Find Your Passion
Just Takes One Idea…
Do you know how to find your passion?
Have you ever looked around and felt jealous of people who know what their passion is? It’s these same people who tell you to “follow your passion”. What if you don’t know what your passion is or how to find it? Stress no more as there are a few ways you can find your passion and become closer to the happiness you are searching for.
Finding what you are passionate about doesn’t mean it has to be for life. As we mature and grow so too can our passions. I grew up believing that I would work with young children and at one stage I did. I started a business called “Fitstart 4 Kids” and we ran kids fitness classes – Hi-5 dance classes, ball skills classes and kids style aerobics. I knew every child that walked into my centre and was proud of what I had achieved. However, the day my passion died was when one of my children was diagnosed with epilepsy and my love for watching other children grow began to fade. I wanted to bring all my energy back in and look after my own children.
So then I needed to find another passion or hobby that could potentially be my career. I fell into a few different jobs but nothing made me feel like I did when I ran Fitstart 4 Kids. What I didn’t realise at this time was I had been building up to the point I am at now. I started working on self-development /self-help books & courses ever since I was around 20 years old. My first Tony Robbins seminar was when I was 23 years (and I won an award and was on stage with Tony). Whenever I was able to help someone moved from a place that was causing immense pain to a place that was just one moment better, I felt such inner peace.
A couple of years ago I began studying again – NLP, hypnotherapy, coaching and found myself a mentor. Every time I was able to guide someone to be a better version of themselves – I was just a guide as my clients do all the work, I knew I was contributing to the world. I began working closely with Year 12 students, helping them with handling stress, anxiety & growing their mental health. My passion is that no child should feel the negative emotions I struggled with for 20 years, emotions that almost took my life twice. My inner belief that I was meant to work with children/teens is running strong.
Are you ready to find your passion too? Here is how to start finding what you really love to do:
- Write down what actually makes you happy. This is the easiest way to start. Don’t over think this step and write everything that makes you happy. It can be the simplest things from sitting in the sunshine while reading a book or eating chocolate in bed playing on Facebook. Your passion might be based around proofreading manuscripts for unpublished authors or creating your own line of delicious healthy treats for dogs. It doesn’t matter what you write (as it’s for your eyes only anyway) but write as many things as possible. Once you have a good list of things you love to do, start a new list of things that you hate to do. Don’t hold back here either as it helps you work out what path you would never consider taking. Refer to this list often and give yourself permission to try the things on your list.
- Start searching with an open mind. Finding your passion may not be obvious but having an open mind to what you find is the perfect start. If you believe you are never going to find your passion, then you probably never will. You can search for years, looking that one thing that ignites your passion but in the meantime, you overlook hundreds of potential ideas along the way.
- Explore every opportunity. Passion comes in all shapes and sizes and nothing should be overlooked. Sometimes an opportunity comes your way, something quite unexpected, that may end up leading you in a direction you never thought possible. Take the time to explore every moment – good or bad, as this may help eliminate what you dislike and what makes you feel good. You can’t plan this step, it comes naturally as we live our lives but it is being aware of what is happening around you that can lead you to your passion.
- Don’t chase the money. This can lead to a false passion and often ends in unhappiness anyway. By chasing the money, you will only focus on WHAT you are doing and eventually you will lose the WHY in your life. A real passion in life can lead to success because it is what you truly believe in. It is not forced. When chasing only money, walls become harder to break through and challenges become stressful. By working hard for something we are not passionate about only causes anxiety and often doesn’t lead to what you deem as a success.
- There are no failures in passion. Finding your passion is all about learning. When you start a new experience, remove the business side of it and simply enjoy what you are doing. You will know you have found your passion when you no longer look at the mistakes you have made as failures but look at them as a learning experience. Take yourself back to when you were a child and each time you fell down, you got straight back up and tried again and again until you mastered it. Remove the word failure from your vocabulary.
Now that you have 5 ways to help you find your passion, start looking around you and make a mental note of what makes your heart sing and what makes you dread getting out of bed in the morning. Some people are lucky to find their passion early in life while others make many attempts over the years but eventually find what really makes them happy.
I have had so many wonderful experiences already and know there are so many more to come. I have recenlty strted a program called Restore UR Soul with two beautiful ladies. We work on the BODY, MIND & SOUL with our group and the experience is amazing.
Have you found your passion in life?
Love Always
Linking up with Kylie for #IBOT
Great post. I love the reminders to explore every opportunity and no failures in passion. Still trying to clarify this for myself. Thanks.
I love your passion in jewellery Deb.. I can feel it. You are such a beautiful soul and it shows through your work.
This is such a useful post for me as I have just accepted a voluntary redundancy and after a couple of months break from working will need to start thinking about what to do next!
Ingrid
http://www.fabulousandfunlife.blogspot.com.au
Just don’t out pressure on yourself. I have changed so many times.. but this time it just feels so right. It’s like I am not working.
Great list! I think step 1 is a challenge in itself; how often do we sit back and reflect on what makes us happy?
Not often enough Kel. It’s the easiest one too. Just being a little more present helps.
Every time I think I have, I get new shiny ideas haha. But I’m not a fan of ignoring shiny, if that’s how my brain wants to work, then I think I need to find a way to make it work for me, rather than shutting it down.
Absolutely. I love the way described it – that’s how your brain works so go with it.
It is wonderful to read more of your story. I was fortunate to make my job my passion. Teaching gave me so many wonderful moments of seeing learning make sense. Later I was to work with teachers when I was promoted and that too was very rewarding and I have seen many go on to follow their passion too. I was in my element caring for our under 5 aged grandkids once I had retired. Nevertheless I am pleased to be retired from it all yet I retain my passion in recalling events and also still use my time to help and encourage others. I particularly like encouraging mature age students as they are often the most motivated to learn and grow. Denyse x
I am at the stage where is just isn’t feeling like work – I love it, I get upset when beautiful children struggle and need help but I know I am working in the right area – I have found my zen place.
I’m with you, focusing on the why is way more important that the what!
Everything is really falling into place. The less I stress, the better is gets.
I just follow along with the things that makes me feel good. That goes for my client work too. If I’m in talks to work with someone and I’m not feeling it, I don’t. If there is work to do I’m not that into, I decline it or outsource it. For me, my passion lives in feeling good. Every decision I make either adds to that good feeling or takes away from it. The rest, it’ll fall into place as I go. Not sure you can tell that to teenagers though, I certainly wouldn’t have believed myself at that age. Haha.
I love that. When I work with young children (they can be really difficult to work out whether it is sinking i) but I always say to myself – as long as I turn up – give it 100% I know they will see the light bulb moment.
I follow my curious and what lights me up. And eventually I think all the dots combine, as with your business! One day it clicks into place why you started all these things, but you just need to start.
I have been lucky enough so far to work in industries both closely related to my two great passions… books & photography. I’m very lucky indeed!
#teamIBOT
And that is why you are killing it and loving life.