"What if I don't have a passion?"
Has the thought ever occurred to you that you may not have a passion? That you might be one of the few people in the world that after months/years of searching, there just may not be something you'd be happy to devote your life to?
The thought crossed my mind during my search. It didn't last long since I came to this realization from my discussion with others:
If I can't find a passion, it's because I haven't tried enough new activities.
Read MoreIf you've come across any of the blogs, articles, books, and speeches about finding your passion, you've certainly heard the advice to quit your job and follow your passion.
While that's great for some, as so many people really don't like their jobs, I think there are plenty of people out there who would benefit from just finding what they're passionate about, and then seeing if there is something in their job responsibilities that will fill that need.
Additionally, what you may find is that while your passion may not lie with your current position, branching out into another department or moving to another company might be all it takes for you to love what you do.
In essence you want to find passion in what you are already doing.
Read MoreEvery day there is a sunset. Depending on where you live and the weather, on most days you could probably see at least a part of it. And yet most of us don't take the time to make it a priority.
We've got things to do, people to see, a world to change. And that's great. No one ever changed the world by sitting on a bench and watching the sunset everyday.
But that doesn't mean that we should never watch the sunset.
Read MoreI've found that often we aren't really forced out of our comfort zones. We have a few trials and tribulations here and there, but in our day to day lives, we often find ourselves pretty much doing what is expected of us and then succeeding at it.
That's really not a bad thing.
Imagine a life in which everyday we fought to make ourselves heard, or we had to work incredibly hard just to get by. Fortunately for most of us, this isn't the case. This is pretty much why we work hard to begin with, why we go to school, and why we plan for the future.
But...that doesn't mean we shouldn't push ourselves every now and then.
Read MoreEveryone is aware of 'typical' passions: painting, playing an instrument, coding software, carving wood, etc. They've come up time and time again in various movies, books, articles, and other media. These are great passions to have, as they bring value to both the practitioners and those that receive the product/performance.
But not everyone's passion in going to fall into the traditional creative fields. Some lie elsewhere, and it's important not to limit yourself if you're currently searching for some of your passions. Focus on what it is that you love to do, and then find a career path for it.
Read MoreI haven't learned my passion yet.
I haven't learned what I need to know in order to become a bona fide inventor or creator of a successful business.
And that means I'm not ready.
I'm not ready to make that transition, to work specifically on it as a career, to live out my passions of tinkering and creating (Uh oh, if you haven't read Crazy Enough To Try yet, I'm giving away the not-so-surprise ending, haha).
And that's ok. Because we're always learning about new ideas, new concepts, and gaining new knowledge. And truthfully...you're never ready to make a big jump.
Read MoreI recently wrote a guest post over at Perform Destiny with some Practical Tips On Transforming a Passion Into a Career. Visit Kevin's site and check it out for more info and tips.
Also take a look at some of his posts. He's a 'no bs' kind of guy, and has some pretty practical advice on making changes in your life. From the minute he started working a traditional job, he knew it wasn't for him and has been making strides to change that ever since.
- Ryan
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I recently met a young woman named Miranda who published a book on art and the reality of failing, Don't Make Art, Just Make Something.
The main concept of the book is that for those of us who are just starting out, it's next to impossible to hit it out of the park on the first swing. The vast majority of the time, there will be many 'failures' and the key to learning and getting better is through these failures. This applies just as well to fledgling artists as it does to anyone progressing in a traditional career.
In this book, Miranda has a poem on passion that I thought was very fitting for the message here at Crazy Enough To Try. In fact, her book actually inspired the post on practicing your passions. With her permission, I've included the poem below.
Read MoreIf your goal is to transform your passions into a business, or share them with the world, or even just improve them for the sake of improvement, I think that's extremely admirable. However, it's not enough to only have passions; practicing them is more important. Just because you love doing something, doesn't mean that it will come easily, or that your natural gift will carry you further than those who apply effective effort.
Read MoreDon't hide your passions. Sharing your passions with others is a surefire way to find other people who are interesting and who may also share your enthusiasm.
This past Tuesday, I attended TEDxBoston 2013, and was blown away by the amount of passion and drive just floating around in the air. I will post some of my favorite talks once they are available, but needless to say, there are quite a few amazing things going on in Boston area.
The tagline of TED conferences is "Ideas worth spreading" and that is key. It's not enough to have an idea and keep it to yourself, it's also about sharing that idea with others. From sharing it, the idea takes on a mind of its own and morphs into something beyond your control, something that you couldn't even dream of before. From there you can harness it and run with it to create something wonderful.
Read MoreWe all want to be successful at what we do. That's great, and I think by striving for success we achieve some incredible goals through some serious hard work and dedication. I can't think of an interview with a successful person that includes the phrase, "Yea, I started out by wanting to do something people would think was 'pretty decent'." No, you have to want to change the world, and leave a mark to even have a chance at being successful.
Or do you?
It depends. All too often we let others define what success means to us.
Read MoreWhen I first began my search for activities that I'm passionate about, I didn't really think much about "why?" I just knew that if I wanted to be doing something I enjoyed for the rest of my life, I had to be passionate about it.
But really, the "why" is an important part of this search, and any search really. Think about it, if you don't know why you are trying to find something or why you are trying to accomplish a goal, then what's the point? And what are your chances of actually succeeding?
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