Thinking about giving your career and life a new turn? Feeling like there’s something missing? Motivation, inspiration or drive?

That’s when we often hear the advice: “Just find your passion and follow it!”

This seems to be a universal “band aid” for all that goes wrong or lacks in our lives.

And this can put us under enormous pressure.

So what if,

• we can’t figure out what our passion is?
• we have too many things we feel passionate about?
• we lost the passion for something that once fulfilled us?

 

So let’s demystify this passion discussion a bit

In my opinion, being passionate about something means truly and deeply enjoying something. A topic, a cause, an activity. 

It’s something that puts us in a state of “Flow”. In other words, when we’re engaged in this topic or activity, we forget space and time around us.

Having this in mind, let’s break it down into three tips to avoid that this “passion discussion” is leading you in a dead end street.

 

#1 There’s more than one passion inside of us

As evolving and expanding human beings who’re curiously observing the world around us and looking for opportunities to interact and re-act to what is happening around us, we most likely experience a lot of things and activities as joyful.

We can engage in various topics and activities and experience a sense of “Flow”. 

So why should we force ourselves to prioritize or choose?

Why should we pick one and knead it till we finally manage to make a bread job out of it?

 

Allow yourself to discover the variety of things you truly enjoy. Without expectations that this might be your “band aid”. Without the expectation to turn it into a bread job.

Do it just for the pure pleasure of discovering those things (again). And let things evolve naturally.

 

#2 Allow your passions to grow and evolve

You’re constantly growing and evolving, and so do your passions.

What might fulfil you today, might be different tomorrow.

So don’t get hung up on a narrow definition or specific action. Rather look for the underlying values, your drivers, and allow them to materialize in various shapes and forms.

 

#3 It’s your choice where you live your passion(s)

There’s no need to “force” things you’re passionate about into the shape of a bread job.

Sometimes living these activities through volunteer engagement, side projects, side jobs or hobbies can be more fulfilling and motivating because you don’t have the pressure around it to make money with it.

And sometimes, over time, a side hustle or volunteer project will grow into your new profession. Slowly and organically.

 

Don’t force the outcome.

Instead enjoy (re-) discovering all the things you truly enjoy and make them part of your life (again).

Over time and by embracing all opportunities you’ll discover how and in what form these passions will play out in your life.

Allow yourself to be surprised.