We’ve all heard the saying “find your passion”.
There are tons of articles, books, and motivational speakers that teach you how to find it.
If you’re anything like me, you might have felt pretty discouraged at some point because you couldn't identify your passion.
Even after listening to inspiring speakers talk about how they found theirs, I still had no idea.
I was even more frustrated because I needed to know my passion to decide on a new career.
In fact, I was convinced that I didn’t have one. I enjoyed several activities so I saw myself as a generalist. All I cared about was making an impact and living a happy, healthy life with those I loved.
You see, for me, I never thought I had any strong interests. But I was well-known by family and friends for having frequent short-lived obsessions:
- Turning Lady Gaga songs into acoustic versions on the piano and spending hours singing “I want your love and I want your revenge”
- Taking lessons to sew fanny-packs and my own clothes #bringthefannypackback!
Everyone knew I’d be periodically obsessed with something..
But I didn't think I had a passion.
“Why can’t I find my passion?”
As children, we do whatever we want in terms of interests.
If we want to play with dolls, we do. If we decide we want to play sports during recess instead of playing tag, we did just that.
We never questioned whether it made more sense to play hopscotch with our friends or swing on the monkeybars.
When we’re young, we don’t think too much about the effects of pursuing something we like. We’re simple-minded as kids so we simply follow our hearts.
But as we grow into adults, we’re taught by family, friends, and society to get a good stable job, save money, strategize how to build your career, plan for unexpected finances, etc.
These are all things we should be doing, but focusing solely on these priorities hinder us from identifying our passion.
As adults, we prioritize activities that propel us forward in our careers over our hobbies. Unfortunately, these activities aren't always in line with our passions.
“But I’m not insanely crazy passionate about anything!”
You don’t have to be insanely passionate about something to have a passion.
Society makes us feel as if finding our passion is an epiphany-like moment in our lives or something we should have known since our elementary years. We truly believe that it's supposed to be a glorified moment.
But that’s farrrrrrr from the truth.
Think about it...
What percentage of your network knew exactly what they wanted to do with their lives as children?
That percentage is very, very small, right? Or non-existent?
Most of us don’t grow up knowing we want to be a writer or a marine biologist.
But that doesn’t mean you don’t have a passion.
It simply means you’re like the rest of us - you have very strong interests that haven’t been translated yet into a career.
“OK, so how do I find my passion?”
Passion comes from the heart and it can show up in many different forms.
It’s an interest that develops overtime into a passion when you continue to pursue it.
Most of us aren’t born with a strong passion - that’s just unrealistic.
However, we are born with interests and if you continue to pursue them, they turn into passions.
Stop thinking about whether pursuing your interests will pay the bills, bring you any financial stability, or a better reputation.
Just continue doing the activities that make you excited. Progressively, you will develop stronger feelings that will turn into a passion.
If you’re wondering whether or not you have interests, you do. Interests are activities that you enjoy and the truth is you are already doing something you enjoy in your life.
I loved sewing, playing the piano/ukulele, and writing my own songs. I didn't want to be a musician (I knew that for sure), but I realized I had an intense passion for creativity, a passion that is at the core of my approach to helping others find new career paths.
So the next time you think you don’t have a passion, just remember that it already exists.
You just haven't realized it yet.
-Teresa