The Path I Chose: The Hidden Truth About Passion and Success

It’s my 39th birthday, and Mother’s Day is the same weekend. I’m staring at my brand new horse Beau, wiping tears from my eyes, hardly able to comprehend how my life has become so incredibly blessed.

Beau is a beautiful, majestic bay fox trotter with the softest, kindest eyes you will ever see. His mane is thick and black and has grown all the way to his shoulder. His full black tail touches the ground. I decide the first thing I will do to initiate my own horse will be to give him a bath and brush all of the dreadlocks out of his mane and tail.

Beau has been passed from one owner to the next—unwanted, neglected, unseen. No one has recognized his value or potential. But I do. His previous owner was an older woman who fell off of Beau and died. Her husband left him alone in his anger and grief, and Beau nearly starved.

Finally, the husband called a vet to euthanize Beau. But when the vet saw this weak, hungry horse, he chose to find him a new owner rather than put him down. He was sent to my mother’s friend, who often rescued unwanted horses. That is how my mom got him.

My mom rode him for a few months and really enjoyed him. But then it happened…

They were on a trail ride with two other horses. The horse riding in front of my mom and Beau had some trail boots on and wasn't quite used to them. The horse tripped and fell to the ground, which scared Beau to his core. He ducked, spun the opposite direction, and took off, leaving my mom on the dusty, rocky trail, bruised and sore.

She never rode Beau again. He languished in his paddock again, forgotten and neglected. But at least he was fed.

An Unexpected Love Story

About a month before my 39th birthday, my mom had to go to Canada for a month to take care of my aunt, who had a health issue, and she asked me to take care of Beau for her. I was excited for the opportunity because I grew up with horses and missed being around them.

Within two days, I somehow magically fell in love with Beau. I can't explain it. But it felt like when you first fall in love and all you can do is think about the person nonstop. I took a million pictures of him and looked through them every day. I would stand outside his paddock and just stare at him. I couldn't wait to go to sleep so I could wake up in the morning and stare at him again. I was utterly smitten and wanted nothing more than to ride him.

When my mom got back from Canada, I told her that I fell in love with her horse and asked if she would ever ride him. That’s when she lit up and gave me Beau. She was thrilled to get rid of him so she could be free to buy a new horse.

I was shocked. I had been painting horses for years with John and selling them in our Scottsdale gallery, but now I actually had in the flesh what I had been painting.

Owning a horse again after all of these years brought me full circle back to who I am at the core. As a child, I lived for movies like Black Beauty and Black Stallion. I rode horses all throughout my childhood and could not imagine a life without them. But once I became a teenager and then grew up, got married, and had kids, that part of me went to sleep. Having a horse again awakened a sense of wild adventure in me. I felt like myself. I felt complete.

Beau's Transformation

This passion grew and grew and became a big part of my life. Endless trail rides with my girls became a way of life. We went horse camping and trailered out to Arizona canyons with lakes and streams to cross. We went swimming with our horses and rode along mountain trails with incredible views. Right across the street from our house was a sandy wash that never ended. We rode to get breakfast or lunch and tied up our horses at the picnic benches while we ate. It was a deep and powerful bonding time my three daughters I will never forget.

Beau taught me to be fearless. He was afraid of everything—white plastic bags, hats, tumbleweeds blowing toward him, Saguaro cactus, balloons tied to mailboxes, and even the spirit realm that taunted him in the wind. He spooked at least 10 times every time I rode him. He took off on me more times than I could count. He didn't buck or rear or bite, but bolting was his main expression of fear. I learned to quiet my thoughts, ride with confidence, and project golden fields of alfalfa to him to keep him calm.

After many years, he became confident too. By the end of his life, he was nearly a perfect horse in every way. I would even dare say he was “bomb proof.” In the 10 years I had Beau, I never once fell off of him. He prepared me for Solomon, the horse I own now.

Perspectives on Passion

Besides horses, I have many passions: writing, creating art, teaching, traveling, public speaking, and making anything with my hands. I am completely convinced that if I didn't follow my passion for art, I would not get to experience all of these other passions on a regular basis.

I was listening to a podcast on YouTube by Alex Hormozi recently titled, “Why ‘Following Your Dreams’ is Keeping You Poor.” I have learned a ton from Alex, so I wanted to hear his perspective.

He says, “My dad told me that if I follow my passion, then I would spend all of my time in a bar on a ski slope.”

He used this example in his podcast: “If you want to paint, great! Put your passion on a shelf and build a business, and you will have all the time you want for painting.”

He contends that our passions are overrated and we should forget them, but that if we learn how to get really good at something and monetize it, then we will become passionate about that thing.

The Choice That Changed Everything

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic, says that in the pursuit of success, curiosity beats passion every time. She thinks passion is overrated as well and believes that curiosity is what drives creativity into a place of excellence and, ultimately, success.

I completely disagree with both of these very successful entrepreneurs. I know—that’s crazy! Alex Hormozi is far more financially successful than I am. How could I possible disagree? If he says following your passion will make you broke, he’s probably right…

Except that he is not! He’s not right. He might be right about everything else. But on this topic, he is completely wrong. Following your passion will give you the most fulfilling and rewarding life, and you most definitely will not be poor. You will be rich in every way imaginable.

Where Alex and Elizabeth miss the point is on what defines passion. Hanging out in a bar on a ski slope is not passion. Passion is where desire and purpose meet. Purpose is everything. Desire without purpose is just desire. I desire eating pizza and drinking a beautifully crafted Hefeweizen, but it is not my purpose.

My purpose is to help people know their value and worth. My purpose is to help people find their purpose and destiny. Art, horses, travel, speaking, teaching, and making things are all my passions wrapped around my purpose. If we walk in our destiny, then all things that pertain to our destiny come to us. My Beau found me because I pursued my passion and was walking in my destiny.

My life became filled with my passions because I defied what others were telling me—”You can't be an artist, you will be broke. Get a real career, like teaching or graphic design. You have to be responsible and be able to pay your bills.”

If I didn’t defy the notion of “following my passions will make me poor,” if I listened to my dad and just married a doctor or a lawyer to take care of me, I never would have pursued my passion for art, found my destiny, lived out my purpose, and had all of the things I am passionate about coalesce into one big, beautiful life I am blessed to live out.

Passion and Purpose

When we follow our passions, we find our purpose. Our passions are signposts and indicators for our purpose. When we follow our passions, we have the guts and perseverance to remain curious. When we follow our passions, we have the steam and stamina to get really good at something, which puts us in a position to monetize it.

The feeling of passion is unexplainable. It feels like falling in love. It is all-consuming. It dominates everything we think about and how we make our decisions. Passion makes us obsessive. If you are pursuing your passion, people around you will tell you that you are wasting your time, or that you don't have work-life balance, or that you are probably going to burn out. They criticize because they haven't pursued their passion and are wrapped up in a life that is missing purpose—and a life without purpose is the true cause of burnout.

Honestly, I’m not even sure Elizabeth and Alex are actually speaking from their own experience. As far as I can tell, Alex pursued his passion. He was passionate about working out and building muscle, which led to owning a gym. Then, wanting other gym owners to be successful, he created Gym Launch, and the rest is history. He didn't even follow his own advice. Because Alex pursued his passion, he came to understand his purpose, which opened up new passions for business and helping people. Now he still works out, builds muscle, and builds up other people who are building businesses.

Following your passion will not make you poor, but will make you rich in every way you can imagine—rich in your relationships, rich in purpose and fulfillment, rich in adventure, and and rich in trusting God for all that you need.

Following your passion is the key to a life worth living.

How do you think passion, purpose, and success relate to each other?

Share your thoughts in the comments below!