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Norton: Pandemic purpose, passion, and performance

What happens when our “get-up-and-go” has got up and went? That’s a question many of you have been asking in one way or another. While some continue to push through, living and working with tenacity, resiliency, and grit, others are finding their energy being drained and their motivation running on fumes.

If you are in the group who is pushing through, you are probably drawing on your purpose and passion, while measuring your performance. And if you consider yourself to be in the population of people who feels like their “get-up-and-go” has gotten up and went, then I encourage you to keep reading. And the first thing you should know is that you are not alone.

The good news is that we can overcome the pandemic funk with a little pandemic purpose, passion, and performance. When someone reaches out looking for a little motivational pick-me-up, here are the three questions I ask them: What were you most passionate about pre-pandemic? What are you passionate about now? Does your passion provide you with a sense of purpose, or does your purpose fuel your passion?



You are probably seeing and hearing about some of the hobbies, activities, and learnings that people have become passionate about during this time. Everything from cooking, knitting, biking, and working out to learning a foreign language, a new skill, or maybe learning to play an instrument. And looking at some of the posts and seeing for myself how people have mastered things in such a short amount of time, tells me that they went after it with purpose and passion.  

In a recent discussion with a friend of mine who found themselves losing their motivation, I asked the three questions and enthusiastically shared how impressed I am with what people are doing these days and how driven they are to succeed. At first, he wasn’t buying in. He even said something to the effect of, “Good for them.” I reminded him that he called me, and my assumption was that he wanted my help. After a few more words of hope and encouragement I got him to play along and answer my questions.

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By the time we finished up he identified that what his passions were pre-pandemic are still his passions today. And after further discussion he also concluded that his purpose absolutely fueled his passion. You see it would have been useless if I simply gave him some quick motivational thoughts and spoke about the need for a positive attitude. He may have felt better temporarily, but it would have worn off.

So why am I sharing this story with you? Because maybe during this pandemic you have lost your motivation and inspiration too. And maybe like my friend, you aren’t bought in yet. And if this is you, I encourage you to answer these same three questions: What were you most passionate about pre-pandemic? What are you passionate about now? Does your passion provide you with a sense of purpose, or does your purpose fuel your passion? And don’t just think about them, write out your answers and talk through them with someone else. It will make all the difference for you. And if you need a friendly ear to listen, send me an email.

The last part of this is all about performance. When we can identify what drives us and fires us up, we can attach goals or performance metrics to our activities. No matter what it is we are trying to accomplish we should know when we want to achieve it and what success milestones look like along the way. Without defining what success will look like, we will accept any level of accomplishment or possibly even stop at any time.

How about you? Has your “get-up-and-go” gotten up and went? Is it time for an adjustment in the way you are thinking about what really motivates you? I would love to hear your purpose, passion, and performance story at mnorton@tramazing.com. And when we can identify what drives us and fires us up, it really will be a better than good week.


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