How to Pursue Your Passion

Source: Best Health magazine, January/February 2016

Feeling the urge to make a drastic life change? It could be your hormones at work, says Dr. Susan Biali, a Vancouver-based life and health coach.

As women get past 35 and into perimenopause, she says that a shift in estrogen and progesterone levels can prompt a more ‘inward’ focus. ‘I see it over and over again, with women starting to focus more on themselves and less intensely on nurturing others,’ she says.

Dr. Biali, who quit medicine for a time to pursue her love of flamenco dancing, believes it’s essential to find a way to pursue your passion or risk never feeling truly fulfilled. ‘It’s not a selfish thing to follow what’s in your heart,’ she says. ‘In fact, it’s quite the opposite, as you often end up influencing others to follow their dreams as well.’

To tap into your passions, she advises paying attention to people around you who are doing things that you find most exciting. ‘Then make a plan on how you can get there, too, starting with what you can do right now,’ says Dr. Biali. ‘Every time you take a step and succeed, you’re increasing your skills and moving yourself closer to your dream.’

Need a little push to follow your dreams? Check out The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion by Elle Luna ($23). This charming tome gives readers the permission they need to make life choices that matter to them.

Get inspired by these incredible Canadian women who uprooted their daily routines to pursue their truest passions.

‘I Quit My Job to Travel for an Entire Year’

When Gloria Vidovich attended a weekend seminar in 2012, she never imagined it would be the catalyst that would steer her on a year-long trek across Southeast Asia and Australia. Click here for Gloria’s story.

‘I Left Canada and Moved to Costa Rica’

Judy Bonnell is the type of person who doesn’t like to overthink things. Eight years ago, when she and her husband were vacationing in Costa Rica and found a partially completed house for sale in what is touted to be one of the healthiest regions in the world, they took the plunge and bought it. Click here to read Judy’s story.

‘We Risked Everything to Launch Our Own Business’

For the owners of Hopson Grace, fulfilling their work/life aspirations meant selling their homes and giving up lucrative corporate jobs for the flexibility and control of entrepreneurship. Click here for more about Hopson Grace partners Martha Grace McKimm and Andrea Hopson.

‘I Opened my Own Cafe in my 50s’

For Elizabeth Aikenhead, proprietor of Our Lucky Stars Café, self-employment comes with a three-acre property and an in-ground pool in Warkworth, ON. ‘I sold my house in Toronto and was able to buy this large farmhouse and a café in town,’ says the former TV producer. ‘I always toyed with the idea of opening a food shop because I love cooking and entertaining, but I never imagined I’d run a restaurant.’ Read Elizabeth’s story.

‘I Finally Wrote a Book – At the Age of 68’

Plum Johnson was 68 when she wrote her first book of prose, a memoir about her experience selling her childhood home in Oakville, ON, and filtering through all its contents after the death of her mother. Read more about Plum’s story here.