Today I want to talk about how following your passions leads to your purpose.

Many times, the word “purpose” freaks people out. It’s a heavy term and often times feels like quite a challenge to pin down.

But in my experience, it just means that you’ve followed your heart to a place where you utilize your talents in the world and have discovered what lights you up.

Of course, you’re probably saying, “Well, that’s all fine and good, but how do I figure it out?”

Stick with me…

This weekend, I had the chance to work with one of my favorite people – my friend of 13 years photographer Amanda Julca. (If you missed my Spotlight Series interview with her, click here!)

Amanda was in Greece for an exciting shoot, and she made a pit-stop in the UK this weekend. Although I’m not in desperate need of website photos as you probably noticed, I couldn’t miss the chance to get some proper London shots taken for future projects.

As we spent our three hours together, it hit me how strange it was that we were both in London working, standing in the gorgeous Kate Spade flagship store, taking photos for my company. Who would have thought?!

Funnily enough, neither us had planned on these lives.

Amanda actually went to college to get a degree in Art and I studied Psychology.

After she graduated, she rediscovered her love of photography and soon moved from Ohio to Miami where she created an incredible market for herself.

She follower her passion, and as she says in the interview, her business ended up having a momentum she never expected so she just kept going with it! And thank goodness she did!

So often we’re afraid to take action towards our dreams because we aren’t 100% sure where it will lead us or the dream may be fuzzy or not really concrete at all.

But that’s ok; the most important thing is that you actually take action, live your life, and remain positive instead of sitting at home or merely wishing your life was different.

I love what Mike Dooley describes in Leveraging the Universe in terms of finding your purpose. He says you find your purpose and passion by following these three steps and asking yourself these questions:

1. What do I want? (Targeting your destination.)
2. Where am I today? (Establishing your starting point.)
3. Which paths will I take? (Charting your course.)

Dooley believes that actually doesn’t matter if you don’t really know what you want yet. The most important step of the process is just taking some sort of action. (By the way, this doesn’t have to be just with your career. Maybe you want a loving relationship, a dream home, or to lose weight. It works with every type of desire!)

In the book, Dooley describes his own journey to find his purpose – he actually did quite a few entirely different jobs along the way – one as accountant and one as a T-Shirt designer.

Then he decided to start sending out a motivational daily newsletter – just for fun! Soon enough, he was getting compliments on his writing and decided to roll with it.

A few years later, he developed a year-long online program where he sent out his teachings via email once a month. It became a hit!

Then he realized that he actually loved speaking, writing, and motivating people on what he’s learned about success over the years so he followed that path to where he is today – an international best-selling author and speaker.

I love the way life surprises us when we take action.

So this week, your mission is to try to answer those three questions above.

As you do so, keep this quote in mind:

When just starting out on a new journey, it’s only natural to feel vulnerable. After all, it may seem that you have much to lose. But may I remind you that never again, at any other point in your journey, will you have so much to gain as you will if you start today. – Mike Dooley

And if you need a bit of support, that’s where I come in! I actually have a special offer for you that will be going out later on today. It’s going to knock your socks off so keep an eye out! This is something I’ve really put a lot of heart and thought into, so I hope it resonates with you!