For a long time, I never really had that struggle a lot of people do of finding their passion. I'd already figured it out at just 6 years old. I grew up with a passion for politics and making a difference, I always planned on politics being my past, my present and my future. Growing up, especially in high school, a lot of my peers really struggled with finding what they wanted to do with their life. I was constantly told how lucky I was that I knew what I wanted to do and I never really did understand why. Looking back, everything did come easy to me because I had a huge part of my life all figured out. When I had to build my resume, or find an internship, or even when I ever had to introduce myself for something, it all related to politics. I now understand why people thought I was so lucky, everything came so easy to me while my friends and peers were stuck in the limbo of should I do this or should I do that? It's difficult deciding what you want to do, its a huge decision to decide what you want your future to look like. I know that because I was in that position just a few months ago.
Deciding I wouldn't go into politics was a difficult decision and one that took a few months to make. In those few months I was really able to relate to how my friends felt in high school. I had a choice to make and one that ultimately would effect the rest of my life. For those that knew I was struggling with this decision, most thought it was an easy one because I clearly had the background and experience for politics so I should go with politics. Long story short, I didn't. I didn't because I felt let to pursue a different career and because I felt it was a decision I would later regret. Ultimately, I just want to do something I love and looking back, I felt so awful not knowing what to do but not I have feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. So enough about me, here's how I found my passion and if you're stuck trying to figure out what to do, how you can find yours!
1. Take Risks
Whether its starting a blog, starting your own etsy shop, or applying for an internship, go for it! Sometimes all you have to do is take a step in what you feel is the right direction. Maybe you have a passion for fashion or cooking, channel that passion through a blog. Maybe you're wanting to learn more about engineering, apply for an internship related to that. Maybe you love creative design and really have a talent for it, start an etsy shop. Not everyone succeeds on the first try but if you never try, you'll never know if its what you're meant to do. If you never take risks, you'll never know what could have been. Don't do what everyone else around you is doing because you're too scared to do what you want to do, go for it and don't look back. You won't feel passionate about what you're doing unless it what you want to do, not what someone else wants to do.
2. Be You
Don't let what someone else wants to do be what you want to do because chances are, it really isn't what you want to do. If you do what someone else is doing, they'll eventually take notice of that. Don't get me wrong, people who have the same passions generally love being around each other but they also know when the passion isn't there too. When the passion isn't there for you but it is for them, it normally becomes increasingly frustrating for them to pursue their passion knowing someone close to them is pursuing whatever they're doing minus the passion. It often becomes not just two pursuing a passion but also pursuing a passion the exact same way and you might not notice that happen, but if you do, know it's not your passion.
3.Explore your Options
Take a look at what you love and write it down. It can be a sport you really enjoy sports or maybe you love fashion. Then look at everything you've written down and pick your top three that you could read 100 books on and not be bored. Look into each of those three and see what you can do to explore those passions. For example, if you wrote down sports, see if you can shadow someone who works for your cities baseball team or see if you like the medical side of sport with training or physical therapy. With every passion, comes lots of opportunities. When I was involved with politics, I found that I could have gone into journalism, activism, policy, campaigns, consulting etc. There was so many oppurtunities to get involved in however I saw fit.
4. Know what you don't like
Do you hate reading factual information or hate sitting all day? Finding out what you don't want to do within a career will really help narrow down what you're passionate about. If you don't like sitting at a desk all day, then maybe typical white collar work isn't for you. If you know what you hate doing then it's easier to find what you love doing.
5. Do What You Want To do
You'll never be happy if everything you do is to please somebody else, plain and simple. We're all passionate about something but so often, people don't choose that passion because someone didn't want them to. Don't let other people define what you do because at the end of the day, it's your life and not theirs. You're the one who will either be upset with the outcome or happy with the outcome.
6. It Doesn't Have to be a Job
Everyone thinks when they have a passion, it has to ultimately be there career or they can't pursue it. Sometimes when you have a passion for something, it takes time to grow and in the meantime you work another job. While it seems like a lot of work, when you're passionate about it, a little hard work won't stand in your way.
7. It's not a Lightbulb Moment
Everybody thinks they'll have this eureka moment where they know exactly what they want to do but for the most part, it's going to take time. You won't know exactly what you're passionate about until you explore it. One of the best pieces of advice I had when trying to find my passion was, "If it's not working, quit fast". You'll know its not for you if you can't work with it and it's time to explore something new. Just keep trying, you'll get there.
So here's to pursuing our dreams, ambitions, and goals. Here's to exploring our old passions and new passions. And here's to finding what we're passionate about. Best of luck to you if you're on your way to finding what your passionate about because it isn't an easy thing but it's amazing when you find it!
