You’ve heard me talk about the traits of successful female leaders before and how resilience is a key trait, but in order to develop resilience, you need to have drive and that drive stems from passion!

This week I’d like to share a story about the downward death spiral that can occur when you lose your passion…

More than ten years ago I set up my first business.I was thinking about starting a family and wanted the freedom of working for myself.

The first day I opened my opulent furniture showroom, I fell in love with it. I had designed a number of pieces myself and everything about it was a reflection of my style and personality. Within a short period of time I was commissioned to design the honeymoon suites of a local boutique hotel and a number of private residences.

I was so passionate about helping my clients express themselves and design the properties of their dreams - I thought life couldn’t get any better.

I was working crazy long hours, but I didn’t mind, it didn’t even feel like work. Everyday I would arrive home and think about how lucky I was to be doing my job. I couldn’t believe I actually got paid to do it, when the truth was, I would have honestly done it for free! Getting up and going to work was never a chore and I often wanted to pinch myself.

This is what passion looks and feels like – do you know that feeling?

That same passion and the impact I had on my clients saw me shortlisted for the Entrepreneur of the Year award, but my wave of success was to be short lived.

As the months passed by, sales started to slow down (for a variety of reasons), the mounting bills started to take it’s toll on me and I fell out of love with my business – I lost my passion.

The drive and motivation that had previously allowed me to get back up after a set back and the stamina to work long hours to deliver for my clients started to dwindle. I found it more difficult to bounce back and for the first time in years found myself experiencing ‘Monday Blues’ and not wanting to go to work. In fact, I soon began to hate my business. It was the absolute opposite of passion and it caused me to lose my drive and ultimately my resilience.

I closed the business shortly after and whilst there was a silver lining under that cloud, the moral of this story is that it’s the underlying passion that drives you to do what you love - what makes your heart sing. When you truly believe in and enjoy what you

1) it doesn’t feel like work and

2) you have the drive and motivation to keep moving forwards when things get tough.

The more obstacles you overcome and drive you demonstrate, the more resilient you become - it then becomes a self-fulfilling cycle.

This week, take some time to think about what you’re truly passionate about. What is it that drives you to get out of bed in the morning or still has you smiling and enthusiastic, even after the longest and hardest days. If it’s not the work that you’re doing today, what can you do to reignite that passion and if you can’t, perhaps it’s time for a change.

Remember, with passion, drive and resilience, everyone has the potential to achieve anything!

Natalie

www.natalieclare.com