Finding Your Passion

Most Successful People Found Their Passion. Are You Next?

finding_passion Are you finding your passion? It is suggested you are intensely motivated when you are passionate about something. So how do you go about finding that something that sparks a fire in your belly and makes you anxious to get going? Have you ever wondered how it would feel to be like those who are motivated each day - motivated because they have an enthusiastic devotion to a cause, idea, or goal. How about exhibiting the tireless diligence towards achieving your goals?

Here is the dilemma - finding your passion is one thing, but you still have to deal with your current situation, obligations, and tasks. I'd like to suggest two things:

Find what you love for longer-term.
In the shorter-term, take advantage of whatever you learn and find a way to use it towards existing tasks/obligations. Hence, use your findings to fuel the motivation you need now and in the future.

So, where do you start?

Learn Your SHAPE

In Rick Warren's The Purpose Drive Life he explains that you have a SHAPE. SHAPE is a acronym which describes your make up. The premise is that you are born with certain talents, preferences, and traits. When tapped into you find your purpose which leads to finding your passion. Primarily, your purpose and passion leads to life enrichment. So what does SHAPE stands for?

S stands for spiritual gifts;
H stands for heart;
A stands for abilities;
P stands for personality;
E stands for experience;

In summary, you were designed to be most effective when using your spiritual gifts and abilities in the area of your heart's desire, and in a way that best expresses your personality and experiences.

Learning your SHAPE will take introspective review. You will need to really give this some thought. Start by setting aside some quiet time. Take out a notebook and pen or download this discovery form. Following are questions you can ask yourself to get flowing:

What are you naturally good at?
What do you enjoy doing?
If you could spend your time doing whatever you liked, what would you do?
What do you do that others consider as work, but you see it as fun and exciting?
Are you outgoing and social? Or,introverted and shy?
Are you controlling?
Do you like to be in charge or prefer to work independently?
Do you like to talk or do you prefer to listen?
Maybe you like to give your opinion?
Maybe you like to encourage and comfort others?

Look into the Past

Pull out old photos and video tape for additional ideas. Think about rewards and compliments received. Additionally, ask family, friends, and coworkers what they think you are good at. Obtain as much feedback as you can.

Additionally, think about your heart's desire. For example, for as long as I can remember, I've always had the strong desire to earn money outside of working a traditional job. My problem was finding the right venue to match my personality. You see, I'm naturally introverted - leaning towards the shy side. You might imagine the challenge this presented.

Regardless, you can see how you must consider your personality and experience into the equation as well? Additionally, when performing this exercise, you must think outside of the box when searching for your gifts and abilities.

For instance, I have very strong faith. I never saw this as a gift. However, when things go astray, I always have faith they will get better. I find people naturally migrated towards me when things go wrong. I discovered a knack for encouraging people. They tapped into my faith. Go figure?!

Believe it or not, the love of gossip, nurturing, listening, curiosity, etc.... can all be gifts waiting to find the right creative twist for usage.

Try Taking an Assessment Test

I'm sure you are starting to realize that finding your passion can take a little time. Personality and skill assessment tests provide another option to learn about yourself. Over the years, I've taken personality and skill assessment test that highlight dominate traits and preferences that I use to find motivation to fuel my efforts.

Experience and Knowledge Count!

Take inventory of your experience and knowledge. These serve as invaluable tools for your success. While we are often advised not to dwell on the past. History does offer important life lessons, especially when finding your passion.

Take Stock of the Information You Have Collected

If you've taken some time to devote towards this exercise then you should have a nice list accumulated. The next step towards finding your passion is to categorize your list by gifts and skills; experiences; personality preferences; and desires.

For example, under gifts you may list things such as: ability to remember names and personal facts about people; can think quickly on my feet; great dancer. Under heart you might list things such as: absolutely love sports; I absolutely desire to work out of doors; I want to generate an independent income (the key is truthfully listing what you desire/love).

Under personality you might list things such as: I'm an outgoing person who must be around people; I'm easy-going and not easily aggravated. You get the idea.

Lastly, under experience, you may list things such as: I have seven years of writing College term papers; I have twenty years of multi-tasking experience while meeting established deadlines.

At the end of the entire exercise you should have your own SHAPE statement. For example, my SHAPE is as follows:

I am most effective when using my results-driven nature, through writing, where I have limited face to face contact, tapping into my experiences in a way I can generate income.

In my case, I absolutely LOVE the Internet and the ability to reach and help other people through writing. This is a labor of love which I can do all day, everyday.

I think finding your passion is very exciting. Just reading my SHAPE statement excites and motivate me. What does yours say? If you haven't found yours yet keep working at it. It will come. In my case, a little frustration existed before I discovered and learned how to use the Internet as my vehicle. Just keep reminding yourself that finding your passion takes time.

The Reality of Using Your Passion For Now

Anybody can tell you to do what you love, but this is not a luxury for most of us. We have to work a job or handle tasks we do not necessarily enjoy. How do you deal with this?

Find a way to use your talents and gifts in your current situation. For instance, I'm naturally curious. I always want to understand the why behind something. In general, I have to admit that I like my job; however, there are many tasks I can do without. For these tasks, I find enjoyment by identifying ways to complete the undesirable tasks as quickly as possible.

Where you can - find creative ways to play to your strengths. Know this - you will probably always struggle with things you are not good at or do not want to do. Unless, you can change your perspective about the task or situation. The key is to find and focus on the positives - it makes a BIG difference.

Lastly, find small pockets of short-term success and use it to motivate long term strategies to live your passion. Time will continue to pass anyway. If you cannot be excited about a future doing what you love then you have a major uphill battle. Finding your passion is a treasure to appreciate and enjoy. Take this journey one step, one day at a time.

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