This question sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Many gurus and productivity coaches teach people to do what they love, live their passion etc. in order to live a happy and fulfilling life. While it may sound completely logical, many people face a hard time trying to figure out what their passion really is.
There are three types of people that I have come across in my life:
- People who have discovered their passion and they work according to their passion
- People whose passion (apparently) keeps on changing, so they tend to switch from one area of work to another
- People who are unable to discover their passion
If you are a type A person, then you don’t have to worry much about this passion thing. But if you are a type B or C person, then the advice of following your passion may demotivate and even confuse you instead of giving you clarity and the push you need to move forward in your life.
So, the question that arises now is: What to do if your passion keeps on changing or you are unable to identify it? Well, there can be many answers to that but there is one particular approach that I really believe can help you.
Passion is mainly about “WHAT you desire to do most”, whereas, I believe, “WHY you want to do it (i.e. purpose)” is more important and significant. Passion is driven by emotions, whereas, Purpose gives you the reason to do something. So, if your Purpose behind an initiative is strong, it will keep you moving forward even if you are not that passionate about that initiative. In fact, if your Purpose is very strong, it will make you do things that you hate the most without losing motivation and without being depressed about it. Confused? Let me give you an example to clarify this point.
Everyone hates changing flat tires of their car, right? Now suppose that you had a very rough and long day at office, you are extremely tired, and you want to rush towards your home, go to bed and sleep. You leave office around 11 p.m. and on your way back to home, you see a very old lady asking for help. She signals you to stop your car and tells you that she needs to reach a hospital as soon as possible but one of her car’s tires has gone flat, she can’t change it on her own and requests you to change the flat tire for her. You get out of the car and even though you are extremely exhausted, you change the flat tire just to help the old lady.
Now the question is: “Once you reach home and finally get a chance to rest and sleep, would you feel very angry and depressed that you had to change flat tire for that old lady or will you feel happy and satisfied that you helped her reach her destination?”. I am quite sure that if you are a good soul, you will feel happy that you helped that old lady reach her destination. So even though you are not very passionate about changing flat tires of a car, you still did it and felt happy, why? Because the Purpose was very strong. It’s the “WHY” that pushed you to help her and kept you happy even in tough situation. Notice that you hated changing flat tires, yet you did it and felt happy and positive about it. This is what I mean when I say that your Purpose (why) is more important than your Passion (what).
So, if you are struggling to discover your passion or your passion keeps on changing, what you can do is to associate yourself with a good cause. You can lead or become part of an initiative, group or organization that is adding meaningful value to people’s life and making this world a better place to live. That initiative could be non-profit, not-for-profit or for-profit. The stronger the Purpose behind it, the more passionate you will become about it, and it will keep you consistent and motivated.
When I was a teenager, I hated it when someone asked me to go to a grocery store just 200 meters away from my home and buy something. But I still remember that when it came to certain initiatives that were undertaken to help people in our community, I used to walk many kilometers without any complain even if it involved going to a grocery shop and buy something for them.
So, my advice is: Instead of worrying about discovering your passion or sticking to one, focus on the problems you want to solve in this world, the initiatives that are undertaken to make this world a better place, especially those that inspire and motivate you, and trust me, you won’t have to worry about this passion thing again in life. Instead of asking questions like what my passion really is, think about why do you exist and what do you want to achieve in life that helps you succeed in this world and the hereafter.
Pro Tip: Serve your Purpose in a way that it helps you make money as well so that you don’t have to worry about your finances e.g. if you are an accountant, you can join a hospital as an accountant that serves the needy for free (if this cause motivates you enough).
For more tips and resources about productivity and life management, you can join my social media group by clicking here.
Regards,
Wajeeh Uddin – Business Strategist | Seasoned Trainer | Peak Performance Coach