Okay, this is a hard one, no two ways about it. I think the worst feeling in the world is wanting to change your life, needing to change your life — and not knowing where to start. You can go to a hundred different websites, read dozens of books, maybe even take a class at your local college or junior college and they’ll all tell you the same thing: Find your Passion and do That.
That’s all fine and good, but what if you don’t have a freaking clue what your passion is!? Well, I feel your pain. I have been where you are, and it’s not a fun place to be. It’s frustrating and demoralizing and downright ANNOYING.
Finding my passion was a journey, not a sprint, and it took time and patience, and a bit of help. But, I did it, and you can, too. What I’m going to suggest was the path I took. It may not work for you, but I sincerely hope it does, or, at least, spurs you on to find the path that does work for you.
What is my passion? My passion is to Communicate with the World. Sounds arrogant and lofty, yes? LOL. But, it’s true. I love to talk and read and tell people about what I’ve read, and ask them questions about their life. I absolutely love being part of the Conversation that is the Internet.
But, figuring that out took time. I had to spend time, a valuable commodity in anyone’s life, to figure out what I wanted to do, really, really, wanted to DO with my life. So here are the three things I did to help me find my passion. I hope they help you, too. And, I hope if this helps you, you’ll let me know!
1. I hired a Coach. Yep, I hired a personal coach. She and I still talk twice a month to this day. I couldn’t have done it without her. If for no other reason than that she made me stop and take one hour every two weeks to think about what *I* wanted. If you think a personal coach is a little too “crunchy” or “hoaky” for you, then I ask you to think about this: professional athletes and actors make millions of dollars a year and they have coaches helping them have the life they want and to perfect the craft they love. Why shouldn’t you?
2. Now, I realize that not everyone can afford to hire a coach, nor does everyone have the time to be able to stop their day for an hour. So, I also read a lot of books. A lot of books. Here are some of my favorites:
Working Identity by Herminia Ibarra
Take Time for Your Life by Cheryl Richardson
Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham
Finding Your North Star by Martha Beck (This one I particularly like because it explains the steps of change)
The Poetry of Emily Dickenson (This link isn’t the exact one I own, but the same poems are in it.)
The first four are all books designed to help you find your passion, but you might be surprised by that last one. Poetry helps me relax and open my mind up to all the possibilities of the world. If poetry doesn’t help you, try putting together a playlist of your favorite songs and listening to it while you take a walk. It might help you push out the noise in your brain and find what you’re looking for. Which brings me to my last suggestion:
3. Take five minutes a day and breathe. Don’t tell me you don’t have five minutes. Everybody has five minutes! 300 lousy seconds. That’s all I’m asking for. 300 hundred seconds to sit quietly and breathe. But, I want you to breathe in a specific way. I learned this when I gave myself a repetitive stress injury in my neck from working too long without a break (which is a whole ‘nother blog!). What I want you to do is lie down, or sit in a comfortable chair, although I’ve done this in my car during my lunch hour in a pinch, and I want you to turn off anything that is making any noise, or go somewhere quiet. Then close your eyes. Breath in through your nose, but breath deep into your belly, not your chest. You want your abdomen to rise. Be sure to drop your shoulders, too. Breath in, counting slowly to ten, then breath out, counting slowly to ten. If your chest rises before you get to ten, that’s okay. Do this ten times. There’s a 100 of your 300 seconds right there. Spend the remaining time listening to yourself breathe. If your mind wanders, that’s okay. It’s just you getting in touch with you again. Which is a good thing, that’s what we’re going for here. Plus, I guarantee you’ll feel more relaxed and able to conquer whatever comes next in your day.
There you have it. My three tips for finding you passion. Remember, this isn’t going to happen overnight. It’s a process. It takes some time to quiet the noise in your brain, heck the noise in your life, and find what you’re truly looking for. Give yourself the gift of patience with yourself. You’ll be glad you did.
P.S. Don’t forget to let me know if this helped you! Also, just by way of full disclosure, if you click on any of the book links above and go to Amazon and buy them, I’ll make a tiny little commission. It’s basically enough to pay my web guy when I mess something up, or maybe take my mom to lunch.
Thanks for stopping by!
~Chelle
