#359: Discover Your Passion: Inspirational Shortcuts to Personal Growth & a Purpose-Filled Life

If you're game for it, well, then, my friend, let's find your thing.

It's all inside of today's episode.

Welcome to 359.

Hey.

I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, and you are listening to Grit, Grace and inspiration Inside of Today's Episode.

We are building on the incredible story that I introduced to you in our last episode.

That would have been episode 358, where I sat down with an amazing woman named Kim.

Now, if you heard Kim's story, you heard how through a series of unfortunate events, Kim was struck with an illness, a sickness that literally left her paralyzed.

But of course, that isn't where her story stopped.

No, actually, that was the beginning of a whole new chapter in her life, that next chapter that she would embark upon.

Well, it's what inspired today's episode because if you heard her story, you will know that Kim went from a woman being paralyzed, unable to walk, unable to get out of bed, unable to live the life that she had been living, to a woman at 60 years old who got into powerlifting, Olympic powerlifting at that.

And so when I look at her story, I don't just find it inspiring, empowering.

I find it that amazing testament to what it means to find that thing, the one thing in your life that drives you, that excites you, the thing that's going to heal you, the thing that's going to have you taking your life back.

For Kim, her thing became weightlifting.

But my question to you is, what about you?

What is your thing?

If you don't have your own thing picked out, chosen, the thing that drives you, the thing that excites you on an ordinary morning, well, maybe today is the day that you start to think about it, you start to figure out exactly what is that thing when everything else is falling apart.

You know, you can count on this.

Now, if we want to go a level deeper, to really understand what I'm talking about when I'm talking about finding your thing, it's more than a hobby.

It's more than an activity.

It's more than Kim lifting weights.

This is about you uncovering a part of yourself that maybe you didn't even realize existed.

Or maybe it's you uncovering a part of yourself that you've forgotten about, that you've covered up as the years have gone by.

For Kim, of course, it was weightlifting.

For me, it became inspiring people through speaking and podcasting.

Your thing, it could be anything.

It could be painting.

It could be on the computer, maybe designing webpages.

It could be you doing arts and crafts.

It could be running, it could be cycling, rowing.

Anything and everything is possible.

The options are endless.

So don't put yourself in a box thinking it has to be one type of thing.

No, your thing is as individualized as you are.

The whole key here is that it resonates with who you are.

It resonates on a deeper level.

Again, the test here, does it excite you?

Does it make you wake up in the morning excited because you get to do that thing?

That, my friend, is the secret to be sure that you're choosing the right thing.

The analogy I like to use.

When you find your thing, it's like you put on eyeglasses for the first time.

Now, when I was a little kid, back way before I ever became blind, I got glasses for the first time.

I was little.

I think I was in kindergarten when I got glasses.

And I didn't realize how bad my vision was until I walked out of the eyeglass store.

And I can remember walking out with my new eyeglasses on.

And I remember looking down at the grass that was in between the sidewalk and the curb at the parking lot.

I could see individual blades of grass.

I had no idea I was missing out on this.

I could see the individual leaves on the trees.

Again, I didn't realize I was missing it until I could see it, until I could see clearly.

When you find your thing, it's like you getting to see clear, just like that.

If you are at a point in your life where you're looking for a transformation, you're looking to up level your personal growth and development, well, my friend, finding your thing is literally the shortcut you've been looking for.

Now, what if you don't know what your thing is.

You're not really sure about what it could be.

You're kind of even maybe wondering, maybe this isn't really for me because I don't have a thing.

Well, I believe everybody has a thing.

I mean, look at Kim, the lady who inspired this.

She didn't know she had a thing until she picked up a dumbbell.

I didn't know that I had a thing until I kept showing up, sitting in this podcast studio, recording episodes day after day.

And then I realized, wow, I think I found my thing.

So, basically, my friend, finding your thing, it's a journey.

It's not a destination.

It's going to take some trial and error.

It's going to take some playing with it.

I want you to be excited about this journey of discovering your thing.

Don't let it stress you out.

Don't get overwhelmed by it.

Instead, I want you to enjoy the process.

Now, I do want you to understand that sometimes it does require you being willing to step outside of your comfort zone, to try something new, to put aside your hesitation and just go for it.

Many times it may be as simple as you revisiting something that you used to love.

But through life, you've forgotten about, you've changed as a person.

And maybe, though, deep inside, there's a part of you who still loves what you used to do.

Maybe you used to be big into dancing, line dancing.

You haven't line danced in years, but maybe there's a part of you, deep down inside, that would still love to give it a try.

Well, my friend, go bust out the cowboy boots and find your closest western bar and go hit the dance floor for a little line dancing.

Whatever it is, I encourage you to dig deep, to revisit things that you used to love.

Because if we never try, well, then you're never going to stand a chance at finding that one thing.

The thing that honestly might just set your life alive.

Maybe life's been a little dull here lately.

Well, you finding your thing, it's going to change it all instantly.

Now, I want us to be reminded again why this is so important.

This isn't just about finding a new activity for the year.

No, it's more than that.

This is about having something that has you loving life again.

It improves your mental health, your physical health.

It's going to help you reduce stress, have you worrying about stuff, a little bit less anxiety, it's going to help it.

Everything that you've been dealing with.

I promise you, when you find your thing, it has the potential to change it all.

If you look at Kim, not only did weightlifting change her physical health, it changed her mental health as well.

It gave her confidence like she never had before.

It gave her this new ability that she never realized she had before.

A woman who went from being paralyzed to now Olympic weightlifting at 60 years old, an age that tells us we shouldn't be doing stuff like that.

But instead, Kim went for it and she's doing it and she's thriving.

And along the way, she's inspiring so many people, just like she inspired me when I got to sit down and interview her.

So what can you do today, right now, to have you discovering what your thing is?

Well, we're going to give you some action items, some ideas to help you discover exactly what your thing is.

First step, set aside some time.

Be proactive in this.

I want you to approach this like it's a goal.

I want you to realize that this deserves time put on the calendar.

So if that means you blocking off 30 minutes, or maybe it's just as simple as on your lunch break taking some time to really dig deep, to think back to things that you used to love, to get clear on things that you do love, you do enjoy.

And maybe it's you just tapping into it a little bit deeper.

Second step, take that thinking a little bit further.

I want you to create a list.

Bust out the notes app on your iPhone, pull up a sheet of paper, and I want you to create what we're going to call a curiosity list.

This isn't a definitive list.

No.

It's things that you think you might be into, things that may potentially become your thing.

I want you to create a list.

And then, of course, once we have that list, well, you have to be brave enough, willing enough to start checking them off again.

This is trial and error, my friend.

Some things are going to feel good.

Some things immediately are going to make you realize, nope, not my thing.

And that is perfect because the more things we put at X by that narrows down the focus even more to the things that we're going to actually put a check by of.

Oh, you know what?

This might possibly be my thing.

And my third tip here to help you, identifying your thing.

Well, it kind of ties in with one of our previous episodes where I talked about ditching the typical New Year's resolution and instead adopting this idea of monthly resolutions every month, focusing on something new.

Well, my friend, if you've been wondering what you're going to focus on every month, maybe this is your answer.

Maybe you're going to take that list of things and you're going to devote one month to giving it a try to really be able to be sure if it is indeed something that you love, that you realize maybe at first it's not for you, but because you have a month devoted to it, you keep at it and by the end of the month you realize, wow, I actually really love this.

So give it the month by month test, give it a shot and see what happens.

What's the worst that can happen?

I don't know.

Maybe that you just have a little bit of fun.

You realize that you don't really like that activity.

Whatever it is, my friend, just do it, live it.

And if nothing else, you'll have a really awesome story to come away with at the end of the month about this crazy thing that you tried.

The thing I want you to remember is that we have Kim at 60 years old who found her thing, her thing in weightlifting.

I found my purpose in inspiring others by using what I've gone through in my own life to be a help to other people.

You, my friend, I ask you, what is it going to be for you?

Your story isn't finished.

Every day is a new opportunity at a new beginning.

Every day the sun rises is a fresh, new start.

Today is a new day and I hope you take advantage of it.

I hope today's episode inspired you, motivated you, empowered you to identify what your thing is, all in pursuit of you being sure that you're living this life to the best of your ability, my friend.

As always, I hope today's episode inspired you, empowered you, motivated you to get out there and enjoy this beautiful thing we call life.

Until next time, I'm your host, Kevin Lowe.

Don't forget, new episodes drop every Tuesday and Thursday, so be sure that you are following the podcast on your app of choice.

And check out today's show notes for links to the podcast, free resource mentioned at the beginning of the episode.

And hey, I hope you have an amazing day and it's been a pleasure being here with you today.