Passion Test Meets My Soul's Agenda

Between my birthday and the New Year, like many, I have been on a reset journey. For me, it looks like reevaluating what I want from life.

A few months back, I came across Janet Attwood's Passion Test. You're supposed to write down a whole bunch of things you want to experience from life and then evaluate them on what you are more passionate about. You end up with a top 5 that you spend more of your attention on.

When I did this the first time, I got "Knitting my own clothes with nice yarns." It was a fun answer and I have been getting some nicer yarns and having a blast making my clothes. Most of the others just kind of fell by the wayside.

This time, I was reminded of a couple of things. One is my motivator and the other is my Soul's Agenda word. I thought I would talk a little about both and then explain what happened when I applied them to the passion test.

Motivators

There are 4 main ways in which people are motivated. 

1. Some people are motivated by passion. Just feeling passionate about something keeps them going, it lights them up and they act on the things they are passionate about. These people need to feel that passion for all of their goals. 

2. Some people are motivated by vision. They get a vision of what they want and that's enough. As long as they hold the vision, they are taking action and moving forward.

3. Some people are motivated by their why. As long as they have a good why, they will keep going.

4. Some people are motivated by peace. Will the goal bring peace to the heart? Then they more likely to act.

You may notice that 3 of these are frequently addressed in the goal setting world. In fact, it's really easy to tell people to find what they are passionate about, create a vision/goal, and make sure they have their why. Most people will find success from this because it will hit their motivator. The 4th one has a harder time finding motivation in general.

Soul's Agenda

The Soul Agenda word is a concept presented by Ani Anderson in her book 'Finding Your Soul's Agenda". You go through a process to find your one word to live life by. You'll also create your own definitions as well as look at what it feels like to live in the opposite. Everyone has a word that they use to describe an expansive, joyful feeling we get when we do something that is right for us.

A friend got Thrilling as her word. I know of someone getting Passion as their word and another getting Adventure. Alive or some version is a known word as well. My word is Light, mostly it is in the form of not heavy but also not dark works.

Back to the passion test.

I think I am motivated by peace. When I try to follow the idea of passion, it's hard to find anything that motivates me for long. It is easier to do it if it will be fun but even then, it's just not enough to keep me going. If I was motivated by the vision, I would be so successful. I am constantly trying to get the goals and visions in my mind, just to have them be forgotten. I know if the why would inspire, I would do a lot more.

My friend couldn't understand why I wasn't motivated to clean up a room when it would mean that my kids and I would all have a room. Things were a bit chaotic after my mom died. One would think giving my boys a space to sleep would be motivation but it wasn't. Even the idea of helping people in some way just doesn't motivate me. In a moment it feels like a nice plan but it does not sustain.

The problem is, peace isn't really a word that motivates me either. Peace is an elusive word. That's where the Soul Agenda word comes in. If I think about what makes me feel light, that is something I want to do. 

I did the passion test. I asked the passion questions. I got this list:

1. Using Natural Yarns to knit me stunning clothes.
2. Created a Home for Christ to dwell in.
3. Hold space for Christ in my heart.
4. Spend quality time with my family.
5. Create and hold space for Love (Christ) in people’s homes.

It's an okay list. They are all things I desire. I decided to try a different approach. This time, I traded out "passion" for my Soul Agenda word. Which one makes me feel Light? My list is a bit different.

1. Creating a home for Christ to dwell in.
2. Holding space for Christ in my heart.
3. Creating and holding space for Love in people’s homes.
4. Spending quality time with my family.
5. Married to my sweetheart.
6. Using natural yarns to knit me stunning clothes tied with making alpaca socks for my kids.

More importantly, I do feel peaceful about this. The order changed a bit and my knitting moved way down the list. I enjoy my knitting but if it's all I do during a day, I feel heavy at the end of the day. I want to go to bed feeling light about my day.

Will this motivate me? I'm still not sure but I know I feel better about my list then I ever did passion lists.

I hope something in this inspired you, helped you to feel a bit lighter and ready for the New Year. I hope 2025 is a great year for you!

Hugs,

Michele

Soul Shine Specialist
Let your soul shine big, bright, live, and beautiful!

Start in the Middle

Having a fun conversation with my daughter. It all started with a conversation about her desire to be an actual bard. Well, really it started last night when we were talking about how her back was out of alignment and that led to talking about her room (because I'm me) and we discovered what area was out of alignment. Purpose, it all boiled down to purpose.

She hadn't even done any of the work in her room and just the awareness last night had her writing in her book, after being stuck for a while. Along with the book was her talking about what she really wants to do. She wants to go around singing and telling stories in person like an actual bard. Just that awareness last night was powerful enough to get her moving forward. Imagine what will happen when she actually does the work in her room!

It led me to talking about my career. What room in the house is associated with my career? The laundry room. We talked about how overwhelming it is. Her stuff is in there. My mom's stuff is in there. My stuff is getting buried. How I don't know where to start? This is where her quote comes in. "I would start in the middle because people don't expect that."  

Starting in the middle of this challenge isn't really an option because I wouldn't know where the middle is. The thing that struck me was "people don't expect that." How could I approach this in a new and unexpected way?

I decided to go the route of saying, "Yes, I want to be invisible. Why do I want to be invisible?" Although I didn't get direct answers. The energy opened up and other ideas started coming. 

The next day, we were talking to my younger daughter about how her style makes her feel sexy. She said the word sexy with such shame. I'm not talking the sexy of immodest clothing but there is such a connotation around the word that we can't see it any other way. Again, me being me, we went clearing that. She had some comparisonitis to take care of.

We ended with dancing to some songs that own being sexy. Mehan Trainor's song "Me Too" was one we played. My older daughter came in my face and sang "If I were you, I'd want to be me too." That's when things came back around to me. My internal response was, "Yeah, I do want to be you."

In fact, as I'm looking through different thoughts they all boil down to "I don't want to be me." It's not an unheard of thought in my head, but it isn't one that stood out so strong before. Now, I'm healing it. Will it be fully gone the next time I write? I hope so but if not, it's ok because layers will be gone and that's a step closer.

An unexpected approach brought an idea fully into my mind to address. What unexpected approach do you need in order to heal your life and declutter your home?

Michele

Soul Shine Specialist
a Decluttering & Healing Guide

Writing Again?

I used to be a consistent writer. I even had a friend who did editing every week for me. I had 3 or 4 posts in the queue ready to go. I was writing a newsletter and creating blog posts each week. I loved it.

Somewhere along the way, someone convinced me that I needed to do videos. I don't mind doing video, sometimes I even enjoy it but it means I'm not writing. It actually means there is a part of me that went dormant. In fact, sitting down to write this, there is a part of me that feels like I don't even know what to do anymore. How do I write? What do I write?

I've had little reminders that I am not writing anymore. It sometimes shows up as a bit of jealousy when someone mentions writing of any kind. Other times it feels like there is some prompt from the Divine telling me to get writing.

Today, I went to a lady who did a chakra healing on me. She said my throat chakra was really stuck. We talked a little about writing and that's when I really began to remember how much I loved writing once upon a time.

I still want to do my yarn videos and maybe even some videos aligned with the content on this blog. It's sometimes fun to make a video. I also want to make writing a priority. I want to give voice to that part of me that has been silenced. The author within me has something to say if I would just give her the opportunity to express herself.

What about you? Do you have things that you stopped doing because you decided to do other things? Maybe they are fun things or maybe they are shoulds. Are they hiding some part of you? Interesting to ponder.

Lots of love,

Michele

Let your soul shine big, bright, live, and beautiful!