10 Amazing Ways to Find Your Passion, and make it happen!
I was watching TV last night and there was an interview with an artist who proclaimed animatedly that he “couldn’t believe he got paid for doing something he loved” and even more pertinently “i would gladly do this for free….”
This got me thinking that whilst it may be true that many people discover their true passion and pursue it as a hobby (and this could be anything – think golf, cars, star trek fans….) very few will get paid for their actual passion.
So if you’re lucky, you may have already found your passion and may well be all set to take part as soon as you have read this post, but if you haven’t, and are at all restless in any part of your life, then it is well worth reading on..
And to take it one step further if you are thinking about setting up a business of your own, considering a career change or just looking for a new hobby to occupy your spare time, at least spare a few minutes to think about what your passion could be and how you might find your passion.
Presenting .. 10 Steps to Find Your Passion..
Table of Contents
So here are my own “how to find your passion” prompts based on my own life experience … your list might well be different.
1. Is there something you have always wanted to do?
It could be anything from travel to a hobby, an “experience” or an object you have always wanted to own. Make a plan to achieve this. Or look at things from the point of view of how you would spend tomorrow if you could do anything you wanted to do and money was no object.
- What would you do?
- How would you spend your precious one day?
- Who would you spend it with?
- Where would you go?
2. Where do you really want to live?
Imagine you had the choice of anywhere in the world. Where would you choose?
Is there a city you would like to live in? Or a country?
Would you live urban or rural?
Close to family or as far away as possible?
Perhaps you already live exactly where you really want to live, in which case fantastic and move on… but at least give this some thought
3. What do you talk about doing but have never done?
If you have often made the statement …” I would love to …..”
For instance my own top 5 things I am always banging on about but have never done are
- Getting a season ticket for my favourite football team
- Following the English cricket team on a tour of Australia
- Going on a cruise around the Nordic fjords
- Volunteer my time to help others
- Earn some extra money outside of my normal day job to make things easier
Why have you never done these? Too busy and not enough money is usually the answer. So start to make a plan and think about how you might actually achieve these dreams
In my case, and looking at the fifth item on the list one of the original things I wanted to do was start a website up so I have combined number 5 with getting online and you are reading the result right now .
In addition to this ask yourself the question “what radical change would I like to make to my life right now?” – and it could be quitting your job, or getting more education or going traveling. Not saying follow it through, but ask yourself the question – this will help crystallize your thoughts and help you to find your passion along the way
4. What are the reasons you don’t go after your dreams?
This is quite a biggy if you think about it.
Everybody has dreams of some sort. They may be big or small but even the laziest of people who sit in front of the TV night after night have a dream to not miss the next episode of their favourite TV program
So what inside you is holding you back from achieving your dreams?
- Is it money
- Or time?
- Or are you scared of failure
- .. or scared of success?
- Do you procrastinate over decisions?
- ….. Or are you simply just not brave enough
- Do you get nervous around people …?
You get the picture … ignore money and lack of time for a minute (appreciate that’s difficult) and take a piece of paper and explore within yourself why you haven’t pursued the life you want.
Could you (yes, you) do something differently to help bring your dreams to life?
5. What do you want to do before you die?
How will I finish the sentence,
“More than anything, before I die, I want to ___________?”
Say it out loud and fill in the blank, rinse and repeat.
This is a really potent technique – a “bucket list” if you will and can include things you want to do
Take the top 2 or 3 and go and figure out a way to accomplish your wish.
6. What are the things in your life that you would like to get rid of?
Gosh, we are going deep today….
There are parts of your life (and everybody’s life) where you will be doing things which if you sat down and thought about it, you may not need to do (or want to do)
This could be as big as reviewing your current job or career, but my advice would be to start small and work up – and challenge what you do and the way you do things and why.
It may be that you do things in a certain way because that’s the way you have always done them. Or it is the way you were brought up to do them.
- Do you really need to clean your shoes every single day?
- Do you really need to iron your bedsheets every week?
- Do you need to clean the car every week or could you do it every second week?
- Why do you feel you need to keep your house spotless? Is it your belief or something which your parents have instilled into you
Go write a list and challenge what you currently do and cut out things that are unnecessary
This activity may not lead you directly to your life passion but should get you thinking in the right way, and should also free up time for you to go and do the things you actually want to do rather than the things you think you should do
7. Who are the people in your life that inspire you?
Who inspires you?
It could be somebody at home, at work, a celebrity or a politician
It doesn’t matter – write a list of who you find inspiring and why.
What is it about them that inspires you?
Is it what they do, what they say, how they act, what they represent.
Take out (another) piece of paper (think you need a notepad by now) and try and answer the above questions and then ask yourself whether you aspire to be like them, or at the very least what aspects of their lives could you aspire to match?
This can be very powerful because it will get you thinking about what you need to become and how you need to act in order to achieve your own life passion
8. How does it feel when you achieve a goal?
If you were to start small and achieve just one of your goals how would it feel?
Notice these feelings and enjoy them – if you are anything like me you will almost certainly want to experience them again and again
Now think about how it would feel to achieve a life goal. Something really big such as reaching your ideal weight or traveling the world.
How would that feel? Incredible? Awesome?
Stay with those feelings so they remain with you and drive you
9 What’s missing from your life? How Do I Find My Passion?
This could be the most difficult of the questions to address because it may force you to confront where you are in your life today and what you have achieved.
It is, however, a necessary and really important step because without knowing what is missing you are unlikely to know what you need.
SO on another piece of paper just write down what is missing. Big stuff and small stuff.
Here’s a starter list
- A partner
- Kids
- Knowledge or education
- Money
- Organization
- Time for yourself
You get the picture .. it may require a bit of soul searching but when you have done your list, just reverse the question and ask yourself
“how do I get what is missing” ….
The answers may well surprise you…
10. Who are the (important) people in your life?
A really important question then to look at is the role of the people in your life and whether they are supporters and provide nourishment and positivity or whether they are energy sappers
It’s wise to know the people that will stand behind you and help you pursue your passions, no matter what. This could be family, friends, your boss, your colleagues.
Likewise, who gets in the way of me achieving my goals? Who are the negative people who could drag you down. Get rid of them, ditch them, or at least reduce your time with them.
Spending your time with positive, supportive people will help you achieve your goals and reducing your time with the negative ones will stop the draining of energy. Simple as that.
Find Your Passion – To Sum Up…..
There you have it. Finding your life passion in 10 steps(!)
If you take the time to thoroughly consider each of these points I hope you will be excited and motivated by what you come across. Now just go out, find your passion, and make it happen!
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