Passion Hunting

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

--Harold Whitman

In my post "Just Choose Anything," I suggested that our freedom to choose is extremely powerful which is why making any decisions in life can be daunting. We live with too many options! Making a decision means choosing one option and alienating many, many others.  However, by not getting into the habit of taking actions that commit us to a specific direction (whether it turns out to be right or not) we run the risk of becoming habitual followers. I also indicated that having a passion can make decision making much easier, but didn't provide specific details on how to find it.


You may know what you are passionate about.  If so, that's great!  If not, here are some tips to get you on the path to pinpointing what turns you on the most. 


1.  Who are you?  How much time do you devote to figuring out what principles and values to live by?  If a friend of yours asked you to describe yourself, what would you say? And, would you feel comfortable with your response? Be honest.  


2. What are you good at? For decades we've been told to improve our weaknesses instead of focusing on our strengths.  


3. Keep a running list of things that make you smile.


4. Keep learning and ask questions!  Knowledge is power, right?  The consistent pursuit of education will allow you to build new perspectives that might provide a clearer picture of what you truly love.


5. Think harder.  Why do you think what you think?  (This will help with #1)


6. Tune out negativity.  Your pursuit for passion has nothing to do with anyone else.


7. Don't quit.  We all have passion for something.  It is within us all.


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This is a late addition to this post, but it's related to finding one's passion....

Just Choose Anything

A good friend of mine and I chose to work together on a high growth venture about six months ago as part of an entrepreneurship course within our MBA program.  I learned multiple life lessons along the way, none of which were as profound as the following:

At multiple points (in life, while working on a project, in a relationship, etc.) you have the option to pick a direction--any direction. Or not. Of course, it makes perfect sense to weigh your options by considering their consequences and benefits, but there is a point where deliberation ends and stalling due to fear of the unknown begins. This is what I consider "No-Man's-Land."  This is a scary place because it is an easy place to get stuck.  In "No Man's Land", it is far too convenient to delay making choices and much easier to make excuses. As excuses mount on top of excuses our lives stagnate and pass us by.  As we feel life passing us by and less and less within our control we give up on our passions, succumb to our fears and fall victim to a lack of confidence.

What my friend and I discovered was that the decisions we made, the directions in which we chose to steer our venture, didn't always appear to work in our favor. However, we made the conscious decision, on multiple occasions, to choose action over inaction. Ultimately, we learned what did not work for us when we failed. Failure, it turned out, was equally as beneficial to our progress as success.

Nothing about my commentary in this post is revolutionary. But, it is important that we not forget the old adage, "You'll never know until you try."

You get one chance at life.

I strongly believe everyone wants to be passionate about something. We all want to find what makes us 'tick'.  Finding one's passion isn't easy--I work to find mine every day. It's a process. It's a struggle. It's a challenge.  And it requires taking risk by making decisions and choosing paths without knowing their outcomes.

I haven't discovered my passion yet. However, I am positive that my life is not stagnating. I am motivated by all of the things I plan to experience. I am excited about the choices I get to make. I look forward to failing because it can only lead to success. I like to get out of bed in the morning!

Do you share my enthusiasm?

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