Review: Passion, Purpose & Profits by Courtney Hunt and Emily Scheyer

Authors Courtney Hunt and Emily Scheyer, dubbed The Prosperity Sisters, challenge readers to examine their aspirations in Passion, Purpose & Profits: An Interactive Guide to Figuring Out What the Heck You Want Out of Life.

The commonly dispensed advice about finding and following one’s passion and purpose is sensible, but many of us don’t know how to follow through, which the authors try to unveil in a dynamic process of questioning and journaling. When asked what we want from life, we may respond with vague generalities, such as a nebulous idea of happiness. But to lead a passionate and purpose-filled life, we need to know what we really care about. Happiness is not a matter of luck, it requires planning, and self-awareness is the first major step toward that goal.

The Prosperity Sisters have devised a series of thought-provoking questions on the three major issues of passion, purpose, and profit, helping readers to identify for themselves these three essential ingredients. In the first chapter, concentrated on passion, readers will ask themselves such questions as “What does passion mean to me?” Citing ways in which the reader may get stuck in approaching such weighty matters, they offer further questions to break down larger issues. Our passion can be seen in the ways that we spend our time, or would like to, and there can be more than one. Additionally, articulating and envisioning a future involved with our passion can help us move towards it.

Moving on to a chapter about Purpose, the overall strategy is much the same – self-inquiry. The authors remind the reader that a purpose “does not have to be something grand.” If you like growing herbs, that is your passion and can become your purpose. Purpose should be meaningful and worth struggling for, while also being realistic, not “glittery” and unattainable. Thinking about purpose we can ask ourselves: if we died tomorrow, how would we feel about our life’s accomplishments? Chapters Three and Four offer a guide to profit, and introduce the important idea of a hybrid income stream. If your passion is gymnastics and your purpose is to teach it, you may decide to have a passive income stream incorporating both, such as writing instructional books about gymnastics to sell for extra profits.

What marks this book as distinct from others in the field is the decidedly down-to-earth outlook about what is attainable, versus holding oneself to unrealistic standards. Other books may implore the reader to reach for an ideal, which is a good goal in theory, but not entirely practical in everyday life. Here, the authors aim to have people reveal their true selves, not an idealized version, and their lead-by-example mindset is in large part why the book is effective. Their own lives don’t seem overly lavish or unattainable, which is core to their appeal, helped along by the encouraging and matter-of-fact tone throughout.

Hunt and Scheyer are “real-life sisters” who have pursued their own vision of passion and purpose through developing an online business. Together, they have constructed a highly useful manual that can be consulted again and again to open mental and emotional gateways of self-awareness, given their engaging outlook, which is both frank and optimistic. Their methodology and unique perspective should help readers understand their personal passions, and find ways in which that passion can be transformed into a purposeful lifestyle, making better choices about how this will affect and enhance income. Importantly, the book includes actionable steps, with a special emphasis on journaling to help identify one’s barriers.

Though the title may suggest a mostly business-minded book, Passion, Purpose & Profits is a well-rounded self-help manual that should motivate anyone wishing to generate and sustain a new outlook on life.