How To Discover Your Passion In 5 Easy Steps
Photo Courtesy of Simon & SchusterAngela Duckworth is the author of the New York Times bestseller Grit: The Power Of Passion And Perseverance, published by Scribner, an imprint of our sister company, Simon & Schuster.
If you'd like to follow your passion but haven't yet fostered one, you must begin at the beginning: discovery.
Ask yourself a few simple questions: What do I like to think about? Where does my mind wander? What do I really care about? What matters most to me? How do I enjoy spending my time? And, in contrast, what do I find absolutely unbearable? If you find it hard to answer these questions, try recalling your teen years, the stage of life at which vocational interests commonly sprout.
As soon as you have even a general direction in mind, you must trigger your nascent interests. Do this by going out into the world and doing something. To young graduates wringing their hands over what to do, I say, Experiment! Try! You'll certainly learn more than if you don't!
At this early stage of exploration, here are a few relevant rules of thumb taken from an essay written by New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz "How to Solve the New York Times Crossword Puzzle:"
Begin with the answers you're surest of and build from there. However ill-defined your interests, there are some things you know you'd hate doing for a living, and some things that seem more promising than others. That's a start.
Like it or not, there's a certain amount of trial and error inherent in the process of interest discovery. Unlike the answers to crossword puzzles, there isn't just one thing you can do that might develop into a passion. There are many. You don't have to find the "right" one, or even the "best" one—just a direction that feels good. It can also be difficult to know if something will be a good fit until you try it for a while.
Don't be afraid to erase an answer that isn't working out. At some point, you may choose to write your top-level goal in indelible ink, but until you know for sure, work in pencil.
After discovery comes development. Remember that interests must be triggered again and again and again. Find ways to make that happen. And have patience. The development of interests takes time. Keep asking questions, and let the answers to those questions lead you to more questions. Continue to dig. Seek out other people who share your interests. Sidle up to an encouraging mentor. Whatever your age, over time your role as a learner will become a more active and informed one. Over a period of years, your knowledge and expertise will grow, and along with it your confidence and curiosity to know more.
Finally, if you've been doing something you like for a few years and still wouldn't quite call it a passion, see if you can deepen your interests. Since novelty is what your brain craves, you'll be tempted to move on to something new, and that could be what makes the most sense.
However, if you want to stay engaged for more than a few years in any endeavor, you'll need to find a way to enjoy the nuances that only a true aficionado can appreciate. "The old in the new is what claims the attention," said William James. "The old with a slightly new turn." The directive to follow your passion is not bad advice. But what may be even more useful is to understand how passions are fostered in the first place.
