Sure, follow your passion. But how do you find it?

For a long time, the saying “Follow your passion”, aka the star advice of self-help books and motivational speeches really irked me.

Sure. I’d love to follow my passion, make a living out of it, and live happily ever after in a state of productive and creative bliss.

But what if I don’t know what my passion is? What if I don’t feel particularly passionate about anything, especially when it comes to a strong commitment to a career? Or what if too may things interest me? How do I know which one is the real deal?

I’ve struggled a lot with these thoughts in the last few years. Especially the too many options thing. I’ve never been someone who had cool hobbies or who knew from a young age what they wanted to do when they grow up.

You know what? I’m still not completely sure. But I decided that it’s OK.

My mind is a lot clearer nowadays when it comes to what I’m passionate about, but it’s a journey and I think I’m only at the beginning. But at least I’m more balanced towards the idea of passion. I work on it, but it’s a work in progress.

Try some of these tips and begin your own journey.

How to find your passion

Be open and try everything. And I mean everything.

How will you know whether you like avocados if you’ve never tried them? Ok, maybe it’s a dumb example, but the basic principle is true nevertheless. You gotta try yourself at a lot of things to know what you like and don’t like. You can imagine a lot of things about a particular job or activity, but you can only know what it’s really like once you tried them.

So far in my life, I’ve been interested in a lot of things. From art history, fashion, literature, politics, through business consulting, communications, social media to writing and photography. And I’ve tried a lot of them. Some of them stuck as passions, some of them were just good life experiences. I’ve never regretted acting on any of them.

My best advice is to do tons of internships, side projects, read books, try courses – whatever interests you, act on it. The worst thing that can happen is you find out it’s really not for you, but you still gain a lot of experience. Sometimes realizing what is NOT your path can be just as valuable as finding your own.

Think about your areas of interests, but don’t overthink it

A lot of people assume that thinking hard on what your passion is will bring an epiphany. I think it’s not that easy. It’s a good thing to take some time and list your areas of interests and skills or the goals you would like to achieve. It can be a valuable practical exercise, because seeing them clear on paper can get you ideas on the direction. But don’t overthink it. Once you find your areas of interests, it’s time for the try everything approach. Less thinking, more action.

Bet on your strengths

There’s one really valuable advice I heard from Gary Vee (well, there’s a ton, but one particular on this topic): Understand your own DNA, find out what you’re good at, what your strongest skills and talent are and execute on those. Chances are, your passion will be aligned with your strengths. Find those.

If it’s easy to quit, it’s not a passion

I think the best indicator of whether you’ve found your passion is how much sacrifice you’re willing to make for it. Sure, there will be times when it’s difficult, when you lose your faith or confidence, when you doubt yourself, but with a true passion, those feelings will still not make you quit. If you’re willing to work hard, put in the hours, go on even without fast success, and you’re still not quitting it, because you’re unable to imagine NOT doing it – you’ve found your true passion.

It’s OK to have several passions throughout life

What I find problematic with some self-help books is that sometimes they suggest everyone has ONE true calling in life and we must discover that in order to be successful. I beg to differ. I think it’s perfectly fine if we go through different passion stages in life. I’m not the same person as I was at 18, and probably (hopefully) will be different when I’m 40. Why would I wanna do the same thing? I want to evolve, gather different experiences, and take as much out of this life as I can. If you’re passionate about something for decades – awesome. But if you discover new passions – that’s great as well. Embrace them.

There’s always time

You left university, or a job you didn’t like and still don’t know what to do? It’s OK. There’s always time. No such thing as too late to start (OK, maybe a ballet career at 40). The most destructive thing I’ve ever done to myself was stressing about time and where I should be at the particular age I was. Don’t repeat that mistake. Whether you’re 20, 30, 40 or whatever, you still have the power to find your passion and build your best life ever. It all depends on your positive mindset.

What are you passionate about?