How to find your passion?

There's a tendency in our social media-saturated world to be inspired by people who boldly encourage us to follow our passion. Many people have been so influenced by this idea that they believe that everything in their life will magically fall into place once they figure out their passion. The reality is that most people don't know what their passion is. Most of us do not have a clear idea of what we want to accomplish in life, and why.

Or, we might have many things that we are passionate about. And as we try new things our passions change and evolve. We might become more passionate about some things, and less passionate about others. So what do you do if you want to find the one passion that will be uniquely and consistently YOURS?

You have to reverse engineer the search!

Understanding the Difference Between Passion and Purpose

First, we have to agree that having passion alone can be futile unless there is a purpose behind it. Passion is a powerful action resulting from an emotion towards something. For example, if we are passionate about old books, we might love spending lots of time at the library. In some cases, passion can be a positive and strong motivator for action. But problems arise when your ego controls your passion. Since the primary goal of our ego is survival, the ego can often manipulate us towards something that we think is our true passion. You see this all over social media, for example, where everyone wants to become a rich and famous entrepreneur, or a singer, or a lifestyle blogger. Does their passion really motivate them, or are they seeking fame and money as a way to satisfy their ego?

Purpose, on the other hand, is something that satisfies the self. We can understand the self as being made up of who you were in the past, who you are right now, and all the versions of yourself that you could potentially manifest in the future.  A big mistake we often make is that we think that our self is only about us. But that is not the case. We are undoubtedly linked to everyone else around us, and our actions affect others in ways that can be impossible for us to fully grasp. The primary way to be satisfied in life is to understand that the relationship between our passions and our purpose is inextricably linked to something greater than ourselves.

Finding Purpose Before Passion

Unless you can match your passion to a greater purpose, then it might be your ego that is guiding you. But the question remains: How can I find what my passion is? Well, start by finding the purpose. But what if you cannot find your purpose either?

Here’s a helpful way to think about it: Imagine yourself as being a tool in a toolbox. See, all tools have a purpose. A good way to start finding your purpose is to try and figure out what kind of tool you are. You figure this out by trying as many different things as you can until you find what you are really good at. And once you find what you are good at, you can figure out a way to serve others with it.

You might say; "I don't know what I'm good at!” Well, how can you know if you don't go out there and try different things? Once you figure out what you are good at, you will discover your purpose, and the passion will follow.

So, what kind of tool are you?