Finding your true passion in life comes down to a lot of different factors. For me, I started out as a young adult not having a clue what I wanted to do in my life. I had done all the right things such as getting good grades, going to college, and working hard. Yet in my heart I knew I was missing a lot out of life. The problem was I didn't know what to do about it.
About midway through my sophomore year, it really began to bother me that life seemed to have become one chore after another. It didn't help that I'd seen a quite a few people come out of college and end up in jobs that made them miserable, and yet they continued to complain and still stay in them year after year.
So I made up my mind that I was going to be different. No matter how long it took, I was going to find a way to have a rich and full life, not just financially but with having a purpose. Though I'm always learning something new, the following are some of the things I've learned along the way that I think have been helpful:
1) Set specific goals and understand the obstacles that typically keep you from reaching them.
Being specific makes a dream or a goal real to you. Sometimes we keep things so abstract in our minds that it paralyzes us from taking action. Writing things down on paper also helps, and if you're married it helps you come up with common goals and dreams you want to work toward.
Procrastination is something that almost everyone has to deal with. The way I dealt with it was deciding no matter how small, I was going to do something every day that was going to help me grow as a person and move forward. Even if it's reading a few pages out of a book before you go to bed, over time it does have an impact on you. Breaking a big goal into smaller parts is helpful as well.
Staying focused was another problem I had. I would get an idea and be excited over it for a few months, but then I would get bored. Then something new would come up and the cycle started all over again. What helped with this was just giving myself permission to do more than one thing for my career. Currently I have about 7 different sources of income. While I don't work on each every day, I have enough variety to where none of them ever get old. I've also found there's a much greater reward when you're willing to stick with something.
2) Don't let the fear of failure keep you from exploring ideas.
In high school, I was a very shy person. So my junior year in college I decided to do something that seemed crazy to me, which was take broadcasting classes. I was surprised that when I was put on the spot, I could do things like be a DJ at the college radio station and interview people for a documentary. It was a big confidence booster.
That's not to say that everything I've done has turned out right, but I've learned from failures as well. I've had business ideas that didn't work out, but I put myself in the position where it didn't hurt me financially (didn't go into debt for them), and I was able to move on quickly. The same can apply to exploring a different career part-time while you're working full-time. It's hard, but I've done it before.
3) Eliminate distractions and delay gratification.
I've heard different statistics on this, but the average person in America watches between 30 and 40 hours of television a week. Now I've got nothing against TV in itself, but for about 2 years I didn't watch hardly any of it. During that time I was able to develop a business that I enjoyed doing and transition from working a full-time job to a part-time job. If you do the work in the beginning, you get to enjoy a lot more reward later on.
4) Learn how to not live your life in compartments.
Something I've found is we're often taught to live our life in a series of roles. You may feel like a completely different person when you're at work as opposed to when you're at home with your family or at a religious location. That's not a good thing, especially when goals in each life compartment pull you in different directions.
I've found my life became a lot better when I decided I was just going to be the same person and not get pulled in half a dozen different directions. It meant saying no to things, like when I was offered a different job which paid slightly more but had hours overlapping when I'd be in church. You have to put a priority on your time just as much as most people put a priority on their money. Otherwise you'll be so busy that you'll never have time to think.
5) Realize that finding your passion happens over time, not overnight.
It took me about 5 years to really understand where I wanted my life to go and how the decisions I make on a daily basis have an impact. I have a really good life. I love what I do, and I'm able to use my skills and abilities to help other people as well. I believe everyone out there has the potential to find their passion in life, and I want to encourage you to go for it. Good luck and best wishes to you!
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