This is a question that often comes up during brainstorming or when you are introspecting. What is my passion ? Am I really living life to the fullest ? Am I just wasting my life .. so on and so forth. I have been in similar situations and quite frankly I still haven't been able to answer this question convincingly. I'll be crossing over to the dark side of 'mid 30s' soon and I sometimes think 'damn, will I ever figure out this passion thing'.
While I continue to look for that passion, I have been able to knock of at least a dozen activities/career paths that I'm not passionate about. That's valuable. If I look at my life as a startup, then this is the process of invalidating several hypotheses until I find that one hypothesis that sticks, the one that truly is my passion. During the course of this invalidation process, I have tried out several career options, doing a startup was one of them. I even tried photography. So far, I have invalidated all of them. This was my invalidation process.
Let's say I take up a job/project. There is always an initial high and productivity is at its highest. This typically lasts for 3 - 4 months. After that, at some point in time, procrastination hits. There's some bug that you just don't want to fix. There's a customer who you just don't feel like talking to. This phase, no matter how long it lasts, is perhaps the real test of passion. Do you feel terrible about not fixing the bug. Does it pain you to not take that customer's call. Do you feel bad about not waking up at 6 AM for that golden hour of photography. Do you take immediate remedial action ? What I've come to understand is this - if you pull off this phase in stride, without actually feeling stressed then you are perhaps passionate about what you are doing.
On the other hand, if you really struggle to wake up knowing that you 'have' to fix the bug, or that your boss might be watching over you, or because of any other external 'fear factors' then perhaps you are not passionate about what you do.
This information is by no means a 'magic bullet' to find the passion in you. I'm just sharing what seemed to work for me.
While I continue to look for that passion, I have been able to knock of at least a dozen activities/career paths that I'm not passionate about. That's valuable. If I look at my life as a startup, then this is the process of invalidating several hypotheses until I find that one hypothesis that sticks, the one that truly is my passion. During the course of this invalidation process, I have tried out several career options, doing a startup was one of them. I even tried photography. So far, I have invalidated all of them. This was my invalidation process.
Let's say I take up a job/project. There is always an initial high and productivity is at its highest. This typically lasts for 3 - 4 months. After that, at some point in time, procrastination hits. There's some bug that you just don't want to fix. There's a customer who you just don't feel like talking to. This phase, no matter how long it lasts, is perhaps the real test of passion. Do you feel terrible about not fixing the bug. Does it pain you to not take that customer's call. Do you feel bad about not waking up at 6 AM for that golden hour of photography. Do you take immediate remedial action ? What I've come to understand is this - if you pull off this phase in stride, without actually feeling stressed then you are perhaps passionate about what you are doing.
On the other hand, if you really struggle to wake up knowing that you 'have' to fix the bug, or that your boss might be watching over you, or because of any other external 'fear factors' then perhaps you are not passionate about what you do.
This information is by no means a 'magic bullet' to find the passion in you. I'm just sharing what seemed to work for me.
1 comment:
I would suggest reading Cal Newport who writes at http://calnewport.com. He's written a book that strongly refutes what he calls the "passion hypothesis" (that I've read and highly recommend)
Its been argued that finding your passion is akin to getting down a mountain and 'falling into' the right valley. I would think its the opposite,a long hard upward slog of climbing a mountain, and its more enjoying the climb than asking 'is this my passion or not'.
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