How to Find Your Passion
Practical Advice to Change Your Life
Practical advice to change your life
“Follow your passion,” they say. Apparently, following it will lead you directly to happiness, fulfillment, and your own personal heaven. Our time is limited. Like scary limited — one moment you’re taking a selfie and 10 minutes later, gone — blood clot, stroke, drunk driver, whatever….It’s our responsibility to make the most of our experience on earth.
Why all the passion talk? Because your passion leads you to your purpose, and your purpose answers the ultimate question of how you should spend your life. Your passion is how you light up; your purpose is how you light up others. So if you want to understand why you’re here, start with your passions.
Your mind is your most powerful personal resource, so tell yourself that finding your passion will be easy. Believe it. If you start by thinking that this exercise will be challenging, it will be. Changing your mindset will make it easier to catch those little pulls and signals that will nudge you in the right direction. You won’t be able to find fulfillment if you don’t believe that it exists in the first place.
“Passion is not a thing. It’s a state of mind.” — Mel Robbins
So here we go. Here are seven practical steps to help you discover your passion and ultimately live your purpose.
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1. List Your Values
Your values are the core beliefs and highest priorities that drive behavior. They often become a part of your personality. On your journey to finding your passion, you must consider your values, as your passion will often align with yours. This is why you’ll feel more fulfilled pursuing it.
Brainstorm all of the things that are important to you. Creativity, loyalty, compassion, dependability, or family could be your values.
Do you need help? Look at people you admire. What are the values that they model? Observing theirs can provide insight into your values. For example, you could love your partner because of how dependable they are or their honesty.
2. What Are Your Talents?
Your talents could be a clue towards finding your passion. So, if you’re naturally good at a particular skill or want to develop an aspect of your life, you should pay attention. Some examples could be public speaking, photography, or playing an instrument.
If you can’t think of your talent immediately, consider what people tend to compliment you on. You should also pay attention to what people say they like about you, even if you don’t think it’s great quality. You may be more talented at something than you think and haven’t noticed.
3. Write Down Your Regulars
Make a list of the regular activities that you participate in. These could include your job duties, hobbies, and other things that make you happy. If there are activities that make you lose track of time because you enjoy them, write them down too.
4. Go Down Memory Lane
What activities interested you as a child? While your ideas and the things you enjoy now could be different, don’t discount your past. Instead, go on a journey of rediscovery; it could help you build new enthusiasm.
The things you enjoyed as a child could also help you find your passion. It could be direct, or you might have to look for a theme. For example, someone who enjoyed playing with model trains as a kid could be into engineering or construction.
5. Narrow Things Down
After you’ve made this list, you need to narrow things down by choosing those that feel most important to you now. You can always come back to pursue any of the interests on your list later. The ones you are most excited about currently are most likely where your passion lies.
6. Look for Common Themes
There’s a chance that all of your interests might not align perfectly. However, looking closely, you might discover that a deep passion connects them. To make things easier, try paying attention to your hobbies, the items you spend on, and the books you love to read.
Do all of these things have a theme that keeps reoccurring? Are they about a specific kind of subject? Knowing this could point you in the direction of your true passion. The similarities between your interests often show what you care for.
7. The Right Next Step
Don’t overthink this. Once you’ve identified your passion, the next step is to follow it. But how you do this depends on you. For some people, meticulous planning could lead to the first step in the right direction. Others might need to take a leap of faith to open new opportunities.
Find the suitable risk that works for you and go with it. For example, start by enrolling in a class or course connected to your passion. Then, find what works for you.
So what did we learn?
Finding your passion is an integral part of your life journey. You must do it to maximize your potential and feel fulfilled. Give yourself grace, and remember that passions can change over time. Best of luck in discovering who you’re meant to be.
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