Karen Putz is known as “The Passion Mentor.” She helps people unwrap their passion at any age so they can have more joy, fun, and adventure in their life. Karen is the author of multiple books, including Unwrapping Your Passion. Learn more at www.agelesspassions.com
I’ve been doing author and expert talks here, but this is the first one I’m doing on The Inspiring Bee. I was compelled to do one after reading about a class on finding your passion during the pandemic. The teacher was Karen Putz and after reading her story on Ageless Passions, I knew she’d be the perfect person to talk to.
In writing this blog for over a decade, following my own passions, and helping clients find theirs, I still learned so much from Karen. She’s done a decade of research on passion and has different classes on creating a passionate life on her website.
Her story is truly inspiring. You can listen to this powerful interview. The audio was a little fuzzy at times and you might hear pauses in between my questions and Karen’s answers. Because she is deaf she used an interpreter off-screen.
For those who don’t have time to listen to the whole thing, I’m summing up the main parts for you. That’s how important her story is! I want you all to hear or read it. I was so moved by Karen and so grateful for this opportunity to talk to her. Her words were powerful and she is so wise.
Karen’s Story
In the first few minutes, Karen shares that a waterskiing accident changed the trajectory of her life. She was already hard of hearing, but she completely lost her ability to hear after that. It was a turning point for her. Her husband saw a woman in her 60s waterskiing on the Today show when she was 44 years old. She got in contact with that woman, Judy Myers, who reintroduced her to waterskiing again. She even competed and has been back in the water since then.
The idea of passion came about in this process of rediscovering what she loved to do when she was younger.
The choice for her was to continue to struggle or embrace the journey and she says, “She chose to embrace the journey.”
How to Use This Time to Find Your Passion
She said there’s a way to find a blessing even with our lives disrupted by the pandemic. Some people are taking online classes or new jobs they wouldn’t have considered. Any time there’s a shift in our path, she says, there’s a shift in our opportunities. Instead of the door closing, it opens the door to other opportunities.
The Process of Tapping Into Passion
In her 10 years of research, Karen has identified 5 levels of passion, which she calls the CLEAR path towards passion.
- Curiosity: Basic, first level. Even in the midst of the pandemic, you can Google something you’re interested in.
- Learning: Learn as much as you can.
- Excitement
- Awareness
- Recognition: Highest level you recognize you’re passionate about something and other people recognize that you’re passionate about it as well.
The Meaning Behind Passion
Deep down the real meaning behind passion is the willingness to suffer. This is why people don’t get to passion cause they’re not willing to suffer through learning, making mistakes and not knowing.
“Fear is the unknown and brings anxiety. Once you’ve identified with clarity what you want, and what your passion is in life, you’re always going to feel fear. The only way around fear is right smack dab through it. You have to get through fear to get to the highest level.”
To deal with it, she suggests finding a mentor. Find someone who is doing the thing you’re afraid of. Study and learn from them. Once you put this in practice, she says you will see the fear change.
Karen says she can’t imagine what it would be like if she didn’t follow her passion. It had a domino effect on her life and she’s so grateful for it.
Why It’s Worth Facing Your Fears
Passion is a gift. “When people ignore their calling skills and purposes, this is where discontent and regret comes in. At the end of our life, we look back and regret that we didn’t do what we really wanted, that we didn’t experience more joy and that we didn’t capture more moments that were meaningful in our life.”
How to Deal with the Fear of Disappointing Other People
Karen says when we follow the status-quo it’s a “slow death of our dreams.” When we listen to other people or do what we think other people want us to do we’re not honoring our calling that makes us unique. This is where our discontent comes from, says Karen.
21:22 LISTEN TO THIS PART, if you can. It was so powerful. Karen nearly brought me to tears.
“We end up losing ourselves and getting wrapped on in the day to day stuff, not realizing we’re free to do our soul work. If you don’t honor the calling in you and not use your unique gifts, you’re not honoring the path you’re supposed to be on. We’re meant to stand out. We’re not meant to blend in. We’re not meant to live boring lives.”
How Do We Cultivate Passion in Our Children
Karen says what we often deem annoying in our kids actually turn out being a strength. Child who run around may end up being a firefighter. The child who can sit and draw may become an artist. The children who don’t fit in the classroom could end up being their soul path.
“The things that we’ve been told are negative about us, could end up being great strengths in their work.”
We need to unlearn and let go of some of the things we learned as children.
Practical Exercise You Can Do If You Feel Stuck
Sitting for Guidance
When you need guidance, you set aside a minimum of 30 minutes during your day where you sit quietly and reflect. Grab a notebook and you can ask questions and answers come.
Karen says this might be difficult at first because we’ve been busy so long that we don’t know what to do with the emptiness. But if you keep trying for a period time, you might begin to hear your inner voice.
The Myth that Your Passion Has to be Your Job
Karen says passion is an energy you can tap in anywhere. You can bring passion into your job because it’s energy. You don’t have to leave your job or need a lot of money to tap into this energy. She says this is one of the most surprising things. You can find ways to bring your passion into your job that you dislike in a creative way.
Instead of looking at passion as a process instead of energy. If you only look at passion as a process it won’t sustain you, she says. Another mistake is looking at passion at what you do instead of how you live.
“If you look within yourself, you’re less likely to listen to naysayers. There’s not one path for everyone. That’s where the pressure comes in.”
If you leave with one thing from this conversation, remember that Karen says passion is like joy. There are many ways to experience it over the course of your life.