Should you be an entrepreneur? In most instances, people mistake becoming an entrepreneur for finding what they are passionate about. The two are sometimes related, but they are different concepts. Finding your passion could mean you are happy working for other people, while entrepreneurship is about building a company, plain and simple.
You don’t have to build a company to find your passion. I repeat, you don’t have to build a company to find your passion. Here is how to find your passion, whether you want to be an entrepreneur or not:
Look to your childhood
I spent most of my free time as a child with my nose in a book. I also spent countless hours documenting my life (yeah, not a good read from the perspective of an 10 year old) and writing short stories. In fact, my dad recently sent me a copy of a published short story I wrote when I was 8. It’s awful. But it reminded me that I have always been passionate about reading and writing. Always. So passionate about writing that when people ask me how I keep writing on my blog, or how I can write a book, I have no advice, because I always write.
You are probably passionate about many things, but you will find your strengths by remembering what inspired you when you were young. What did you care about then? Ask your parents or siblings if you are stuck.
Reexamine your hobbies
One of the best sources for finding your passion is stuff you already do for free. And don’t stop at things you do – also keep in mind subjects you are constantly reading about, ideas you’ve dabbled with on a blog, and magazines you are subscribed to. But be careful – sometimes turning a hobby into a job doesn’t work out.
Find the good in your current job
Compartmentalize your job. Even if you hate your current job, there must be at least one thing you like about it. Maybe it’s something unrelated, like you work with your friends, or it’s only 15 minutes away, or you get free bagels and orange juice for breakfast – but that’s still something you should know about yourself.
When I completed my analysis, I learned that I love to be near home. I think about the jobs I’ve quit and it was mostly due to the commute. So now I know to never take a job unless I plan to move within 15 minutes of it.
Do this with all your jobs, and look for patterns. You could find some skill set that you’ve overlooked. At the least, you will better understand your priorities in life.
Volunteer
You can find your passion by process of elimination. So volunteer whenever you can – for unusual projects at your current job, with a local organization or charity, at your church, wherever. Internships and apprenticeships, and shadowing are also good ways to eliminate options.
Throw out the BS
It’s so easy to tell yourself you are not good enough to do something as a career. Question those negative thoughts. Why can’t you? I recently watched something on TV where this guy who weighed over 600 pounds lost all his weight and became a fitness trainer. Can you imagine?
Pump yourself up, do whatever you need to do to boost your self-esteem, and above all, don’t rule anything out because you don’t have the education, the skills, the know-how, the degree, the talent, or the look. Skills can be learned, attitude can’t; so having the right attitude probably counts more in whatever field you want to enter.
This is not to say you should never stop pursuing an impossible dream, but don’t rule it out before you even begin.
Research
Learn about careers you think you could be interested in. Ask around. Sometimes your friends can help you see yourself differently – the people close to you may see a great career path that you wouldn’t have come up with on your own.
Take an assessment
I don’t have all the answers for you. It’s impossible for me or anyone else to look into a crystal ball and tell you exactly what your passion is. But luckily, there are a few people I can recommend who can also help you find your passion. Two passion tests I really love are:
Find Your Career Path by JT O’Donnell
Find Your Career Path is about getting a career and work environment that is compatable with your strengths. The workbook is divided into four sections using the G.L.O.W. Method:
Part I: Gaining Perspective – a series of unique personality assessments to give you a better perspective of your strengths
Part II: Luminating Your Goal – a guide to determining a best fit career and workplace environment
Part III: Owning Your Actions – information on creating your resume, developing a career story, and taking the steps necessary to get your dream job
Part IV: Working It Daily – a worksheet that will help you stay committed to reaching your goals
Get the book here.
Passion + Profits Test by Jonathan Mead
I love this test. Jonathan first takes you through what getting paid to exist means in a video presentation. Then he has you brainstorm potential passion businesses, and gives you a 25 question quiz to evaluate the validity of your potential business.
Get the Passion + Profits Test here (short email sign-up required).
Monica O'Brien is the Director of Digital at Fizz and author of the book Social Pollination, which helps businesses leverage social media for crazy growth!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Greg post Mon. What you love (things like music or art or sports) do not always make good career decisions. Knowing what it was that makes you love those things can help impact your career to do something you care about and wake up not dreading your day. For me, I knew I couldn't rap forever, but I loved being in front of the crowd, so naturally leadership qualities and public speaking comes to mind.
You outlined some great first steps and really that's what it boils down to – action. You don't have to start your own business to take action. Just do something – throw your Nike's on, lace em up and go into the world knowing that you are doing something that makes you happy and fulfilled.
That’s a really good point. Many people think you have to do your hobby as your career to be happy – another way to find your passion is to look at what talents you have gained from your hobbies and apply them in a business setting.
I do enjoy your rapping, it’s too bad that career path didn’t work out
In my experience, asking around about an interest you have or talking to the people in the field is good, but not enough. Most people will be biased and go to either extreme: they really like what they do because it fits for them (but it may not fit for you) OR they hate it and will tell you to run away as fast as you can (even if it doesn't necessarily mean you will hate it). Sometimes they just tell you what you want to hear.
One way that works for me is to find your passion by elimination. In other words, try anything that is remotely interesting to you a few times: take a class or two, read a few books, and actually go out and do something pertaining to that interest once or twice (apply it!). Don't invest too much time or money. If you discover you really don't like it, quit and move on to the next thing. No harm, no foul… there's no need to finish every single thing you start.
Sometimes mixing two different interests into a combination interest can be the answer. You may like certain things about different fields and not others … so mix it up to create an optimal solution. It's easy to find that out if you've tried many things.
Process of elimination works well for me too. I think it’s good to do research on potential careers, but always take the other person’s advice with a grain of salt. Many people have ulterior motives (like jealousy) or want you to just hang back in mediocre-land with them. Some people project their own experiences onto yours, without really listening to you.
Thanks for the comment!
Yes, more good stuff here. Will look into Jonathan's Passion + Profits test. Also, I agree with you about “Find Your Career Path.” It's a solid book I need to review. Cheers!
I just took the Passion + Profits again… another book I enjoy is Gary Vaynerchuk’s new one “Crush It!” He talks a lot about passion in it.