Are You Aligning Your Business Purpose
with Your Passions in Life?
by Adele Sommers
 Do you have a tremendous fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for what you do for a living? If so, congratulations! You're most likely pursuing your passions in life.
On the other hand, do you know what happens when you choose a business direction that's not aligned with your life passions? You end up settling for an opportunistic approach toward your livelihood instead of selecting an endeavor that fuels you and helps you make a special contribution to the world.
You may have found yourself hopping from idea to idea, from career to career, or from business venture to business venture, achieving less than you're capable of achieving. If this sounds familiar, you're probably picking things that are convenient, but that you're not passionate about doing.
In this article, I explain three reasons why using a strategic approach that aligns your purpose with your passions is critical in helping you develop and pursue goals that are worthy of your time and energy. To find out what happens when your efforts are not aligned with your passions, start by asking yourself whether you've experienced any of the symptoms in the following three short stories.
Symptom #1: Being Confused about Your Business Identity
Mary K. starts her new software tutorial business from her home office. After she obtains a business license, she figures the next step is to commission the designs for her marketing material. She walks into her local graphic art studio to request a design for a logo. An artist interviews Mary and asks her what she envisions.
 Mary is stumped. She's hasn't stopped long enough to ponder her business brand in terms of graphic symbols, colors, or typography. Even more importantly, she hasn't thought much about how the theme of her business fits into the broader canvas of her life. The artist patiently tries to guide Mary through a series of inquiries about her work, the kinds of color schemes that appeal to her, and so forth. Yet, rather than becoming easier, the challenge intensifies.
In a flash, Mary senses that something is missing from her understanding of herself, and it's somehow related to her reason for being. But it's all so vague. A half hour ago, she needed a logo. At this point, she wonders what she stands for.
Alignment Reason #1: When we're unaware of how our life passions align with our business purpose, it's difficult to design marketing materials that communicate with laser-like precision what we represent. And even if we are clear about our passions but haven't fully integrated them with other predominant themes in our lives, we can still send confusing messages to prospective customers, clients, partners, and employees.
Symptom #2: Feeling Dissatisfied with Your Chosen Endeavor
Rhonda and Bob decide to leave corporate life after the division they're working for shuts down and relocates across the country. With about ten years to go until they reach retirement age, they opt to explore entrepreneurial possibilities.
They compile criteria such as ease of entry, monetary outlay required, degree of experience or training needed, and many other considerations. After weighing out the pros and cons and projecting potential revenue streams, they finally settle on buying a sandwich franchise with a large chunk of their retirement savings. It seems like a pragmatic move. Since it's a business they know relatively little about, Rhonda and Bob believe it's the fairest way to "buy themselves a job," as it will be no more appealing to one person than the other.
 Two years later, they're still working long hours to make ends meet. They try to rationalize that any other business startup scenario would be just as difficult. But they both feel discouraged and empty, slogging away every day at something that didn't initially inspire either of them.
Alignment Reason #2: When we skip the step of investigating our higher purpose, especially when considering a mid-life business transition, the results can come back to haunt us. It's easy to become burned out in any startup scenario. If the venture is not one we're passionate about, we'll have a difficult time maintaining momentum.
Symptom #3: Struggling with a Competitive Disadvantage
Bob and Rhonda decide to sell the sandwich shop and start an online business to promote vacation settings. It seems like a much better option since it represents everything that their other business was NOT -- something they can do at home without being tied to physical store hours, inventory, and employees.
Unfortunately, it's an area in which they have neither passions nor strengths. They know little about travel and aren't very Internet savvy. Moreover, it's an expedient shift from something they didn't like doing. So even with more exposure to the field, they'll be at a competitive disadvantage simply from being unable to convey a real love of their work to their audiences. Nothing sets them apart from competitors; people don't sense any special "spark" behind what they offer.
Alignment Reason #3: When we choose a direction that's simply other than what we dislike, we won't have as strong and enduring of a commitment. In contrast, pursuing what we love imbues our work with magnetic sparkle that attracts not only customers and clients but also potential business partners, adding to our competitive strength.
 Furthermore, if we can elevate our business passions to the level of a compelling cause, we will be in a better position to entice prospective employees through our business philosophy.
A vision-based attraction is particularly critical during the startup phase when other forms of compensation tend to be especially low. It helps us further cement our competitive advantage by enabling us to recruit a stellar team.
In conclusion, for these three crucial reasons, there's really no shortcut to aligning our life passions with our business purpose to achieve satisfying and long-lasting results. From sending crystal-clear, compelling marketing messages, to maintaining our business momentum, to developing a distinct competitive advantage around an appealing cause, nothing speaks as powerfully as doing what we love.
Copyright 2006 Adele Sommers
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