How to find your passion

Many people these days write about how you must follow your passion, pursue your dreams and turn your love/passion into a lifestyle or paying activity.

Many of them – and rightly so – talk about focussing on doing what you love, not worrying about success or money, which will both elude you the more you focus on them.

All of which is very true and I could not support more.

What they don’t tell you is how to find an activity in life which will leave you content and fulfilled – if there really is nothing of note in your life.

They all talk about how you can easily become happy and content with life by “simply”:

1. Taking what you love to do, also
2. Making sure it’s what you’re good at and finally:
3. Finding people who’ll pay you for it

Most often, people don’t necessarily struggle with 2 or 3.

The problem is that many (if not most) people DO NOT have a passion or a dream and they don’t know how to find it.

Most people fall into a job just to get some money to live off, which becomes their career and they just stick with it, sometimes hating it, living for the escape at the end of the day and weekends, where they often drink, watch TV and/or socialise (often also coupled with copious drinking).

They don’t follow their dream or passion not because they’re lazy or scared.

They don’t follow their dreams because they don’t have any!

That is, if you don’t consider reading books, watching TV or some other fairly generic, time eroding activity that has a low “enrichment” factor – a passion.

If you are obsessed with books, foam at the mouth opinionating about movies to your friends – it’s different. This might, in fact, be your passion. If so – go and pursue it with all you’ve got.

Passion might not be for everyone either. People are different. Some are more emotional than others. Some will be highly content and at peace maintaining a happy family and home or doing something other might not consider a “life goal”.

Passion and “meaning of life” is whatever gives you a prolonged sense of belonging, content and inner peace. It is different for all people (though some will share common passions) and it will often change throughout a person’s life.

If you just pass time down the pub or bar, watch TV every night to kill time or watch OD TV on your tabled or phone at every opportunity (on the train commuting to work) or read books to remove yourself from reality – you might be missing  out on the world around you.

I firmly believe there is an activity out there, for all, which – once found – will make them feel things they’ve rarely felt before, energise them, make them feel fulfilled and give them a sense of purpose.

If you’ve found this already – you should consider yourself very lucky. It’s very rare.

Finding something that excites you, that won’t fade quickly is hard.

I’ve also read articles which go on about how you must already have something that you’re passionate about but you don’t notice it or don’t think it’s possible to turn it into a career or a paying activity.

I don’t think this is always true.

We live in an age where there is a strong message of needing to consume in progressive proportion to your income, a message of having to work hard to obtain more things.

So many fall into a cycle of working and spending, a cycle that is heavily materialistic and is completely defocussed off the self, internal states, importance of feelings, thoughts and process.

So for many, the way to fine that “Item no 1”, in other words “something you’re passionate about” – the only way is to expose yourself to new experiences, people and environments.

If you live in the city, go to the country side. If you’ve always gone skiing, go to the sea side and vice versa. If you usually stay in 3+ star hotels – just once, try a camping trip or a cheap eco resort off the beaten track.

The more you put yourself out there, the more likely you are to find something.

Say “yes” more. Being invited to a museum and it’s not your thing? Go anyway. Friends going on a climbing and camping trip and you’re scared of heights? Go anyway.

Exposure begets discovery.

Often you might not even find a new activity which becomes your passion. Sometimes you will realise something that only becomes obvious when you find yourself in a new environment. You may realise that something you already have is what you’ve been searching for all your life.

Or you might indeed find a new activity that will be your life’s passion from here on in, who knows!

The key is to get out and explore.