Pursue your passion: The most vague advice ever.

Over the past few months I’ve engaged with some friends on the topic of passions and more specifically – the pursuit of passions.

Most of us have grown up being told to “pursue your passion”. It’s the common answer that people who are well-intentioned, but don’t really know what advice to give – will tell you. For example, “What should I choose as my undergraduate major?” “Follow your passion”; “What should I do after I graduate?” “Follow your passion”. And so it goes.

Telling someone simply to pursuit their passion is a little like asking someone who just got a beer if they need a drink. It’s an empty offer.

As one friend recently noted, “What all the self-help gurus fail to tell you is that following your passion is easy. The hard part is figuring out what exactly your passion is”.

Okay, so lots of people are getting wealthy distributing empty advice, but how does one go about figuring out exactly what his or her passion is? It’s not that easy, but it’s not too hard either. The hard part is what keeps people from the actual pursuit (more on this later).

We may enjoy things like skiing, photography, but is it a passion?

How do you find your passion?

There’s some good news and bad news here. First the bad.

It’s cliché, but you don’t find your passion (it doesn’t find you either). Passions are not the kinds of things that you can book an around the world trip, or take a cross-country road trip, or whatever to find yourself and your passion. Trips like that can certainly offer perspective, but your passion is not waiting for you on a dusty lonesome road in West Texas. Trust me on that one.

The good news is that you don’t have to spend a fortune trying to find your life’s calling half-way around the world or at the finish line of some endurance event. Chances are you have a pretty good idea of your passions.

Ask the hard questions

Decide what you believe in and what your identity is. To do this, ask the hard questions of yourself. Most people are afraid of what they might see, so they never self-examine. What are your core values? How will people remember you? How do you want them to remember you? Are you being honest with yourself?

The passion checklist

A passion needs enthusiasm, vision, support and commitment. Without these 4 characteristics (and possibly more) the doubters and naysayers will get you. People often say “I’m really passionate about x, it’s my new thing… etc, etc.”, but it’s completely unfounded because all the above are lacking or are for the wrong reason.

Enthusiasm – This is pure enthusiasm – the kind that comes from deep down. False enthusiasm will fade away when others doubt you (and they will).

Vision - What do you want to do with your passion? “Earning a living” is not necessarily a vision. What do you see your passion accomplishing for others? For you?

Support – Find a network of people who share your enthusiasm and can see your vision. These people will be instrumental. Like-minded individuals are good, but may not share the breadth of your enthusiasm and vision.

Commitment – This is the hard part. Commitment trips most people up. Commitment means that you are willing to put yourself out there. You are willing to risk being a little different and stand for what you believe. You’ll know you’re committed when you feel a little scared because you know you’re taking a risk.

How do you know you’re following your passion?

You know because you are doing what you love. You know because you can’t wait to wake up in the morning. Think of something you used to really liked doing as a kid and you couldn’t wait to go do it. If you feel that tingle in your body, than keep going. You’re doing whatever you’re doing because it’s yours. It’s not to impress other people or because it’s what you think is expected of you.