There is a lot of advice in self-help and success books about “beginning with the end in mind.”In other words, find your passion, what you really want, first, and then develop a plan as to how to get there. This is great advice: Find what motivates you, what you love to do every day, what gets you out of bed in the morning, and what your perfect day would look like if you could do whatever you wanted.
However, there is one problem: How do you find your passion? How do you tap into what really motivates you more than anything else in the world? Often, in the advice books, this question is not answered. Instead, they assume every one can figure that part out. Unfortunately, from my experiences, knowing what you truly want can be
tough. In fact, it is easy to get caught up chasing something you think you want only to realize years later it was a mistake.
Finding my passion was one of my biggest challenges. It wasn’t necessarily hard; I just didn’t know how to go about doing it. I read a lot of books, and tried a lot of exercises, but nothing seemed to work. So I wanted to explain the steps that worked for me in the hopes that it will help you find your passions as soon as possible and potentially save you years of struggle and wasted time.
Here Are The Steps I Took to Find My Passion:
Step 1: Action
The first thing I needed to do was to take action and try something. I had no idea if it was my passion or if it would amount to anything, but I tried by doing, not by thinking about doing. If you are having trouble thinking about your passions and narrowing them down through thought, then what you need to do is stop thinking and start acting.
Step 2: Don’t Limit Your Action
Don’t just restrict your actions to things you THINK you like. Here is why: what you think you like and what you really like, might not be the same. To rectify this, don’t limit your actions. Try various things.
Step 3: Don’t make excuses
Don’t make excuses to not try things. In my case, my passion was actually staring me in the face for years, but I would always make an excuse why I shouldn’t start. Thinking back, I am shocked that I never started earlier. Further, do not listen to other people. They will tell you it is too hard, too silly or impossible. But it’s your passion, not theirs. You have to listen to your own voice.
Step 4: Don’t Think About Money
A lot of the time when people start thinking about their passions, they think that they will have connect them to making money. This is not true. Of course, it is amazing if you can match your passion with your career or business, but this shouldn’t be a limiting factor. Your passion can be your hobby, like painting or surfing. You can do these things while you have a job, or some other form of income. Eventually, you can teach surfing or sell your paintings and match your passion with your income, but before you figure that part out, you have to first find your passion, not figure out how or if you can make a living from it. Not all passions make money, and if you think they have to, you can get caught up chasing the wrong things.
Step 5: Try many things
Try many things. Take your best guess about what you like and start trying them out. Also, try a few things you don’t think you will like at all, and give them a chance. The information and feedback you get from trying many things will teach you a lot about what you actually like doing.
Step 6: Do not just try once
Do not just go to one Yoga class, for example, and decide whether or not you like it. Try something for at least 30 days, if not a bit longer. You have to get over the ‘hump’ to know if you like something. You might not recognize your passion for 30 days, or longer. At first, most things are hard and aren’t too fun. It takes some time to learn and figure out how you feel about it. A lot of people miss their passion because they are fickle and give up to early. There is nothing sadder than this.
Step 7: Start narrowing it down
You can spend a whole year trying things, that’s not a problem. However, at some point you have to start narrowing it down and focussing. After going through steps 1-5 you should start to know a lot more about what stimulates you. If not, repeat steps 1-5 until you do. Then, start narrowing down your activities, and honing in on your passions.
Step 8: Mastery
Once you discover your true passion, or passions, allow yourself to master it. Some people might think you are wasting your time or being foolish, but don’t listen to them. I can tell you from experience, waking up knowing you have your passion in front of you is the best feeling in the world. Give into your passion, and don’t give up.
However, there is one problem: How do you find your passion? How do you tap into what really motivates you more than anything else in the world? Often, in the advice books, this question is not answered. Instead, they assume every one can figure that part out. Unfortunately, from my experiences, knowing what you truly want can be
tough. In fact, it is easy to get caught up chasing something you think you want only to realize years later it was a mistake.
Finding my passion was one of my biggest challenges. It wasn’t necessarily hard; I just didn’t know how to go about doing it. I read a lot of books, and tried a lot of exercises, but nothing seemed to work. So I wanted to explain the steps that worked for me in the hopes that it will help you find your passions as soon as possible and potentially save you years of struggle and wasted time.
Here Are The Steps I Took to Find My Passion:
Step 1: Action
The first thing I needed to do was to take action and try something. I had no idea if it was my passion or if it would amount to anything, but I tried by doing, not by thinking about doing. If you are having trouble thinking about your passions and narrowing them down through thought, then what you need to do is stop thinking and start acting.
Step 2: Don’t Limit Your Action
Don’t just restrict your actions to things you THINK you like. Here is why: what you think you like and what you really like, might not be the same. To rectify this, don’t limit your actions. Try various things.
Step 3: Don’t make excuses
Don’t make excuses to not try things. In my case, my passion was actually staring me in the face for years, but I would always make an excuse why I shouldn’t start. Thinking back, I am shocked that I never started earlier. Further, do not listen to other people. They will tell you it is too hard, too silly or impossible. But it’s your passion, not theirs. You have to listen to your own voice.
Step 4: Don’t Think About Money
A lot of the time when people start thinking about their passions, they think that they will have connect them to making money. This is not true. Of course, it is amazing if you can match your passion with your career or business, but this shouldn’t be a limiting factor. Your passion can be your hobby, like painting or surfing. You can do these things while you have a job, or some other form of income. Eventually, you can teach surfing or sell your paintings and match your passion with your income, but before you figure that part out, you have to first find your passion, not figure out how or if you can make a living from it. Not all passions make money, and if you think they have to, you can get caught up chasing the wrong things.
Step 5: Try many things
Try many things. Take your best guess about what you like and start trying them out. Also, try a few things you don’t think you will like at all, and give them a chance. The information and feedback you get from trying many things will teach you a lot about what you actually like doing.
Step 6: Do not just try once
Do not just go to one Yoga class, for example, and decide whether or not you like it. Try something for at least 30 days, if not a bit longer. You have to get over the ‘hump’ to know if you like something. You might not recognize your passion for 30 days, or longer. At first, most things are hard and aren’t too fun. It takes some time to learn and figure out how you feel about it. A lot of people miss their passion because they are fickle and give up to early. There is nothing sadder than this.
Step 7: Start narrowing it down
You can spend a whole year trying things, that’s not a problem. However, at some point you have to start narrowing it down and focussing. After going through steps 1-5 you should start to know a lot more about what stimulates you. If not, repeat steps 1-5 until you do. Then, start narrowing down your activities, and honing in on your passions.
Step 8: Mastery
Once you discover your true passion, or passions, allow yourself to master it. Some people might think you are wasting your time or being foolish, but don’t listen to them. I can tell you from experience, waking up knowing you have your passion in front of you is the best feeling in the world. Give into your passion, and don’t give up.