Welcome to On Fire, a newsletter about passion.

Passion is what makes life worth living. It’s the force that brings joy, meaning, and purpose to our days. And yet, for so many of us, it’s easy to lose touch with.

I started On Fire because I believe passion is something we can rediscover and build by recognizing its presence (or absence) in our lives. One year ago, I set out on a quest to better understand passion — that active, electrifying force that makes us feel alive.

Since then, I’ve interviewed 60+ passionate people from all walks of life — from exuberant mythologists to psychologists doubling as magicians to bonsai enthusiasts and extreme ironers and everyone in between. I’ve explored what drives them, how passion changes them, and what separates the super-passionate from the rest of us. Along the way, I’ve also dug into the science of passion, and formed some theories of my own. I’ve come to believe it’s not just something we’re born with — it’s something we can cultivate.

Through these stories and insights, I’ve learned how to find, grow, and sustain passion. On Fire is my way of sharing those lessons with you.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Every week, I’ll send you a free essay that’s inspiring, entertaining, or helpful. These essays include:

• Profiles of super-passionate people

• Insights from scientific research on passion

• Personal essays on jiu-jitsu, mental health, fitness, and my own journey to live passionately

Here are some examples of what I’ve written:

• Passion as the Cure: How Our Passions are an Antidote to Loneliness

• How to Make Friends with a Passion: Rebecca Green and Her Passion for Illustration

• When Obsession Works: Scott Barry Kaufman and His Passion for Mentalism

• What Does it Really Mean to Be Passionate? A Conversation With My Dad About the Meaning of Passion

• Curiosity as a Compass: A.J. Jacobs and His Passion for Quests

ABOUT ME

I’m Krista Stryker, and I’m your guide through the extraordinary lives of super passionate people. I’m also pretty passionate myself — I’m a writer, jiu-jitsu blue belt, bookworm, cold brew fanatic, traveler, animal lover, psychology nerd, EDM junkie, productivity dork, and handstand fanatic. But what I’m really passionate about is passion.

I’m passionate about passion in part because I know how empty life can be without it. After graduating college, I felt stuck, the spark I’d felt in childhood long gone. But then, while out of a job and unsure how to move forward with my life, I fell in love with fitness — more specifically, high-intensity interval training. That led me to create 12 Minute Athlete, a global platform dedicated to helping people discover their inner athlete through intense, efficient workouts — in 2013.

And since one passion almost inevitably leads to another, my focus on nurturing athletes led me to discover my interest in the broader question of how people nurture their potential. Now, I’m also Chief Performance Coach at the Center for Human Potential, where I get to guide people on their journey toward self-actualization — helping them find their deepest strengths, values, and their sense of why they’re here on this planet.

When I’m not writing, training jiu-jitsu, hanging out with my dog and cat, or doing handstands around the world, you can find me traveling the world or immersed in a book. Say hi @12minuteathlete.

FREE VS. PAID OPTION

If you sign up for the free version of On Fire, you will get my free weekly essay. This is the heart of On Fire and it will always be free because I’m passionate about spreading the message of passion.

If you sign on as a paying subscriber, you will get fun add-ons, such as audio, AMAs, videos, and other yet-to-be-determined additions. And you get the good feelings that come from supporting independent journalism and helping to spread the message of passionate living.

I’m happy to have you either way! But having paying subscribers will help subsidize my mission, and will also help On Fire get featured so it can grow and reach the most readers possible.

With fire,

Krista Stryker

PS. Know a super passionate person whose story needs to be told? Point them my way! Suggest someone I should profile here.