Almost everyone wants to live a meaningful and passionate life, but few know what that means or how to get started. We often get stuck thinking that if we don’t have a clear passion, we can’t move forward with a plan. It is true that without a plan, a dream is just a dream, but that doesn’t mean you have to a standstill.
The best way to start living a meaningful life is to figure out where you are and where you want to go.
With any task, it is always easier to swim downstream rather than up. So to get there you want to go, you need to work with your passions. But even more important than that, you first need to figure out what your passions are.
Discovering your passions might seem like a daunting task, and in some ways it is, but at the same time, it shouldn’t be a chore.
Instead, if you want to know how to find your passion, you need to start being honest with yourself. If that sounds vague, then let’s instead focus on what you already know about yourself.
The goal of this article is to show you how to find your passion. The reason this is important is that you often need a target, to help you get started on the path to doing something meaningful.
To help you get started in getting a sense of what your passions are, there are three questions that should help you get some ideas.
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What Do You Do?
The things that you do often are a great guide to what you are passionate about. You may not realize what you are doing all the time, but other people do. This is why they ask you about the things they see you doing.
Work-wise, this can be as easy as looking at what you do as a job. You may be the networking person, the social media guru, or a marketer, or a philosopher. The skills that you are paid to do, or you do for free a lot are the areas that you have lots of knowledge. If you are skilled and knowledgable, there might be an opportunity for you to teach others. This doesn’t mean you have to be a teacher in a classroom, but there are other ways that you can pass on your knowledge.
Look at the things you do for fun; if you are into sports statistics or books, these are places to start investigating. If you read lots of books and suggest the best ones to your friends, then you already have a passion that you’ve turned into a skill.
Finding your passions isn’t complicated; you only need to focus on being aware of what you already do.
In some cases, all that it would take to pursue your passion is to change your day job. If you love reading and books, then working at a bookstore or with a publishing company could help you find the purpose you seek.
If you are trying to figure out how to find your passion, the best thing you can do is look at what you are already doing. Think about what you are good at your job, or what you like to do.
What Do You Talk About?
The things we talk about often represent who we are and what we are passionate about. When we are free to speak our minds, what we talk about is usually a sincere expression of who we are inside. Our words are often an expression of what is happening in our heads, even if we don’t realize it. For this reason, we should take note of what we talk about and use it as a guide to discovering what we are passionate about.
Often during conversations, I bring up new but relevant topics and ideas. Because of this, many people have told me I would make a good teacher. Given my teaching experience, I wouldn’t agree, but there is something to gain from that insight.
You may be interested in sports, TV or movies, but whatever it is, you will have lots to say about it in a conversation. These are the things you know about, and in them, you will find interests, skills and passions.
One thing to keep in mind if you are trying to figure out how to find your passion is that you don’t need to be an expert. We often get caught up thinking we need to know everything about it for it to be our passion.
But that is often not the case, if you are passionate about something, that means you will keep learning more, so you don’t need to be an expert today. Instead, you only need to know a little more than most people. From there, you can use that as a starting point to becoming an expert, as your passions will drive you to learn more.
What Do People Ask you about?
It is hard to figure out what you are good at because you take it for granted. We usually don’t realize what we are experts at because it is usually something that comes easily. So, for this reason, it is where the people around you can help. The first step to finding your passion is to think about what the people around you ask you about. In other words, what kinds of things do people ask you about? Put another way; they ask you those questions because they think you will know.
Sometimes our friends and family members know more about our skills than we know ourselves. They ask us about what in their mind we are skilled at doing, or seem to know a lot about.
In my case, my mother always used to ask me about problems with her computer. If something wasn’t working, I was the first person she would call. For me, those skills and knowledge translated into a career in computer programming and technology.
For my mom, she saw me as a computer expert because I’d shown and proven that I knew what I was talking about. This will be the same for you; people come to you for something because you have shown your expertise in that topic in the past. What you know a lot about reflects what you are good at. If you are wondering how to find your passion, look at what people ask you about.
Now You Know How To Find Your Passion
If you’ve considered these three suggestions, you should have a decent list of interests, some of which could even be passions. The thing about passion is that you shouldn’t take it too seriously, instead see it as something you already do and want to give more attention.
A lot of times, we get the impression that our passions are something more than they are. For this reason, we get hung up on what it means and what it should be. Instead, try to see your passion as something that you enjoy doing and gives you pleasure. It doesn’t have to be your job, though that could be nice; rather, it might be something you work on when you have the time.
When you focus too much on the question of what your passions are, you never find what you are looking for. You most likely already know your passions are; you need to see them clearly and accept them.
Often a problem we have when it comes to personal matters is that we are afraid to admit or be honest with ourselves. We always have excuses about why we can’t follow our passions or live a meaningful life. But rather than searching for places unknown, stop and think about what you already know. Once you’ve accepted yourself and what matters to you, it is time to move forward and make it your reality, no matter what that means.
If you want to know how to find your passions, focus on what you already do
, what you talk about, and what other people ask you questions about. You might already know your passions; you need to learn to accept them.