Category Archives: Passion

AchievementProtocol, Goals, Inspiration, Motiviation, Passion, Uncategorized

Purposeful Nature

September 8, 2015 DHouchin Leave a comment

The Nature of Purpose

Stunning Silence. Soul-filling, peace-giving silence. Stunning because the tree frogs and the bugs slept in late today. Even the birds noticed. Their songs were more like Mom humming in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon, and their conversations were held in their most respectful library voices.

With the bustle of Labor Day behind us, the trees seem to be in a hurry to leave a hot and humid summer Autumn-Nature-Purpose behind as well, their leaves beginning to blaze with the colors that will return them to the earth, so they can prepare once again to create their verdant coat in the spring.

I can’t help but see that the “purpose driven life”: that goal centered activity; that unstoppable passion exists all around us in Nature.

We don’t find many things in Nature that don’t have a clear purpose, based on their most basic values. Most of Nature knows the things it must do to fulfill its purpose, and will do those things faithfully. We don’t see squirrels wasting their time trying to be frogs, or birds trying to be dogs.

The exception of course is Human Nature. We must often search to find our values-based purpose and we must fight against many distracting or opposing forces, to determine the actions needed to get us there.

Since the Human Species has been able to have thoughts and express them with language, we have created stories, plays, and books that are intended to help others along in this journey.

The Achievement Protocol is such a book and I hope that you will find it of value, so that, in other moments of Stunning Silence, others will observe you and marvel at the simplicity of the way you follow a purpose driven Achievement Protocol.

Peace

AchievementProtocol, Enthusiasm, Goals, Inspiration, Passion

Enthusiasm and Passion – Part 2

February 20, 2015 DHouchin 1 Comment

mmmm Focaccia! — Focaccia preparing to ship!

In Part 1 we looked at the origin of the word passion and saw that the root of the word passion is patior, which alludes to the suffering that may be encountered when you are committed to a passion, as opposed to simply being hopeful about attaining a dream.

Similarly, enthusiasm is much more than simply being excited about something. Enthusiasm comes from the Greek en + theos. Literally these words mean God-infused. But the original word for enthusiasm actually was understood to mean God-possessed. Possession carries with it a much more dynamic and active dimension than a simple interpretation infusion would allow.

To be enthusiastic is to be driven, to be not merely excited, but to be propelled deliberately toward some end. To be enthusiastic is to plunge headlong into an effort at top speed, unconcerned about possible failures or potential problems. Not because you are in denial about possible problems that may arise but because you are confident that your enthusiasm and the resources available to you will be sufficient to carry you through to the other side of those problems.

So we see that enthusiasm and passion are examples of two fairly common words that are far more important to the idea of achieving success and living a fulfilled life than might be assumed at first.

When you approach your passion with enthusiasm, your eventual success is all but guaranteed.

AchievementProtocol, Goals, Inspiration, Passion

Enthusiasm and Passion: Part 1

February 6, 2015 DHouchin 1 Comment

Hooray for Pain!!!

I’ve always loved words. In fact, one of the first classes I took when I was accepted into college in the 70’s was Latin. Not because I had to, not because I wanted to speak to ancient romans, not even because I wanted to read Latin texts.

I took Latin because, having taken Spanish in middle school, I recognized how many English words had Latin roots. And like I said, I’ve always loved words. And I’ve always loved journeying into a dictionary (one of those big, 12 pounders) to explore in depth the origin and original meaning of a word.

But studying Latin is not the pain that I alluded to in the lede.

If you’ve never searched for the etymological origin of the word passion, you might be surprised to learn that it is not based on a word for Love, or for Dream, or for Desire. In fact, you may be shocked to learn that it comes from the Latin word patior, a word for suffering or pain. It was used in the 12th century to describe the suffering of Jesus during the crucifixion.

Languages, and the words within them, change and evolve. So it doesn’t always make sense to look at the origin for a ‘true’ definition of the current usage.

But sometimes it can offer some useful insight. How does a passion differ from a dream or a desire? A dream or desire represents something that we would like to have or be. And while a desire may reach the strong state of a passion, it may also be a weak ‘inclination’. A desire or a dream may in fact be unserious or wistful, while a passion is always strong, forceful (ie Full of FORCE) and not easily dismissed.

When you are passionate about something, when the desire is so strong that it seems to burn within your very being, when you are willing to pursue your dream to the end, despite what you know will be periods of pain and suffering, then you are in fact, following a passion.

So as you go through the process of thinking about desires and determining whether they are your passions, think about how much pain or inconvenience your are willing to suffer in order to make your dream become reality. The greater the pain you are willing to endure, the greater the passion.

We’ll look at Enthusiasm in the next post.

AchievementProtocol, Goals, Inspiration, Passion

It’s Available NOW!

February 4, 2015 DHouchin Leave a comment

The Achievement Protocol (#AchievementProtocol) is now available in paperback! It is active on Amazon.com and through the author’s Amazon E-Store.

For a limited time, I am offering a limited number of copies at an amazing 45% discount off of the regular price of $14.99, which means you can purchase it now for a mere $8.24 – but there are two conditions:

1) If you have not already provided me with your e-mail address, you need to sign up here and enter the word ACHIEVE in the comments to get the discount code, and

2) You need to order through this link to the e-store instead of the main Amazon.com website.

After you’ve read the book, I would also like you to seriously consider going to Amazon.com and writing a review of the book. A quality review and appropriate star rating will help other potential readers know what to expect, and it will also help me to better understand what affects my readers.

The initial release pricing will end at 11:59 pm PST on February 13th, or after the initial release quantity has been exhausted, whichever comes first.

Please share this post on your Facebook page and let your let your friends know that they will have to sign up here and enter the word ACHIEVE in order to get the discount code.

Have a fantastically productive Wednesday!

AchievementProtocol, Goals, Passion

The Achievement Protocol Release

Image February 2, 2015 DHouchin Leave a comment

On February 4th, The Achievement Protocol will be released in paperback. Initially it will be available through Amazon.com and through the author’s Amazon E-Store.

The Achievement Protocol is a practical step by step guide that provides a clear methodology for defining and achieving your life’s purpose.

It is different from other similarly themed self-help books in that rather than rely strictly on metaphysical practices, it provides an easy to use process that takes the most essential elements of Strategic Management, Project Management and Time Management and brings them together in a way that can be followed by virtually anyone at any stage of live to achieve their life’s goal, whatever that may be.

For a limited time, I am offering a limited number of copies at an amazing 45% discount off of the regular price of $14.99, which means you can purchase it for a mere $8.24 but there are two conditions:

1) You need to sign up here and enter the word ACHIEVE in the comments to get the discount code, and

2) You need to order through this link to the e-store instead of the main Amazon.com website.

The initial release pricing will end at 11:59 pm PST on February 13th, or after the initial release quantity has been exhausted, whichever comes first.

Please share this post on your Facebook page and let your let your friends know that they will have to sign up here and enter the word ACHIEVE in order to get the discount code.

Inspiration, Passion

How did YOU discover YOUR passion?

January 27, 2015 DHouchin Leave a comment

We all have a Passion – maybe more than one. We don’t always discover it at the same point in our lives, though.

Sometimes we have to encounter a variety of experiences before something ‘clicks’ for us. We may drift from one college major to another, or from one type of job to another, and not really feel like we are part of something bigger.

Sometimes our Passion tries to present itself to us, repeatedly, only to have us push it back down and suppress it because we don’t yet understand it’s importance or it’s relevance to us.

Sometimes we allow others to impress THEIR Passion upon us. We choose our career based on what someone else has told us we should do. Unfortunately, OPP (Other People’s Passion) is rarely aligned with our own personal Passion and no matter what amount of success we achieve with OPP, we will not feel fulfilled or satisfied with our lives.

The most fortunate among us discover our Passion early and allow it serve as a beacon for our lives. A light that we use to guide our decisions and our choices.

Have you discovered your unique Passion yet? Are you vigorously pursuing it? If not, why not?