Do you know your purpose in life? Your passion for living? If you're searching for your passion now and haven't found it yet, what makes you think continuing your search in the same way will magically bring your passion to you? As we pointed out yesterday, if you want a new passion, then you need to create a new experience.
What You Like vs. What You Know
Once you've accepted that you need to put yourself in new situations to discover your passion, how do you decide where to start? Most people will tell you to start with what you know. I disagree.
If everyone only did what they already knew, then we would never learn new skills, change careers or try anything different. Let's say that you work as a sales rep in th pharmaceutical industry. If you can't find your passion right now, then what makes you think that sticking with what you know (pharmaceutical sales) is going to help you find your passion?
Of course, there's nothing wrong with utilizing your current skill set. There's no reason to waste the talent you already have. But don't choose a new path simply because you can do it.
Your choices should be based on what you like and not what you know. What you like is different than what you're passionate about. Likes may turn into passions eventually, but they are simply interests right now. Everyone has an interest in something.
Maybe the pharmaceutical sales rep likes movies. What if he started looking for jobs in sales and marketing for a media company? Or a cinema company? Or a theater company? He could still use what he knows (sales and marketing)... but he's basing the decision on what he likes.
To Find Your Passion, Set Goals
Eventually, the new experiences that you have will help you with the next step: finding a goal to work toward. Reaching for a goal is a powerful thing because it will take you to places you could never envision beforehand.
The value in having a goal and pursuing new experiences is as much the journey it leads us on as the experiences we have, the lessons we learn, the doors it opens as it is the accomplishment of reaching it. You cannot predict where a journey will lead and what passions it will reveal. You can only start the journey and let the passions evolve naturally.
The pursuit, or the journey, will bring your passion to you. That's the secret to finding your passion.
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Discovering Your Passion
We hear it over and over again. Discover your purpose. Find your passion. As you're sitting behind your desk this morning, reviewing e-mails you're probably thinking, "well, this certainly isn't my passion, but where do I start?"
Instead of searching high and low for your ultimate passion, get out there and experience it.
Passions are born out of experiences.
You love your favorite team because it was the first football game you ever went to or at the very least, it was the team that you and your family cheered on from your living room. You're crazy about that one movie because of how it made you feel when you watched it for the first time. These are examples of experiences that left a mark on you. The emotions they conjure up, and the passion you feel, came after the initial experience.
Discovering your passion for work and life follows this same pattern. You will never become passionate about something while sitting around on the couch. If you want to discover a burning passion, then you need to put yourself in a position to have a burning experience.
I knew a woman who discovered her passion quite by accident. When her child started kindergarten, she took a cake decorating class to fill the void. This experience led to her passion and her talent for cake decorating, which blossomed into a home-based business that lasted many years and resulted in hundreds of wedding cakes.
You need to read something new, talk to someone new, go somewhere new. Get out there and try it. See where it takes you. Have a new experience whether it's around a familiar topic or an unfamiliar one.
Are the wheels turning yet? Think of something new you can try today, even if it's a small experience. Then check back tomorrow and we will have some tips on how to find your passion.
Instead of searching high and low for your ultimate passion, get out there and experience it.
Passions are born out of experiences.
You love your favorite team because it was the first football game you ever went to or at the very least, it was the team that you and your family cheered on from your living room. You're crazy about that one movie because of how it made you feel when you watched it for the first time. These are examples of experiences that left a mark on you. The emotions they conjure up, and the passion you feel, came after the initial experience.
Discovering your passion for work and life follows this same pattern. You will never become passionate about something while sitting around on the couch. If you want to discover a burning passion, then you need to put yourself in a position to have a burning experience.
I knew a woman who discovered her passion quite by accident. When her child started kindergarten, she took a cake decorating class to fill the void. This experience led to her passion and her talent for cake decorating, which blossomed into a home-based business that lasted many years and resulted in hundreds of wedding cakes.
You need to read something new, talk to someone new, go somewhere new. Get out there and try it. See where it takes you. Have a new experience whether it's around a familiar topic or an unfamiliar one.
Are the wheels turning yet? Think of something new you can try today, even if it's a small experience. Then check back tomorrow and we will have some tips on how to find your passion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)