How to Reveal Your Passion and Stop Ignoring It!
Talk of ‘finding your passion’, ‘living your passion’ or ‘doing what you love’ is far from a new idea these days. It’s been on the radar for many people for years but I still hear so many people who tell themselves ‘well when I find it, I’ll do it’ or something along those lines. They believe they have no idea what it is, and that ‘it’ is this mystical thing that they are in search of, something that may be found when they grow up…!
The reality is however, that they just haven’t opened their eyes to it yet, they’re not seeing what is right in front of them. Or maybe they are not willing to accept it for fear of something…..judgement, perception, expectations, perhaps.
And so here’s my tips on how to not only reveal, but stop ignoring what you are truly passionate about. Take some time out to reflect on these, make a note of all of the standout responses to each question and see what comes up for you.
Here goes…
What do you talk a lot about?
When you get together with friends, family, colleagues what topics do you tend to bring to the conversation? Are there common themes, are there things that you talk about more often than others, are there topics you get a buzz from and could talk about all day if you could? Are you the girl at the party that just loves to talk about Crypto….?!
What do you like to research?
Ok, I get it, not everyone is a research type of person but consider those times when you have been scrawling through social media or losing hours in the depths of the world wide web, what have you been looking at (besides stalking the ex maybe!), what have you clicked on that caught your attention and landed you down a rabbit hole of information that you found fascinating? What are the things that you take time to want to know more about?
What skills do you like to work on developing?
Where do you happily commit your time? What do you simply enjoy working on or improving, be that in your own or work time? Do you willingly commit hours of your weekend to perfecting a new recipe, or spend hours on the tennis court mastering your serve? Do you spend your evenings happily completing online mini-courses in Cyber security because you find it interesting? You get the idea….
What do you think about?
When you’ve got some time to yourself, maybe you’re on a long journey free from the challenges of day to day chores or screaming kids, what do you contemplate? What could you lose hours really thinking about or mulling over? What are the themes, topics or ideas that you find yourself reflecting back to time after time? Those things that don’t feel like a chore at all….
What do you know a lot about?
When it comes down to it, despite what you may spend hours researching, learning or thinking about, what do you actually already know a lot about? If someone comes to you for your guidance on something what does it tend to be about? What wisdom do you find yourself imparting more often than others? Whether you love it or not, what could you almost reel off or do without giving much thought to?
Next steps…
Ok, so now that you have tuned into some of things that you somewhat naturally find yourself doing, check to see if there are any consistent or common themes in your responses. Start to circle or cluster them together. When you read back over them, do you feel more enthused about some more so than others? Tune into that and make note. You should, by now have more insight into what you are already passionate about, because that’s where you are choosing to spend your time. For the most part, we choose to put our time into things that we actually enjoy and are passionate about so open your eyes to these things and don’t brush them off as ‘not good enough’ or ‘not meaningful enough’ - there is absolutely no right and wrong here.
Don’t panic!
Now, if you have uncovered that your passions and how you spend your working hours appear to be in no way aligned (and this bothers you!), don’t panic. You’re certainly not alone and it definitely doesn’t mean that you should quit your job today.
Rather, consider how you can make your living from your passions, how you can bring more of your passions into your existing work, and / or how your existing work can allow you to do more those things that you love. On face value, this isn’t always easy but it can certainly be done with an open mind, some creative thinking and in many cases the willingness to challenge potential existing limiting beliefs that are deep rooted that may be holding you back. Have fun getting creative!
But don’t go alone!
While all of that may sound simple enough, the truth is that figuring this out on your own can feel overwhelming and even intimidating. So many, don’t allow themselves the time or space to invest in this to do it properly and be truely honest with themselves.
Many reach a point where their belief system is so deep rooted they simply can’t open their mind enough to see just how these possibilities can align, the brain is so hard wired NOT to see a different perspective (true science) that it all seems too hard and unrealistic. And that is where the power of coaching, to have someone hold the mirror for you, to work on these potential blocks and rid the overwhelm, can really be of benefit. So remember, you don’t have to go alone, enlist the support of a professional if you are in a space where aligning your career is important to you.
And even if that isn’t a concern to you, the next time someone asks you at a job interview or at the water cooler what you are passionate about, you should be much more confident in your answers….
Now go and do more of these things!
If you would like to learn more about Coaching Solutions I provide or would like to receive a template that will help with the above exercise please contact me directly and I will share it with you.
Email: laura@optimisetalent.com.au
