Stop "Finding Your Passion" and Pursue This Instead

Dedicating your life to finding your passion is a waste of time and energy. 

Does this statement shock you or scare you? 

I hope so because I’m here to tell you that finding your passion is the wrong chase and letting it go will free you up mentally and emotionally so you can be happy.

Isn’t that what we all want?  Happiness, fulfillment, and meaning?  You can have all that but chasing your passion won’t get you there.

If you’ve read countless self-help books and attended a ton of workshops designed to make you successful, you’ve probably bought into the idea that finding your passion is the path to feeling fulfilled and content. 

But how long are you supposed to spend finding your purpose? Years?  A lifetime?  What if you never find it?

Our Passions May Shift

The truth is you might have several passions in life.  They might change as you get older, your circumstances change or maybe you’ll simply change your mind.

The one thing you already have right now, that you don’t have to go searching for, is you.  Your strengths, your zone of genius, your unique gifts.

This process of discovery, of knowing yourself, is probably the most important work you can do.  Even if you think you know everything there is to know about yourself there are always more layers of the onion you can peel back.

How you’re hardwired is how you show up in your life and business.  So knowing what your hardwired gifts are is vital if you want to be happy.

Meaning and fulfillment are natural consequences of working in your zone of genius. 

Take me for example.  I’ve been a commercial real estate executive for a while now and I have a really clear understanding of what I do and how I show up in the world.

The way I show up is by connecting people and ideas and bringing things together.  I connect dots, solve problems, and marshal different personality types and I show up that way both in life and in business. 

Who I am and my unique strengths aren’t confined to one or the other. 

Once I got clear on what my ‘North Star’ was, life presented itself in great ways, in all aspects of my life.  People know I have these abilities, they expect me to use them, and opportunities are offered to me.

The filter I use, and the one I recommend you use when opportunities rise, is to ask, does it light me up?

Does ‘this’ make me feel energized or bring me down?  If it lights you up, do more of it and less of what drains you.

Whatever is presented to you in life and business, look for ways to get to the core of who you are and how you show up.  Don’t chase your passion, find what your genius is and integrate it into all you do.

Self Discovery Integration

Embracing the essence of who you are leads you to true meaning and fulfillment, and your life doesn’t have to be perfect to find those things.

Perfection may never come but living a fulfilled and meaningful life can start today when you get crystal clear on who you are and what you’re great at.  And then you find opportunities to do what you do best in every part of your life.

The beauty of letting go of finding your purpose and identifying your unique gifts instead is that others get to know how you show up in the world. 

When you get to know how others show up too, then together you can collaborate and do wonderful things.  All boats rise on a sea of genius and you get to be happy and fulfilled, even if you have no idea what your passion is.

Truth be told, your passion could simply be happiness.