Taylor Harrison-How to Identify Your Passion

Passion is one of the most freeing yet terrifying emotions. I mean think about, on one hand, passion is pulling you to authentically express yourself with the talents you were born to use, but, on the other hand, following that passion can lead to potential rejection or failure, which can stop someone from even trying at all. But even with its looming risk, there are still people who are starting their own businesses, traveling the world, selling all their work, and recreating their lifestyles.

Why?

Because a life led by passion is the difference between doing your job and loving your career. It is the factor that decides whether you wake up early each morning to do more with your day, or repeatedly press the alarm clock and wish you could just stay in bed. Passion adds fulfillment, meaning, and purpose to our life. Without it, we are not living life, life is living us.

So, how do you find this passion inside of you? Consider 4 things that will help you pinpoint your natural interests.

Be Curious

If you feel like you haven’t found anything thing you’re particularly passionate about, get outside your comfort zone and experience the world around you. While in college, take extra classes in topics you wouldn’t normally choose. Or, in your everyday life, take a pottery class, Photoshop lessons, a cooking class, go to a museum, or read books about different cultures and societies. Expanding your mind can open new possibilities for careers, hobbies, and interests. And, if you find that you don’t like the topic you just learned about, at least you’re still learning, which is never a bad thing.

Multi-Passionate

For some reason, people believe that you’re only supposed to have one ultimate passion. You can only like music or traveling or web design. Whoever made that rule obviously didn’t have an imagination. There’s no way I could possibly be satisfied with just learning about psychology or only writing poetry for the rest of my life. Not that those wouldn’t make happy, but narrowing my interests would not satisfy me as much as having all of them in my daily life in some way.

So, if you love sports and sewing, fitness and baking pastries, or making short films and surfing then do what makes you happy. Sometimes combining two different interests can make for an interesting business idea, like using your love of business marketing and travel to explore the world while helping businesses build their brands. Combine your passions and create your own dream career.

Take Action

Like I said before, following your passion can be terrifying. Sometimes it’s easier just letting your dreams stay dreams because then its guaranteed that you won’t fail. But what if you don’t even like the passion you thought you loved?

For example, you may suddenly become interested in a vegan lifestyle and decide to start a blog about tasty vegan recipes. It all sounds great, except for one thing, you’ve only made one recipe you like. This may not be your passion. Or maybe it is, and you haven’t tried enough meals yet. Either way, it’s important to take the time actually work on the things you’re interested in because they may not be exactly what you think they are.

On the other hand, maybe you have been vegan for the past two years and would love to share all that you’ve learned, however, you’re too scared to put yourself out there. For those that feel like no one would care about their interests or that someone else already has done something similar to what you want to do, listen up.

One, how are you ever going to know if others have an interest in what you do if you don’t share it with them? No, not everyone is going to care about vegan meals, but those who do may really appreciate your thoughts on it. Give people a chance to see what you’ve got, I’m sure they’d love a unique and personal perspective about your interests.

Two, “There’s nothing new under the Sun” meaning that in some way, shape or form, everything thing is just another version of something else. To make your idea standout among the crowd, you have to take a standard idea and add a unique twist to it. So, if you want to write about being vegan, maybe write reviews about restaurants that sell vegan food, or start a blog about traveling to different countries and making the native dishes vegan friendly. Yes, you have to get a little more creative, but there’s no reason not to attempt to put your voice out there. Test your passions to see if it’s really what you want and let your unique perspective be known.

Question Yourself

If you were asked, “What kind of food do you like?” I don’t think it would take you very long to come up with an answer. In fact, I think it would be hard to make up your mind (I’m in love with Mexican food, Chinese food, Soul food, Japanese, Korean…. You get the idea.)

Well, knowing your passion is kind of the same way. Most of us know what we like to do on a daily basis or the special activities that we get to enjoy when there’s a little free time. For example, you wouldn’t be a passionate swimmer all of your life and one day realize your true passion is soccer. We know what naturally interests us and makes our heart feel like its going to burst of our rib cage because the excitement can’t be contained.

So, since you already know what your passion is on some level, answering questions about your interests can confirm your inner beliefs. Writing out your answers can help you see patterns in your responses, which will make your passion even clearer.

Here are 5 questions to get you started. I recommended pulling out a journal to write down your answers, so it will be easier to see the patterns and similarities. I also encourage you to write at least 2 to 3 sentences for each response. The more in-depth you go, the more you will learn about yourself.

Question 1: If you knew you wouldn’t fail what goal would you go after?

Sample Answer: Start my own business, travel the globe, learn a new language, adopt a new lifestyle

Question 2: Who do you look up to (real or fictional) and why? What qualities do you admire about them?

Sample Answer: I look up to Lady Gaga. After watching her documentary, it's hard not to be inspired by her dedicated work ethic, her commitment to always doing her best, and the authenticity she brings to everything she creates.

Question 3: Analyze the best moments of your life. What was the root of that happiness?

Sample Answer: One of the best moments of my life was designing vision boards with my best friend and setting new intentions for the New Year. The happiness from that moment stemmed from the freedom of creating my own path of life and getting to help another person find their freedom and life purpose as well.

Question 4: If you were on your death bed right now, what is one thing you'd regret never accomplishing?

Sample Answer: I would regret never traveling outside of the country and experiencing different cultures.

Question 5: What is something that comes naturally to you?

Sample Answer: I naturally love psychology and learning how the human mind works. I want to understand the mind so that I can learn to use it to help others design their best lives.

And there you have it. Four tools you can use to help you pinpoint your passion. These steps helped me uncover my interests and made me realize that I could not only make my life better by doing them every day, but also make a career out of doing something I love. Once you find your passion, you can be more confident building your life plan, focus on strengthening your skills and talents, and discover the freedom you’ve always wanted.

If you would like the 5 original passion questions plus a workbook filled with 20+ in-depth and thought provoking questions to help you discover your passion, enter your email below and I’ll be happy to send it your way.

Along with the Pinpoint Your Passion Workbook, I’ll be including a guide that can help you identify your ideal career by cross-examining 4 areas: Thing You Love, What the World Needs, Skills You’re Good At, and What You Can Get Paid For. Filling out this guide will get the ideas flowing about careers you could do that include your passions.

“Be fearless in your pursuit of what sets your soul on fire”

Grab your free download and discover your passion today.