How to Find Your Passion in Life (Hint: Make It FUN!)

Inside: Struggling with how to find your passion in life? Get help from a career coach to pinpoint your path forward, and have some fun with it!

As a career coach, I spend most of my day talking and writing about passion.

Not the steamy romance novel kind of passion.

We’re talking more like feeling passionate about your work and the contribution you’re making to the world.

BUT the passion you adore in romance novels might be the key to figuring this all out. Intrigued? Read on!

When “Passion in Life” Feels Too Heavy, Try to Lighten Things Up

So here’s what coaching clients say to me ALL the time.

“I don’t know if I’m passionate about anything. I like stuff, but passionate. That’s a little much.”

And I get that, I truly do. The word passion can feel a little heavy.

It’s an important part of the Career Sweet Spot model though, and I want you to find your passion in life because when you find it it’s AWESOME. So here’s what we’re going to do.

Either follow along with the exercise in writing below. Or watch this free video training. Either way will help you find your passion in life, even if you didn’t know it was there. And we’re going to have some fun doing it!

How to find your career passion - simple 10 minute exercise

How Interests Can Turn into Passions

Let’s start by grabbing a pen and paper and writing down all the things you LIKE.

I mean ALL the things too. Not just the stuff that seems work-related like data analysis or project management. I mean the embarrassing stuff. The guilty pleasures. The random things you can’t imagine writing down in a career development workbook.

It’s the romance novels, the reality TV, the vacation you dream about, and the color you paint your nails. It’s the ice cream you can’t get enough of, the board game you play with your kids that you like more than they do, and fuzzy slippers!

Go ahead and try it right now.

Think about your favorite entertainment, your hobbies (pre-kids and after kids), the causes you support, what you would do with an hour to yourself, or GASP a whole weekend!

Try even setting a timer with it and forcing yourself to list things for 5 minutes. I bet you like more than you think you like!

Okay, Now What?

Don’t worry. This isn’t your passion list yet.

You don’t have to go make a career out of taste testing ice creams or reviewing true crime podcasts. (Though you could!)

What I want you to do with this list is to think about WHY you like these things and what your interests have in common for YOU.

Here’s what I mean.

Maybe you wrote down that you love Instagram, museums, and coloring with your kids. Your theme could be that you’re a visual person, or that you love and are passionate about creative expression.

Interesting right? And a totally a passion that could translate to a career.

Or it could be something else all together with the exact same interests.

Your theme might be that you love connecting with people and can do that on Instagram by commenting and sliding into DMs. You can connect with friends by going to museums and talking about the art. And you the only time your kid opens up is when they are coloring, so that time with your child is GOLD.

Same interests – different passion areas. Both career-related!

I Need Some More Help With This…

Are you picking up what I’m putting down with this finding your passion in life business?

It might be that you’re not passionate about one “thing” but you’re passionate about a way of being, a feeling, an action, or a way to interact with the world.

You can uncover that passion with self-reflection and asking yourself WHY. We don’t do that very often!

Here are some more examples of themes. Some that I pulled out when I did this exercise for myself years ago, and some that I’ve heard from clients: