Are You Pursuing Your Passion?

It’s been said many times, “if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” While the saying itself could be argued (just because you love your job doesn’t mean you’re not working hard), the sentiment behind it is worth pursuing.

To love what you do, you have to start pursuing your passion. But what if you’re unsure of what your true passion is? After all, you probably started on your career path thinking you had a good sense of what you were passionate about, but after a few years in you may be feeling less love for it than you thought.

Here are three ways to uncover and pursue your passion.

1. Think about what excites you

Are you someone that genuinely loves helping people? Does getting to be creative get your blood pumping? Do you get a rush from strategic planning? Realizing what it is you do already, either in your personal or professional life, that gets you truly excited to tackle during the day is typically a good indicator of what you’re passionate about and what drives you.

2. Understand how to leverage your strengths

Instead of focusing on what you feel are your blindspots or weaknesses and strengthening them, focus on where you already feel confident. How do you currently utilize your strengths and how else can you apply them to what you want to do? When you’re not constantly stretching yourself to get tasks done you’re not only more productive, but you’re also less stressed.

3. Focus on a vision

Do you know what your why is? Why is it that you do what you do? If you can’t answer that with something that inspires you, you’re likely not doing what your passionate about. Think about what it is you want to accomplish in life, both personally and professionally. Where do your priorities lie? Take time to write it out. When you see it all on paper, what your passionate about might become incredibly clear.

If you’ve tried these three techniques and still feel unsure or overwhelmed about where to start, there’s always unbiased options like psychometric testing and other assessments. By answering a handful of questions you’ll receive an objective look into your drives and motivators and may actually see a pattern that uncovers your passion. No matter what, if you feel like you’re not currently doing something you are passionate about, it’s important to keep working to find what excites you and pursue it no matter what.