It thrills me to know there is actually scientific evidence that doing what you love is good for your health.

Check out this passage from Janet and Chris Attwood’s excellent book The Passion Test: The Effortless Path To Discovering Your Life Purpose. They cite research from two neuroscientists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Spirituality and the Mind:

“The brain is very happy when you’re focused on what you love. The more you focus on what you truly love and desire, the volume gets turned down in those parts of the limbic system where the destructive emotions of fear, anger, depression, and anxiety are controlled. This allows you to think more clearly.

You can also turn up the volume in other parts of the limbic system that generate positive emotions. When this happens, you get a release of dopamine, endorphins, and a wide variety of stress-reducing hormones and neurotransmitters. The more you focus on what you truly love, the healthier you are likely to be, and the more you will feel the positive effects of those stress-reducing neurochemicals in your body and mind.

You actually get kind of a double whammy. You can have a decrease in negative emotions and an increase in positive emotions when you align yourself with what you believe is important to you.”

How cool is that? It was something I always knew intuitively, and I have lived it in my own experience, but it’s awesome when science confirms intangible or ancient wisdom, or something that you subjectively know is true for you.

So it pays dividends to get crystal clear about the things you truly love most, as well as how you FEEL when you’re engaged in them, and make those things a priority in your day–every day.

In my ideal world, everyone knows what they love most, and follows their joy without exception, trusting that the practicalities of life like paying bills and supporting the family actually get easier when they are happier inside.

Can you imagine what kind of world we would live in if everyone was true to doing what they loved most, and also knew that it was possible to make a great living at that?

It may seem idealistic, but I absolutely hold that vision. Thankfully, we are seeing more and more examples of how and why that works (check out the women profiled in, and contributing to, Business Heroine!).

So check in on this: What is one thing you’d LOVE to be paid to do, and how can you start doing more of that on a regular basis?

July 2013 Issue