Ten Ways to Increase Passion When Rejection and Failures Hit

We all know that passion is the engine that drives success. The practical question that people ask is, “How do I increase my passion for my work?”

Before I answer the question, it’s important to note something.

Passion is both something that you discover, something that you create from scratch, and something that you can rekindle (when it fades).

Most often, people talk about finding passion, which is true. They often ignore the all-important truth that passion can be rekindled or created. Even when a passion is discovered, the fire of passion cannot be kept burning at full force all the time. The world in which we live has a way of putting out the fire or killing it so much so that only a small ember is left underneath the ashes. The good news is that we can always rekindle our passion. And where one is not discovered, we have the power to create one.

In our work life, as in any other area of life, we will suffer times of rejection, failures, and low self-esteem. I have found the following to be effective at rekindling or creating a passion.

1. Relive the moment of your calling – The Jeremy method.
2. Remember how far you have come in life as a person – The David Method
3. Meditate on the significant difference that your work is making in people’s lives.
4. Meditate on the problem your life calling addresses, how important that problem is, and how significant your life is to the world.
5. Meditate on your vision (i.e. your winning aspiration)
6. Encourage yourself by meditating on your core beliefs and values. Use personal affirmations that are currently true and congruent with your beliefs and values to persuade yourself to see the value that you have.
7. Act passionately until you become passionate
8. Fill your mind with inspiring material – by reading, listening, or watching
9. Surround yourself with a community of people who have that passion
10. Rest! And take care of health (physically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually)

In the future, I will continue to expound on each of the above-mentioned points as part of a series on passion. Stay tuned!

About the Author

Dr. Kenneth Acha, MD, DMin.

Kenneth’s mission is to use medicine, spiritual formation, poverty alleviation, and leadership development to help people live lives to the fullest. He holds two doctorate degrees: the first is in medicine and the second is in spiritual formation. He is a practicing U.S. physician, an assistant professor of medicine, and a senior professor of leadership and spiritual formation at Servants University (SU). Kenneth is also a core faculty in the department of orphan care and poverty alleviation at SU and the founder and president of the Kenneth Acha Foundation, an organization that has helped thousands of orphans in Cameroon and trained many leaders since 2005.

See author's posts