Brad Stulberg returns to the podcast to discuss his latest book, The Passion Paradox, co-written with Steve Magness.
They wrote the book mostly for themselves, which is how a lot of great self-help books begin. Basically, they had learned a lot of weird and contradictory lessons about passion and how to harness and incorporate it into their lives.
On the one hand, we're supposed to "follow our passion."
On the other hand, we're supposed to lead a "balanced life."
Well, guess what? You can have a passionate life, or a balanced life. So which do you choose?
The other piece of advice they wrestled with in the book was, "Find your passion." The problem is, that's often the punch line. The end of the sermon.
Stulberg and Magness asked, "Now what?" Once you have a passion, how do you avoid turning it into an unhealthy obsession? How do you stay creative and joyful when the pressures of performance or competition threaten to consume you?
We talked about these questions, and others. I began by asking Brad about cultivating and maintaining the passion that many of us feel about promoting a healthy, plant-based lifestyle. Should we turn it into a career, like I did? What if we're passionate about something that isn't our day job? Does that mean something's wrong, or missing, or suboptimal about our lives?
And what about that "balance" thing? How do we stay well and happy and grounded living an unbalanced life? Isn't that a recipe for burnout?
Most of us long to go "all in" on at least one thing. This book provides a blueprint, road map, and inspiration for that journey to inner alignment and outer achievement.