Trouble finding your passion or purpose?
Stuck?
If so, you need to stop trying to find the perfect passion or purpose.
If you’ve been trying, and you’re stuck, it’s time to try something else.
It’s time to discover what works for you.
What Am I Talking About?
I wrote a book called Find Your Passion: 25 Questions You Must Ask Yourself. Am I now saying that what I wrote is useless?
No.
For many, answering the questions in my book is an excellent starting point. But if you’ve done that, and you’re still stuck, then you need to uncover the cause of that stuckness.
If something doesn’t work for you, find another way.
As Bruce Lee said:
Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own.
One path is seldom the right one for everyone. You have to find what works for you, and eliminate everything else.
Why Are You Stuck?
The simple answer: Fear.
You’re afraid of what might happen, so you look for perfection, thinking it will guarantee your desired outcome.
You grapple with a fear of failure, fear of criticism, fear of not being good enough, fear of making mistakes, and on the list goes.
You believe that if you can just find the right path, the right passion, everything will be okay.
But that line of thinking is a lie.
The Solution
See life as an experiment, a testing ground.
Try different things.
Instead of attempting to find the perfect passion, let it reveal itself through tasting life.
Notice what you’re interested in, and take a tiny step in that direction.
You may be afraid, and that’s okay. You get through fear by taking action anyway. When you do, you slowly realize that your mind doesn’t know everything.
And because your mind isn’t all-knowing, you don’t have to take it so seriously. You can simply enjoy the dance that we call life.
Below is a video on this topic. The video and article complement each other, so I recommend you watch/read both.
And if you want more videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel, because I don’t post everything here on the blog.
The article continues after the video.
Avoid This Mistake
We complicate things.
Since 2002, I’ve been following my heart.
I’ve done that by taking tiny steps toward what resonates.
A tiny step could be as simple as reading a page in a book, sending a 2-sentence email, or writing a one paragraph story (if you enjoy writing).
When you’re stuck, you live in abstraction. You’re stuck in your mind. To escape, bring your attention to this moment. Instead of worrying about what’s to come, ask yourself: What feels magnetic to me right now?
What next step can I take toward what makes me come alive?
It really is that simple.
Worries and fears will surface. When they do, re-focus on what you can do with what you have, right now.
Below is a video on the power of living in the present moment.
What If You Fall Flat on Your Face?
You get back up, dust yourself off, and put one foot in front of the other.
Failure contains wisdom.
You extract the lessons, and you move on.
As you move forward, the wisdom from your failures becomes the fodder for your success.
Do you realize that you only really need one real success? You can fail 100 times, but if you uncover gold one single time, everything changes.
Entrepreneurship is about failing until you succeed.
The problem is that most people avoid failure, so they never get to extract the wisdom necessary for success.
A Neat Summary
If something keeps you stuck, discard it.
If you can’t find your passion or purpose, forget about it, at least for now.
Focus on what is interesting to you, right now.
What feels magnetic?
Look at what you’re able to do + what you find interesting. Then take a tiny step in that direction.
That’s all you have to do.
That’s all I’ve done. I have no idea where I’m going, but I move toward what calls me.
The more I’ve done this, the more I’ve realized that my mind is full of fake news.
I don’t have to take it so seriously.
I can just enjoy life.
All the best,
Henri
Photo by Jeremy Bishop
Ready to Do What You Love?
Join the exclusive newsletter and grab your free report: 5 Steps to Finding and Following Your Passion.
Indeed, to be authentic and do what you like most pays real happiness in life. This article has added value to my life.
Nice!
Dear Henri
Thankyou for your insightful post and videos. I look forward to them
A recent experience gave me such a big insight that I will try to write to compliment your theme importance of being in the moment and staying stuck and write about how this resonates with me
My goal was to take on as much paid work as possible in my current employment even though my current employment isn’t not my passion, previously I had been cautious not to take on a big work load because back then I felt it was more important to find and do work that I was interested in and made me feel happy.
In the midst of all this I collapsed emotionally and then physically, although something made me continue to pursue my goal and still feel ok
I had a feeling of – I’m not good enough, I’m a failure, not worthy of good things, And I quickly noted judgmental, resentful and thoughts coming up for me constantly and repetitively.
I didn’t stop with my goal. I surprised myself that despite feeling terribly uncomfortable in the situation I had bought on myself. I was doing something I previously thought was beyond my capabilities. Doing a full time job that I don’t like. Then I became aware of something so profound
I no longer communicated from a place of what I should do and rather followed what I felt like doing and allowed my heart to speak. I looked for this in others too. I looked for smiling faces and generosity and loving words. Amidst all this exhaustion I felt inner peace with those around me and I remembered something important that I already knew a long time ago. That people are only doing their best in any given moment. And that no matter what the circumstances it is not the truth of the self. And what I take from my experiences is a reflection of how I cope with the reality of life. That The self is loving and compassionate and honest and time spent with the Self on the inside no matter how hard the circumstances may seem on the outside is time well spent. In this place, a place of tranquility and inner peace and that I am worthy of it all because I am not what I feel, and I found wisdom there, that there is no such thing as failure and awareness that there is simply enough of everything on the outside/inside
🙂
That’s a powerful insight. Thanks for taking the time to share, Amelie. I appreciate it, and I’m sure others will, too!
This is a fantastic article!! It explains all the processes we experience as human beings and it actually makes sense – thank you!! 🙂
Glad you like it, Adriana!