Think back to your childhood. Do you remember the things you liked to do? Perhaps you ran around the playground, built sandcastles, and played tag with your friends. There was no pressure to do anything and you were merely led by your curiosity and excitement. If you liked something, you did it.
Fast forward to where you are now and you probably find yourself in a different situation. Chances are that you no longer do what your heart truly desires, but that you conform to social norms or peer pressure. You do what keeps you from being judged, not what you like.
Since you are reading this blog post, I take it that you’re are someone who wants to determine their passion. On this page, I will explain how to identify yours.
Key Takeaways
- To be passionate means you have an intense desire for something. It’s all about doing what brings you fulfillment.
- We develop a true passion for something when the task at hand makes us feel that we are making good use of our time. It must bring us tremendous joy, while at the same time, make us feel accomplished.
- As someone who is trying to determine their own passion, you must look at what you’ve invested time in, and also experiment with new interests. A passion may already exists or it is still waiting to be developed.
What Does Passion Mean?
Immerse yourself in an action that makes you happy, and you find that time flies by. When I was a kid, I could play soccer for hours. I’d walk to high school with a ball in my backpack and kick it around with my friends on my lunch break. Then when I got home, my dad would drive me to soccer practice where I could play some more.
“To be passionate means you have an intense desire for something. It’s all about doing what brings you fulfillment.“
I loved the sport so much that I wanted to be a professional soccer player when I grew up. There was nothing I enjoyed more than scoring goals, and I always wanted to be better than my friends and teammates. The reason I became passionate about soccer was because it provided me with the perfect amount of enjoyment and challenge, the two ingredients that provide for the perfect conditions for a passion to develop.
Related: Why We Struggle to Focus on One Goal at a Time
How Does a Passion Develop?
We develop a true passion for something when the task at hand makes us feel that we are making good use of our time. It must bring us tremendous joy, while at the same time, make us feel accomplished. These two factors needs to be in balance with one another. When there’s too much enjoyment and too little challenge (and vice versa), we don’t stick with it in the long run. When there’s just enough of both, we operate under the right conditions.
How much enjoyment and challenge you get depends on the person. What works for some might not work for others. To find your sweet spot, you have to immerse yourself into something you find interesting, and stick with it for a long time. Only then will you know whether it arouses enthusiasm within you.
One of my favorite books of all time, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, goes in depth on exploring your personal interests. “Passion for your work is a little bit of discovery, followed by a lot of development, and then a lifetime of deepening,” writes Angela Duckworth. She continues, “The process of interest discovery can be messy, serendipitous, and inefficient. This is because you can’t really predict with certainty what will capture your attention and what won’t. You simply can’t will yourself to like things, either.”
Related: The Benefits of Goal Setting and Why Everybody Should Do It
How Do You Know You Are Passionate About Something?
As someone who is trying to determine their own passion, you must look at what you’ve invested time in, and also experiment with new interests. A passion may already exists or it is still waiting to be developed. To aid you in this process of discovery, I’ve prepared some questions for you:
- What are some of the activities you enjoyed doing as a kid, and would still enjoy today?
- What are some of the things that you like to do in your free time?
- What’s something that provides you with a healthy balance of enjoyment and challenge?
- What areas have you immersed yourself in previously, and what’s interests have you yet to explore?
“The path to finding a new passion is time-consuming, but one well-worth travelling.“
Finding your calling is something that will require you to leave your comfort zone, but it will also bring forth a lot of personal growth. Once you’ve found what brings you fulfillment, you’re set for life. It’s best to start sooner than later.