Passion in a business setting is very individually experienced. Some call it drive or motivation that appears regularly to spur them on their way. While for others, passion is something that they do—a true calling or a “dream job”—where the content of their work is what keeps them going, not the daily activities. Regardless of how you define it, passion in your business can ebb and flow naturally, driven by changes in your personal life such as having a new baby or through external impacts like losing a big client. But when it’s missing, your life just isn’t the same without it.

With no real athleticism, I took my first pole dancing class three years ago during a time when my passion for my business and life in general was at an all time low. Pole dancing is a popular, alternative workout mixing cardiovascular dance movement and strength-based lifts, high in the air around a slim metal pole. (Shape Magazine named it one of the 15 hottest fitness trends)

I am a leader in my primary business, and serve as a leader for multiple non-profit organizations. Losing my “mojo” was not just bad for business—it was making me physically ill and emotionally depressed. A leader needs to always know where they are going, or at least be happy and positive trudging through the difficult jungles of economic uncertainty. I was neither happy nor positive and it was starting to show, affecting the morale of my team and our ability to provide true value to our customers. I had to do something to dramatically change my outlook. Pole dancing was completely out of my comfort zone but I was willing to try anything!

Roadblocks to Living a Passionate Life and Defining Success

The biggest roadblocks to living our business lives passionately everyday are expectations—paradigms we follow either provided to us by our upbringing or self-imposed from envious comparisons to our peers: “If everyone’s dream job is in finance, is that what I should do?” “My parents will only be proud of me if I get a ‘real job’ so I won’t become an artist.”

Pole dancing is salacious. Instant reactions almost immediately conjure up negative perceptions including the objectification of women or scandalous thoughts about nudity and sexuality. One of the first reactions to my new-found fitness hobby, was a hardy (and clearly nervous) laugh from a fellow board member who spent the remainder of our strategic planning meeting furtively glancing across the conference table at me in open shock, mentally trying to mesh the seemingly opposing concepts of “board president” and “pole dancer.”

Fear—of loss, of failure, of not living up to those paradigms and disappointing people whose opinions we value —can prevent us from living the life that is most fulfilling to us personally, our passionate life. Fear can lead us to shore up paradigms that we know don’t feel right, provide excuses for not breaking out of our comfort zone and mire us further in a downward spiral of negative thoughts and actions: “I can’t do this, I’m not good enough, I’ll never be happy.”

Not only am I not naturally athletic, I am also deathly afraid of heights. Of course an intense fitness activity that involved heights would propel me completely out of the “funk” I’d fallen into!

The first time I climbed to the very top of the pole I thought I would have a heart attack. I looked below, sweaty palms, white-knuckle-clenched to see the smiling faces of my fellow students and my supportive “pole mom” instructor cheering me on and I started to believe, for just a moment, that perhaps if I could conquer this, maybe I could conquer other my fears and worries about business and rediscover my passion. Maybe things weren’t really as bad as they seemed.

Since no one is born with a natural ability to shimmy up a slippery, chrome apparatus, the pole dance community is incredibly supportive of men and women of all shapes, sizes and abilities. Every small improvement, every tiny victory over previously insurmountable physical or emotional limitations are a cause for celebration. Each class, as I got a little stronger, a little more confident in my ability, slowly those feelings of empowerment started to translate to other parts of my life too and I began to walk, then run and now leap out of bed ready to face the challenges of the day. My passion was coming back!

It’s Up to You!

Today, even though market conditions haven’t gotten much rosier, my outlook has and my passion for providing excellent service wearing all my many professional “hats” has improved dramatically. I’m bothered less by the little things that used to easily derail my optimism and I’m not afraid of what others think about how I live my life and run my businesses. If I could swing my entire body upside down, I could do anything! Pole dancing may not be the panacea for all your business ails but try something totally different that engages you in a new way—you never know what you’ll discover. No one is ever too old, too young, too unfit, too uncoordinated or too any-excuse-you-can-muster to live a passionate life that is perfectly right for them.

The only one holding you back from living your passionate life is you. So what are you waiting for? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.