Find Your Passion

By reading this, you will learn how to find your passion for living a more fulfilling existence.

You will also learn:

• why it is essential to find what inspires you;

• how to free yourself from the shackles that choke you;

• to face your fears and your uncertainty;

• how to make better use of your subconscious;

• to multiply the moments of happiness;

• to enjoy the present moment.

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“To be happy, follow your passion.” Who has never been given this advice? Few are those who manage to follow him. Modern society offers many opportunities and possibilities, but most people live a bleak existence and do a job they do not like. One of the main reasons is that finding your passion is not nearly as easy as it seems. Indeed, being passionate is not simply loving something, it is living an intense and satisfying life. For that, having simple interests is not enough, you have to learn to know yourself, patiently, and to act accordingly. 

To find your passion, you must first have an idea of ​​what it should be.

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Why try to find your passion? What interest do you have in doing it? Why is it so important?

Finding your passion (s) is one of the most effective ways to live a pleasant, satisfying and above all, meaningful life. Living - with passion - makes you happy. And isn't it everyone's dream?

Also, if your life is not completely satisfying, that you think you can improve it, or that you have the capacities, finding your passion is the way to go to achieve your goals.

Indeed, this requires asking yourself a host of questions of primary importance, the answers to which will transform your life and your vision of it .

To help you, take a sheet and a pencil, and calmly answer the questions that come to you when you think of your passions. Take the time to answer them, think for several days or several weeks if necessary: discovering your passion is above all a process of questioning .

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Here is an example of three questions you can ask yourself:

1. “What does the word“ passion ”mean to me?” If you can't find a satisfactory definition, just write down what you like to do in the morning, which makes you feel alive. What are the habits, activities - or others - that make you smile when you get up? What helps you to endure long working days? Now that you have a vague idea, ask yourself if it is in line with what you are doing or not.

2. “What could be the goal of my passion?” To answer this question, just ask yourself what would be your ideal outcome if you lived a passionate life. How will you know that you have lived a satisfying life? What are the criteria that could “measure” your progress in this area?

3. “What will I do once I find my passion?” Who will you be? Where will you be With whom ? What will you do ? If you don't know, try to imagine what you would like to do, but be specific. “Traveling”, for example , is too vague. Which country ? Which town ? How long ? Why ?

Do not panic if your answers are not precise enough: put your questions aside and come back to them later . The most important thing is to have guidelines.

In this exercise, the only mistake you could make is to not answer the questions seriously, because there is no right or wrong answer: there is only yours. 

Identify what keeps you from living the way you want

More often than not, in the process of self-discovery, identifying what is preventing you from living your life is more useful than trying to figure out how to add something to it.

You already know, deep down, what would do you good. Life simply put so many constraints on you that you never dared to articulate it clearly, or else you forgot it. So you have to ask yourself what is limiting and sabotaging you in your dreams in your current life.

 

What beliefs should you cultivate or not to live your ideal life?

Beliefs are very important postulates, since it is on them that your life rests.

For example :

• “The most important thing is the family”;

• “Money does not fall from the sky”;

• “You have to work hard to succeed”;

• "I am not good at society".

It's up to you to discover the beliefs to assimilate to live the life you want, and those to avoid at all costs.

For example , just because you couldn't draw at the age of 6 doesn't mean you will be bad all your life. Likewise, you don't necessarily have to leave your job to live your passion.

Question your beliefs and try to introduce small things going in the right direction in your life as it is today and appreciate these changes for their true worth.

 

What do others ask of you?

Analyze what effects social and family pressure have on your life. Do you comply with what is expected of you? Or do you live your life as you see fit?

Your life belongs to you alone, you are the only one to decide on its trajectory. Don't let others dictate your behaviour to you.

So decide how you relate to others:

• how do you like to help them Why ?

• are your relationships important in your life?

• ideally, do you want more people or fewer people around you?

• do you prefer to be quiet or in the center of attention? 

 

Get to know yourself better by discovering your particularities

No doubt you are sure you know yourself well, but that does not prevent you from reflecting on your personality, your strengths and your weaknesses. Having a different perspective on yourself is always helpful.

 

How would you define your personality?

The adjectives you will use to answer are valuable indicators of your favorite areas.

For example , if you define yourself as “hyperactive” and “athletic”, you can take the opportunity to analyze what the words “sport”, “energy” and “action” mean in your home. What can they give as leads for your future activities?

Personality tests are also good tools to help you see more clearly , in particular the Myers-Briggs and Enneagram test, available free online.

 

What are your strengths?

Putting your strengths to work will make you happy, even in times of difficulty. It is therefore important to know them so that you can use them to your advantage as often as possible.

In which activities do you use them the most? Can you do more? What activities could you undertake that require the same skills?

 

What are your hobbies ?

What are you really interested in? What could you spend hours working for, even without getting paid? What interested you when you were younger?

Life may have made you lose sight of what you wanted. Is it possible to revive it?

 

What do you really want?

What do you want to get out of life before it's too late? Why is it important? Why haven't you got it yet? Can you fix it quickly? What is stopping you from doing it immediately?

 

What do you not want (or more)?

Sometimes it's easier to think about it. What do you no longer want to live? Why is it still part of your life? What can you do to permanently eliminate it?

Take the time to respond and think. If you already had the right answers to these questions, they would not be necessary. And don't worry, it's okay not always to know what to answer, it's part of the research process.

 

Listen to your intuition, it will take you where you want to go

Too often, the rational brain is the one that reflects on the actions of the day. Unfortunately, most of the time, only daily life is managed in this way, and what is really important is lost from sight, because everything becomes routine, even boredom. To get rid of this bad habit, learn to ask yourself as often as possible: “What does my inner voice say?”

Perhaps you don't know how to listen to your intuition. Know that it is revealed most often when you are calm, relaxed. Relaxation or meditation are therefore far from wasted time. On the contrary, you will find a balance and your mental health.

By doing so, you will reconnect to the intuitive part of your brain that is most effective at solving complex problems. Sometimes the best way to find a solution is to just think of something else and let your subconscious do the work .

Other means can also be useful: applications like Headspace help you find other ideas in this direction.

If, in spite of everything, you still have no idea of ​​departure, ask yourself the following question: “What if I pretended to know what my passion was?”

In this case, what would happen? How about others? To yourself?

Imagine yourself passionate and interested:

• what would be the domain?

• what would you do ?

• would you be different from today? Why ?

If you can't find it, don't hurry. Give your subconscious time to find. All you have to do is ask yourself the questions from time to time to reactivate the intuitive search. Then let your mind work without paying attention.

 

Overcome your fears and accept the uncertainty to become happier

You may already know what you would like to do, but you fear the consequences of your actions. Most of the time, in fact, an individual who wishes to change his life plans to quit his job, but does not dare to do so. Be pragmatic and ask yourself, “What would happen if I quit my job now?”

No doubt your life would be less comfortable, at least in the early days. You already know that. But is it really that hard to contemplate? Isn't your ideal life worth the sacrifice of your comfort? Could you not bear some financial sacrifices for the benefit of well-being?

Imagine yourself in five years, even in ten years. Do you see yourself doing the same thing as today? However, this is what is likely to happen if you do not change anything.

Surely you find yourself making excuses. For example , maybe you expect:

• the good moment ;

• to be ready;

• to have enough information.

You want to avoid as much as possible the uncertainty that this big leap into the unknown represents, and that makes sense. Except that you can never escape uncertainty.

Life is not a straight line: it changes, evolves at all times. Consequently, preparing for your ideal future life is useless. Life will take you by surprise no matter what and your plans may well need to be changed or canceled.

The only real way to approach this problem is to consider this part of uncertainty as a magic element and not stressful, to follow your “ideal” direction by trusting you to manage the problems as you go.

To measure how much your fears are paralyzing you, ask yourself what you would do if you were sure you didn't fail .

Where would you start if success was guaranteed?

Remember, the important thing is to get started. The important thing is to act, for what you really would like. So learn to tame your fear. How? 'Or' What ?

If you are afraid, this is a sign that you are on the right track. Therefore, do not fight it, consider it as an indicator: it is part of the process . It is normal and healthy to be afraid when trying new things, but that is what makes them exciting and interesting! 

 

Do not ignore your mortality, it reminds you of what is important

It is relatively easy to continue living an unsatisfactory life hoping that tomorrow will be a better day. But the years pass and it becomes too late. It only takes an illness, an accident or even the death of a loved one to remind you that nothing can be taken for granted.

Thinking about your own death is never easy or pleasant, but it is one of the most effective ways to find and follow your passion. Indeed, it is only by realizing that you only have one life that you realize the absolute necessity of not wasting your time.

If this is a fact that most people have admitted, only those who truly understand it, deep down, are able to change their lives. Don't wait for a trauma or accident to fall on you to have this awareness!

Ask yourself, "If I had only five years left, what would I do?"

Imagine the doctor announcing that you have an incurable disease. You will surely want to spend more time with your loved ones and take the opportunity to do whatever you want. But more specifically, what would you really do, and in detail ?

Besides, why don't you do it right now? No one knows when a drama will occur.

Imagine yourself on your deathbed, perhaps surrounded by the people who love you:

• what can you be proud of?

• what are your regrets?

• do you have remorse?

• did you realize all the dreams you had as a child?

Now imagine yourself in the same situation, but this time after living a passionate life. Does it change your outlook on yourself?

If you don't find your inspiration right away, at least get into the habit of regularly reflecting on your mortality, as it is a powerful motivator.

Find the activities that put you in a “flow” state and multiply them

Modern psychology has highlighted states of consciousness that are very conducive to happiness, called “flow states”. These arise spontaneously when your attention and your abilities are perfectly synchronized with the difficulty of the task. In other words, when you are so passionate about what you do that you forget everything else to be perfectly focused on the moment.

A task that is too easy will cause disinterest and boredom, and a task that is too difficult will cause anxiety and discouragement. The state of flow is right in the middle: neither too easy nor too difficult and interests you most.

If you don't really know how to find your passion, find out what is causing your flow. Indeed, the more you will know precisely why you are in “flow”, the easier it will be for you to reproduce this state, by multiplying the activities which cause it.

For example :

• a mountaineer on a steep slope;

• a fast-moving motorcyclist;

• a mathematician trying to solve a difficult equation;

• a painter and an inspiring canvas;

• a pastry chef with a technical cake, etc.

When was the last time you were in a state of flow?

You will need to make sure that practicing your “passion” gets you enough of these magical moments. A happy life is, in the end, only a succession of happy moments.

You don't necessarily have to name your passion, just make sure your current life gives you enough flow. Is this the case in your work and in your personal life? If the answer is no, you know what you have to do.

For example , if in your work, certain aspects put you in a state of flow, but others exasperate you, find a way to eliminate the latter and increase the number of the former. In doing so, your work may become great without needing to change it.

Focus on the positive rather than the difficulties: you will live better

Many people give up living their passion. Their apologies are more or less valid: “It would be great if… but…” is one of the most common phrases used to prevent action.

On a daily basis, it is true that the constraints and pitfalls are numerous, and focusing on the negative and the potential danger is often reasonable and useful. However, the goal of this process is to find a spark of passion, not to fill out your tax form! It is therefore out of the question to focus on real or supposed difficulties.

However, habits die hard, so to remove this problem once and for all, ask yourself what would be the downside to living your ideal life ?

List them, read them carefully, and then balance them. Imagine yourself “victorious and happy” in the future. What advice would your future self give to your today's self?

Perhaps you think that the lack of money is your main source of problem. Don't believe it. Even with all the money in the world, you will not be happy. Search again.

Think: what would you really do if money was not an issue ? After shopping and traveling around the world, what would make your life meaningful? What gives you energy every time you do it?

Go further: what would you do if all your current problems were solved? Would you go into humanitarian work? Do you have a grandiose project, exceptional talents to develop?

How could you, today and without waiting another minute, take a small step in this direction?

Stop lamenting: focus on your future life and the positive. The more you like it, the easier it will be for you to overcome the little inconveniences.

 

 

Conclusion

Who would not exchange confusion and doubt for satisfaction and joy? If at the end of this, you still haven't figured out how to do it, it's probably because you answered too quickly. Repeat the questions one by one. By force, you will eventually find your spark. Remember: there are no possible failures as long as you keep moving. Your life depends only on you: you are solely responsible for it. Take this responsibility head on and make your life a masterpiece.

What to remember from this:

• Finding your passion most often means finding what prevents you from expressing it;

• your life is yours, don't listen to others;

• don't limit yourself with false beliefs about life and yourself;

• know each other, and focus on your strengths;

• listen to your intuition and let your subconscious help you;

• uncertainty and fear are inevitable: don't try to run away from them, but don't let them paralyze you;

• remember your mortality and what is important to you;

• multiply the moments of “flow”;

• counterbalance the negative aspects of your new life with the positive;

• take a first step in the right direction.