself permission to acknowledge that I can still be pursuing a passion and yet, there are parts that I don’t like. Or I’m not good at. Or I simply want to avoid. And now I realize that there are people on my team who truly excel at things I don’t. Who enjoy the things I don’t. And yes, I STILL have to do things I detest. And it’s ok.

Your passion isn’t perfect. It isn’t utopia. It’s hard. It doesn’t come dressed with a bow of all the best things you enjoy – or are good at doing. And that doesn’t mean it’s not your passion. It doesn’t mean you’re inauthentic, or not committed or haven’t figured out what you want to do. It’s just like any intimate relationship – there are things you love, and there are things you wish weren’t there, but you love them anyway. It has its beautiful sides & it’s ugly sides.

BE friends with your passion. Love it. Nurture it. Fight with it. But, know it’s not perfect. It’s wonderfully, BEautifully flawed…& despite that, you can adore it anyway.