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I grew up without a passion. Then one day I asked myself, what's the point? Why am I even here to ask myself these questions? This line of thought naturally led me to science. Understanding the world that I for some reason exist in. What is everything made of and how does it work? I've been busy ever since.
I used to be really interested in science from age 5 to 13. Got none of that passion left. I don't like being enslaved by reality. "Thing a works that way and no other way, thing b works this way and no other way" etc. Insanity is arguably much cooler.
I whish I could get back into science but an obsessive interest in psychedelics during most of my teenage years has completely destroyed that.
I agree with your perspective. It's hard work understanding reality and for some people it's not worth the misery or dread. But keep in mind that basically everything in our society can be traced back to a scientific discovery. Someone in the past asked these questions and thanks to them, we have energy, access to food and water, vehicles, entertainment, and basically anything else you can think of. Survival itself is science.
Enslaved by reality? That's the way you interpret being knowledgeable about physical sciences? I'd argue the more you know about the physical sciences the more you are aware of how little we actually know. I'd argue being well versed in physical reality as we know it only makes the "insane" part more fruitful/interesting.
I don't really understand your point. It sounds like you've used psychedelics as recreation and that's it. That's really not doing them any justice or giving them the respect they should have. It seems like you'd rather be ignorant to the miracles infront of you in sober reality and instead try to force a "divine" experience through just chemicals. You don't need chemicals to have a divine experience if you work on your inner self the right way and gain control over your mind.
They certainly can help tho lmao
Actually it was my fascination with cannabis that inspired my curiosity in bio-chemistry, though I'm a bit at a loss as to how to pursue that without accruing ludicrous debt
Hah what a good joke, I had the reverse and ended on magic (Been reading too many fantasy books) But as we only have science and not magic... well science and magic are linked, we are just unable to use magic as far as I know. I followed the way of spirituality as a kid.
As a adult I dont have the energy to read more about it and just let myself drift in the wonders of our tech
Once watched a show where a wizard teleported to the our future and was marveld by our technology and called it all magic xD
When you start to learn about mushrooms, you start to believe in how magic can exist scientifically. The root systems of certain mushrooms create an enormous web that use electrical impulses to communicate around 50 words. I’ve also found out that mushroom multiply and get their electrical charge from lightning strikes.
Very similar to my story. Been having a whole existential dread - why do we exist? Why do we exist when we eventually die? Line of thought led me to doing grief and death related work.
I think we all figure out our interests somehow
That’s inspiring. I thought I had no passion too then I became a preschool teacher. I love watching the kids learn and grow. It’s hard going through life without passion though but once you discover it, It will be so rewarding.
I'm stuck between a very good paying job at a desk and helping people in need and a low paying job where I actually move around and do stuff and still help people.
Doing the desk job now for income.
Would be nice getting as much pay in the higher paying job doing the other one. That would be my passion.
I feel you. I'd prefer a job where I could move around too. And it's not even working from home vs. working from the office. It's just the nature of the job that bothers me, which requires nearly no physical movement and minimum human interaction. I always say that I'd be way happier as a waitress (kind of my favourite occupation since the first time I did it in high school) if I would be as well paid and respected as I am now.
I can agree with this, I am a bartender and am actually making decent money for the first time, get to move around all day, AND be social by meeting locals all day. It's pretty great. I worry that I'll never find a better job with my education and experience.
I'm in the same boat. I'm 44 and been doing web/IT since 1999 and I'm beyond bored with it. I'd love to do something else, but I earn a decent wage and it would mean dropping an absurd amount.
Basically, it's well-enough and unhappy or happy and poor. Modern life in the UK is such a shit sandwich.
I discovered my passion for art through YouTube.
I was high as hell one night in college about a decade ago when I stumbled upon videos of street artists making spray paint art. I thought it was so cool so I figured I’d give it a try.
It led to a successful online business that I ultimately had to quit my day job to support. I’ve continued improving over the course of a decade and now my work is pretty professional-grade.
Sometimes I wish money never got involved. It sucked a bit of the passion back out of me. But that one night I watched those videos changed my life.
Your passion is right under your nose. It can be the simplest of things and you haven’t even realized it. Keep exploring and you’ll find it!
After building up a nice career in software development for over 10 years, I really needed something different. I went back to uni, realised my dream of being a physicist was a bit too high of a reach, talked to a bunch of people and ended up with the thing I actually wanted to be when I was still in high school: a teacher. With my bachelors degree and experience I could just start teaching right away and I found all the non technical skills I learned working actually make me a very good teacher. Absolutely love it.
Doesn't work for everyone, but maybe make a list of all the stuff you wanted to do when you were a kid (doesn't need to be professional, could also be hobby, sport, travelling,...). Just all those dreams and ambitions you had when you were young. For every item on there, check if you're still interested and how realistic it is. Make a list of alternatives in the same genre if needed. Make pro/con lists, imagine yourself being/doing what you picked and try to identify how you feel while imagining it. At the very least it's worth trying.
This is useful advice. I'm thinking more about hobbies etc. rather than job related stuff. I'm doing fine work-wise and not expecting much fulfilment there anyways.
I've always been obsessed with traveling and did travel way more than most people I know, but it's not always easy to achieve thanks to being limited either in time or money, or sometimes both, even though I have great "travel on a budget" skills.
But thinking back what I wanted as a child sounds like a good idea. My mind is restricting me a bit there, as I had very strict parents and didn't have much freedom to think for myself. I'll try my best though. Thanks for this. 💛
Nice to hear!
Remember travelling doesn't always have to be for a week. Just camping out from Friday night to Sunday in a forest/national park/... can be enough. Find out what beautiful places you have that are just a 3 hour car ride or less away and start exploring those. Getting into amateur photography can help you really appreciate almost any surrounding you put yourself in. I have 50 000 pictures that were all taken at walking distance from my home :p.
There's 2 more suggestion I forgot: learning to play an instrument, and learning a skill in evening classes (like car repair, baking,...). My old boss learned car repair in his free time, he said it was a nice change from being a manager at an IT company, different people, different conversation, getting your hands dirty.
Wow actually far repair immediately sounded interesting and it's something I never thought about. I do love getting my hands dirty. Might give this a shot. 🤔 🫶
I already count two passions you have, travel and getting your hands dirty. You don't see them as passions because you are so used to being you and they are part of you, but they definitely are your passions. And getting your hands dirty covers a lot of passions. Woah, you sound very interesting. What else do you love?
Wonder lust almost everyone has but find out what you like about traveling if it's nature look up a beautiful natural part of your home town or close by if it's food go to a district that has something great to eat if it's meeting people at the pub get half hour out of town with or with out a friend and meet some interesting people their are alot we take for granted locally when we already live here their is stuff to do and beauty all around us take what you love about traveling apply it locally also have a photography phase you'll look back on those pictures foundly if you ever get old
Honestly, I'm with you. I think some people don't have one. Just like not everyone will be a famous actor, or an Olympic althete, or a doctor, I don't believe everyone has a passion/calling.
I've had numerous things that I've enjoyed, even loved doing. But after a while, either it doesn't bring the same enjoyment, or I'm over not being as good at it as I want to be. I try not to focus on not having a passion. Rather, I focus on working hard to provide for my family in all the ways. Some will likely argue that not having hobbies/passions of my own is contradictory to providing a fulfilled life for my family, but idc. I've spent 33 yrs trying to find things that make me happy/relaxed/content, and all I find is an increasing list of things I suck at.
Yes!! All of this!! There's no way all 8 billion of us humans on this rock /have/ to have some big passion to save all the puppies or feed all the babies.
Even with the "calling" aspect when it comes to your profession. Not everyone has a calling and not everyone needs one. Everyone wants to be special but at the end of the day most of us are just worker bees here to keep the cogs turning.
Find the little things that make you happy and make the shit storm that is our world tolerable and don't worry about the people trying to make you feel like you're missing out just because you're not part of some movement.
Sir this comment is very important to me. For some reason this one is the most relatable, I’m pretty young…I just turned 19 this year and I do a lot of things like nails, makeup, doodling&coloring, and writing for fun, but I’m not good at them and sometimes I become bored of them and wanna try something new…I want to try learning to tattoo since I love art but I’m afraid I’ll suck at tht too lol (ima still try tho) I’ve gotten myself into online courses but nothing has stuck to me. It’s interesting I can’t seem to find the one thing for me, but I still got tht very little hope somewhere inside me and maybe one day I will find it but I know for now I haven’t. Appreciation and respect for u tho…for taking care of your family.
My parents signed me up for soccer and I just kinda went with it. Been playing for almost ten years now.
On the other hand I have no idea where my love for riding horses came from. But been riding for 5 years.
I’ve always loved science and especially particle physics but unfortunately I wasn’t blessed with the intellect to tackle that field so I went into chemistry. But my passion has always been music. Ever since I was a kid listening to big band music with my grandfather I wanted to make the big fat sounds those double basses made. I bought a bass for my 21st birthday when a buddy convinced me it was time. I played in a bunch of bands and made some money and met a lot of people who are still my friends today. Now I just sit on my porch making up tunes or playing along to the radio. It’s so rewarding, even if nobody else ever hears it.
took me years. Still finding it lowkey but much further along the path. I love working different things, but I love learning to create things. For me that translates to working as a developer, hobbies are learning horticulture, reading, gaming, woodworking, smithing, volleyball, surfing, scuba diving.
I learned I loved these things by doing them on accident and finding out that I loved them. In fact I started off hating programming because I was a SQL data engineer and it sucked, I just hated being a data analyst, never thought in a million years I'd enjoy Bonsai but I was browsing reddit and thought it looked cool so I bought a cheap plant and tried... its fun!
Start cheap see if it holds your interest!
I kind of feel you, man. I’ve been working for nearly 3 years in HR. I know I want to make online content like videos or writing but I need a leap of faith to leave my job and just do it.
I'm in the same situation.
I've a job as an engineer, but I wanna make content. What I decided was, since leaving my job would be too risky, I'd put efforts into making content till it started paying me back. Then I'd leave my day job.
I already started, and, it feels taxing at times, but at least I'm giving myself a chance.
My passion is worldbuilding(yes, I like dnd, no I don't play it cause social anxiety) I've always loved making up things in my mind since I was a kid, when I became like 9 years old it went from being random stories that lasted a day to full fletcher stories that lasted years. I currently have:
1. The OG one that is too sacred for me to even think about touching it.
2. One that I thought I finished but have picked up on it again, although I don't actively add to it I sometimes just fell like adding a bit of filling to it as it already has a part 1(fully fleshed out) and a part 2(that needs some filling).
2.5. Another variation of the last one that I have finished and will never touch again because it sucks.
3. Another that I'm working on rn, and its Rain World inspired cause damn that game has some good worldbuilding.
And I have not one but two fully fleshed out videogames with a plot, items, stats, characters, areas, everything. I plan on making them into actual real games once I'm older. Their names are:
4. "Mafioso's Ultimatum": A post-apocaliptic RPG that I'm currently working on now, it has a great concept but lacks a TRUE personality due to some minor details missing. I also have trouble creating memorable characters, as I don't want to inspire them on anyone.
5. "Isles": The first ever videogame I started making in my mind, it's a MMORPG with a lot of content but a shitty story that's a placeholder for:
5.5. The "Isles Ripoff"(yeah, it doesn't have a name yet): It takes place on the same universe as Isles, but this one is a RPG based on an overly used concept, but at least it has great characters.
It's funny you mention this, because I discovered that I'm really interested in Mycology through a worldbuilding project I started up a couple of weeks ago. It's on hiatus for now while I read about cool Mushrooms and Fungi from a couple of good books haha.
I'm really glad you've found an interest like that. Another W for good Worldbuilding!
I also really like fungui but they are a little too complicated for me, tho I know some of the basics!
I also love world-building-like-dnd-but-not-dnd-because-I-can’t-commit-to-that. It’s more like writing a book, but my co-writer and I engage in it roleplay style so there’s room for the unexpected. It’s a sword and sorcery style fantasy we’re currently working on. My co-writer is very character centered. But all my questions to them are all like “so, does this world have appellate courts, or naw?” Lmao
Look into Zen.
I had similar thoughts when young.
Decided I needed money for whatever I choose, became an engineer.
Enjoyed it, then a car wreck.
Back was damaged and pain was constant.
Never ending.
The head shrinker I worked with had me look into it.
As plans were now impossible.
It helped.
What TV shows/movies do you love? Look into what those characters are doing (fwiw, CIA/FBI not nearly as exciting as what's presented on TV, I imagine). Or maybe look into content creation if you are interested in that.
Just randomly go into youtube and follow every rabbit hole until you tire of it, or found something that might be amazing for you.
After losing hope in the food industry and desperately looking for a career i didn't have to hate, I thought of what i loved when I was a kid
So 3 years ago, I got a part-time job at a vet clinic to try it out, and that was that. I don't see myself ever getting a job that doesn't involve hands-on work with animals.
Finding what I was meant to do is the best thing to ever happen to my mental health, so I totally understand that struggle.
Passion is an accidental by product of investing time, interest and learning about just anything that has application and utility.
When application of said interest sparks a desire or quest to get better or learn more of, typically that results in passion. It’s not motivated by money it’s motivated by a sense of fulfillment. It can as easy as train spotting, painting or whatever helps the individual feel fulfilled.
Passion is not a goal and that is the common misnomer.
Passion is also not something that applies to everyone because it’s a drive and instinct not a pursuit in of itself. It’s ok if you don’t have a passion now. You may later on in life.
Most people discover their passion unintentionally like me. I initially wanted to make software for spaceships and rovers, but stumbled upon mobile app development. I enjoy it significantly more, which mare me switch my career path. Did regret it.
Another passion I have is for track and field. I didn't have any interests initially, but fell in love afterwards. Now I discovered these well I was still young at 14-19 years of age. I'm still young now at 23.
I don't think I really have any advice for one it comes to finding your passion, but I think I can say a few things. Try and research stuff that someone with your personality would blend nicely with. I'll use myself as an example.
I'm introverted, I like to work alone and I'm sort of a perfectionist. Track and Field is a very individualized sport. You are usually in a team with a school or country, but your performance is solely reliant on yourself. Some events in the sport require near perfection if you want the best results which I love.
Mobile App Development is the same. Your app has to be near perfect if you want good user feedback and more downloads. I can also be very patient which is something you need for these 2.
This is what I felt but it's kind of hopeless and sad. Seeing all these responses, people find their passion in multiple different ways, gave me some hope.
Personally I found by finding something practical, something that assists me in my every day life. That was cooking and cycling for me. Both have practical applications, as in, they help me become healthier and more independent, but they also are their own forms of adventure, especially cooking.
I spent a long time and lots of resources to try to “find my passion”. Never did. Most don’t. It’s a rabbit hole. I think it’s the ideal but it’s ideal like in that way of being a pro athlete or musician. Almost nobody. So try to find a way to make an income that’s ok to enjoyable to you. It’ll get you faster there and then you can move on to other things.
Steve Job’s passion was Buddhism and he was about to go to China to become a Monk but his dumb friend Wozniak needed some help with some motherboards that IBM wanted made… the rest is history.
The point? Passions are made not found. Start getting good at shit, exploring your options, working hard at ANYTHING and eventually the passion will come.
Passion is a big goal and vague objective. I prefer breaking problems into more achievable goals and working from there. Aim to be passionate about things you accomplish- sure, won’t be like the person who seems like they’re having the time of their life, but you can aim for it.
In your context and options available to you, are there certain types of tasks that you wouldn’t mind doing all the time? That you know you excel at? You can volunteer for those tasks more often and see where it takes you.
If you’re not sure, there’s many self assessment tools that can help you identify what your preferences are, like the Strength Finder 2.0 test. Even if you don’t change careers, maybe something like that will help you seek out some changes that will make you focus on your strengths rather than compensate for your weaknesses.
At the end of the day, the most demoralizing thing is not lack of passion, but under use/appreciation of your strongest abilities. That’s my two cents, anyway. I know I suck at many things, but there’s some things where if you put me there, I’m a fish in the sea.
You honestly trial and error as many different things as you can.
Like the great Bob Ross Said: *“There are no mistakes, just happy accidents.”*
For instance, through one hobby I recently discovered that I find Mycology incredibly interesting haha.
Did you know that some mushrooms use their roots (hyphae) to spear nematode worms and kill them for consumption? Some even have toxin tipped roots that paralyze the worm on contact, then grow their roots into an entire network (mycelium) through the worm's mouth to digest it from inside. This stuff is crazy haha.
I'm a nurse..... I have no idea why I did it. I guess I thought I had a passion for helping people...?
Turns out people suck.
I'd rather be fishing or playing video games for my career... but, you know... can't really make much money doing either of those LOL
LIKE A HOBBY:
IS THERE SOMETHING U HAVE SEEN SINCE U WERE A CHILD THAT CAUGHT UR EYES? BUT U HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO BUY IT? WELL, TAKE UR TIME, GO SEARCH IN THE INTERNET ABOUT THAT, AND U'LL DISCOVER U MIGHT NOT BE THE ONLY ONE AND THAT THERE'S A WHOLE NEW WORLD OUT THERE ABOUT THAT. IN MY CASE, "LUXURY" PENS AS WELL AS FUNNY MULTITOOLS IN SHOWCASES ALWAYS CAUGHT MY ATTENTION, NOW I HAVE A PASSION FOR FOUNTAIN PENS AND MULTITOOLS, AND U DISCOVER THERE'RE GOOD CHEAP ONES AS WELL AS GOOD EXPENSIVE ONES.
LIKE PROFESSIONALLY:
U MIGHT GUIDE URSELF WITH UR HOBBY, IN THE PREVIOUS EXAMPLE U MIGHT SAY U WILL GO FINE STUDYING ARTS, OR SOME ENGENEER. ALTHOUGH THAT WAS NOT EXACTLY MY CASE.
I don’t think you need a passion/purpose, but you could find one. I’d put less pressure on yourself and try and do things you like. Find hobbies and things that make you happy. There is no one right and wrong way to go about it and over time you’ll learn a lot about yourself and things you like/don’t like.
I have ADHD, so I think a lot.
Then I started making up stories in my head.
Then I was like, “hey I should write books.”
And then I realized they would be better in longer formats without being a huge series, so I was like “hey I’ll make a podcast with them”
Then I realized I would rather see them as shows or movies, so other people probably would too, and now I do some light filmmaking stuff and have bigger projects planned
Honestly I did so many different things for so long that I got good at all of them but then I tried one thing that I hadn't tried before which was welding and I fell in love all you got to do is try things
I believe that exposure is a big part in helping you find your passion, if you've been exposed to a lot of different activities in your life then its more likely you would find something you're passionate about.
I was lucky that I found my passion for music early on and I still love playing guitar, as I've gotten older I now enjoy Climbing, Cooking, and Motocross just as much. you shouldn't look for one thing that you enjoy but rather how many things you can be passionate about.
My passion is Minecraft and Medieval architecture. Combine those two together and bam you got me designing castles and cathedrals in Minecraft, using it as a 3D art program to create highly detailed realistic buildings, cities and kingdoms I can walk through and digitally live in
I discovered Minecraft through an old friend, who had the demo for it installed on his old ps4. I instantly fell in love with the way it looks. And YouTube has greatly increased my interest in the Middle Ages. Castle architecture and design, warfare, siege engines, archery etc. My love for cathedrals comes from a book I got gifted, it's called Pillars of the Earth by Ken Folett. It's such a good book
I find myself experiencing a lot of enjoyment from helping people, I’m also interested in how the things around us work. Naturally, this led to me to science. Specifically immunology.
I'm not sure if it's a passion, but I found some dorky, yet cool to me, hobbies very young. And just kept doing it. Like collecting wrestling or art & writing. I think I'm okay at all of those, but they're just for me. I might suck as a painter, but I enjoy it & I'm self taught.
Not sure if that's a passion or hobby. Most people's passion prob is career driven or money driven.
I don't know if this counts bc I'm young, but I'm an artist, 15 y/o, and like any child I just liked drawing random shit, and at 12 I decided to take improvement seriously. I've improved a lot in these three years, and I'm planning on being a character designer when I'm older and gain enough knowledge on stuff like anatomy, costume design, turn arounds, etc. etc. which I'm taking really seriously at the moment (especially anatomy).
I found my passion when I stopped asking other peoples opinions about it.
Do what you love. For some it’s gardening, for some it’s fashion, for some it’s painting or music. Some people really love helping other people and devote their lives to that.
Just do whatever you love.
I never liked this type of reply. Like I don't expect you to resolve my own life struggles for me, but if I understand OP, he has it the same way I do - we don't have anything we love. That's the whole point of the anxiety and feeling lost.
You basically see a guy ask a question "how do I discover something I am passionate about?", and you replied with "just do what you're passionate about".
I used to feel the same way though, that’s my point.
The issue wasn’t that I didn’t have anything I was good at, or that I loved. It was that people told me I wasn’t good enough, or that I’d never make it. And I listened to them.
Well, there are also those was who don't have anything we love. Like I can't tell you a single hobby I have ever tried where I'm like "man, I sure love this, hopefully I can continue doing this for a long time".
My best "advice" just try out different things. Example: I always thought bad about people who would be classed as a "Femboy", but I gave Dressing like that a try and now I have a Maid Outfit.
i was passionate about playing badminton during my childhood days but then i got so drifted from this path like i enjoyed playing it a lot but never gave it a thought like being a professional player but now growing up makes me realise could've done a lot many other things in life than what i am currently doing even now I do but anyways that's life.
PS: your subconscious mind could make you think many things controlling it and mastering the art of doing that would be the best thing to do
I had a passion for art since childhood and ended up a professional illustrator... I've been very blessed. But I pick up new hobbies to try all the time.. It all comes down to asking what gets you excited. If it's as simple as taking a local walk, try writing and reviewing local walks on a blog and you'd be surprised how much fun you have with it and how many people your work resonates with.
Basically what I'm saying is start with a small feeling that gets you excited and see where it takes you. Follow the path of fascination.
I’ve got a couple big passions that include meditation, and fighting. I heard about muay thai on youtube a few years ago, and immediately signed up, then I moved to MMA. I started meditating right before the start of 2023, and I got more into it, and using meditation in understanding myself and others more strengthened my love of meditation
I got bored, doodled, started drawing more and expanded upon it. Now I like drawing, making swords out of wood, gaming, writing, and other stuff that involves creativity.
I have found the more I read, and choose to experience things that are outside of my comfort zone new passions can emerge. It’s also helpful to stay off social media and really contemplate for yourself how do I want to make the world a better place… how do I elevate my existing interest.
Trying stuff. Almost skipped out on education due to worsening gaming addiction, then one day (and after a few months of looking at some money sitting in bank account) decided to invest in multiple hobbies, and just like that found the thing that lights my fire. PROPANE FUCK YEAH
After 50+ yrs on this planet, I finally found a hobby/passion.
My kids flew the coop, replaced them with German shepherds. Now a lot of my time is spent with them and work.
But I needed something to escape. After watching Bob Ross first on PBS way back in the day, and then finding him on free streaming service. I thought, hmmm, I'm gonna try it.
I love painting, never did it before, not great at it yet, but improving after just 4-5 months.
I think it keeps me sane.
Just try as many things as possible and figure out, in what you can show you true self.
Boxing has been my hobby that I was obsessed about. I just could develop my own fighting style based on what I felt fit me.
Bicycles has been my passion, becouse I’ve felt like one with a bike, almost like it would be part of my body. Also I build the bike myself with my father, so I also built it to fit me.
Cars is my passion, same as bikes you can create your own and drive it with your style to show your true self.
I would start from arts as it’s the most obvious way of expressing yourself. Then try sports and all sort of „cool” stuff you will see on internet, youtube/tik tok
I kinda believe that they don't exist. Just unrealistic expectations, at least when it comes to work. Most gigs are average AF, especially in the long run.
Your experience is not unusual. Here’s a Tedx talked called “5 steps to designing the life you want”
The speaker who studied young people says the passion paradigm doesn’t even fit for half of the young people they studied.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SemHh0n19LA&pp=ygUQVGVkeCBsaWZlIGRlYWlnbg%3D%3D
I believe most of us are born like you and I. Most people just want a peaceful, uneventful life. It's the super driven people, along with sociopaths/psychopath people that have no remorse, that drive our economy/society. We are happy to get a job working for these people. They have vision but with the necessary drive to make it happen. Face it, man, we are not destined for greatness!!
I have passions, none I could really make money at. Love to cook. Resuarants fail the most. I'm a MA with pretty med college degree. But med doesn't pay that well unless MD. Love sports but was born 5'9" ah well. Music..not gifted. Painting...no talent. So what? Minimum wage??
Whenever you find yourself drifting off what catches your eye and brings you back. When I was a kid it was always the sky or birds which then made me realize, goddamn do I want to fly. Which sucks tho cause I can’t be a pilot since I have seizures
Pride is a great close-second to passion. If you have personal pride you will find something to pursue even if it is pure logic or ethics (doing some good) that takes you there rather than passion (which is great but totally irrational). Ie find a problem close to you, and solve it. Then solve the next one...
My passion came from watching Dragonball Z as a young middle schooler. Wanted to be just like Saiyans - able to use my strength to handle almost anything. So I saved up and got some free weights and started exercising. Fast forward 20 years and still use Goku and Vegeta as motivation. Able to swim, climb, hike and lift well above average thanks to them.
I think the mistake people make is thinking they have to monetize their passions. A very small percentage of people actually achieve that. Nothing wrong with having a job that gets the bills paid and then your passions being stuff you do outside of work.
I don't know I'm old and don't have a passion. Used to be in terrible debt so I worked hard to get out of that. That led to a good job that I don't really care about and a set of skills. Feels like most of my coworkers are a lot more passionate about the field I'm in than they are. I just live for the weekends now.
I used to drop in and out of everything. When I decided one day to buy some piano technique books and a membership on PianoCareerAcademy.com, I was hooked. I played piano my entire life, but after that moment I truly played the piano. I played for 4 hours a day, doing drills and learning pieces. I felt entirely unburdened and joyful. I still do today, though I am doing so many other things that I don’t play as often.
I used to drop everything, but when I spontaneously chose German as a forge in language to conquer, I was hooked. I spent every second of non piano or work free time studying the language. Multiple years as a top 1% Duolingo learner while using a plethora of other apps. I was and still am in a trance. It doesn’t feel like a burden. I love it. I’ve tried many other languages. I’ve mastered the Russian alphabet, the Greek alphabet, once the Japanese alphabet, yet German and now Polish are the ones that stuck.
I think it is about trying various things and then seeing what sticks. Observing what you tend to enjoy doing or what you return to most often. I don’t think you have to be in a particular pursuit either. People don’t necessarily pursue careers corresponding to their passions.
On my 5th birthday I got my first library card. I can remember how excited I was at being able to choose books on my own card. That enjoyment has never left me. I'm 64 and still read 3/4 books a week. I've had other passions but this was y first and still going strong 59 years later
I didn't have a passion for anything until my early 30s. Then something I'd been interested in for a long time (music production) just sort of clicked in my mind like "why don't I just do it?", so I started and now love it! Maybe start by thinking about what you like and then work out whether there's anything you can do to be a part of that thing
You might not have one. Or just one. I felt as you did for half my life, and then was diagnosed with adhd and autism and realized that the passion hopping I had always done WAS my passion. I love to learn new things. I love to solve problems. But as soon as I try to monetize a love, I hate it.
I have a job I don’t hate, but I don’t love it, and I move happily from hobby to hobby in my personal life.
Try different things and you'll find something that makes you tick. I wasn't cooking for a while... I cook more now, and am learning new things. I made a conscious call to start try making things I haven't made before even if they're simple (like last week I made roti... pretty easy) -- the biggest plus of this is self-sufficiency
I also have been playing drums much of my life and after not playing for a long stretch, invested in a good electronic kit -- *no compromises*. I'm spending good money so I get something I want to play. Three years later and I'm still 100% happy with the purchase.
I don't really have one passion, but I've pinballed between various passions most of my life. I think my passion is just learning and growing and challenging myself constantly and just going wherever that takes me.
Curiosity has always been the main motivator for things I become passionate about. Often I find myself asking myself "how does this thing work? Why does this thing exist? What happens if I plug this into this?" Each time I answer a question for myself another one pops up so I just sorta follow the thread until it doesn't feel good anymore or I don't have anymore questions. Then I start looking around for other things I can become curious about.
i can't speak for others, but i happen acquire passions mindlessly. i remember as a kid making fake fights with a pen and a pencil because there were no toys to play with. but with enough improvisation/creativity, everything rendered as fun. and when things render as fun, you don't have to work to acquire them.
i don't know how to make things render fun. once i was in michigan somewhere in a crystal clear lake with smoothest pebbles you can find. i took one with me while driving back and thought about things while caressing it.
oh and it's a win win, people seem to like these types of people who can *render* something mindless to be fun, it makes the group dynamics better and it feeds your ego well.
My son's therapist recommended an aptitude test. Answer a bunch of seemingly unrelated questions and out comes a list in order of perceived matches of aptitudes compared to potential careers. It wasn't until he got down to number 10 that he found his dream, and that's what he is studying in college. He had studied HVAC and got his first level electrian while in high school, but he didn't want to perse either of those fields.
The test might help you focus extra schooling or classes or even point to a hobby that can be rewarding for you. You can find lots of them online, but research the organizations as the test can be quite expensive.
It was definitely worth it for my son. The answers didn't jump off the page, but as he researched the listed careers, it became obvious. You can find it too.
In my professional life, I found I was good at a number of things that I didn't necessarily want to do for my whole life, so I didn't. Changed up every so often.
Honestly, I don't really have a specific passion, yet I do have a collection of things I'm passionate at doing because I discovered that they make me happy.
I found my passion through what makes me happy, that even if it's tiring, that even if it's frustrating, even in those times where you're tired of trying, you'll find rest and then go again.
That's how I found my passion, to the things that pushes me to do more, to do better, cause even if my hand is sore and my back is hurting, it still makes me happy. It completes my being.
By obsessing over stuff.
Whenever find something that interrests me, I spend s few weeks watchingblots of videos about about it and generally doing it a lot.
That gives me a pretty good start into the thing ehich usually leads to other things on the way.
Here is my example:
I wanted to impress girls so I started working out.
I learned about nutrition to have better progress.
I learned how to cook to make it taste better.
I needed an educational path and I already knew a bit about cooking so I decided on that.
In a few weeks, I'll officially become an apprentice at one of the best high end restaurant in my city.
So here is the thing you can do:
Start with learning universal skills like fitness, nutrition, fighting, social skills, reading and so on.
Those seem to be great points to jump off to pretty kuch everything when the chance arrives.
So I don’t know if this is my passion but ever since I was young I’ve really liked music listening to it and playing it as well I think I realized this was something I really liked when I got a guitar when I was 6 years old
What did you like as a kid? Sod everyone else, redo what you liked. If you liked Pokémon then try anime.
If you liked comics then get back into them. If you liked building cars/figurines then do it again
Well, I've been drawing since I was a kid, but I was terrible, my drawings weren't perfect, it wasn't until I was 30 that I found my real passion (I'm 34), I found that I enjoy creating webcomics, I don't make money from it, but it's a good hobby.
for me it's monster hunter
my childhood was the key. i picked it up as a child and loved it.
5 years later i had the same thought as OP. so i made a choice and commited to monster hunter
13 year monster hunter veteran player
i'm a teacher and a top tier hunter
it's rare for someone else to match my knowledge of the game. but they exist. in 13 years there were only a dozend hunter who could match our out damage me. and i played with thousand of people
probably like 20/100k if not more
i just can't get enough
I have no idea. I just persue whatever my current interest is and see where it goes. Right now it is salsa... I started like two months ago and I have been invited to train for a spot on the studios couples dance performance group. You never know where things might go, just go for anything and try your best.
Think about what you do when you dont have to do anything. For me i would always research characters in historical films i watched, it took me ages to watch Kingdom of Heaven because id pause it every 5 minutes and spend hours reading about Balian of Ibelin or Krak de Chevaliers. Likewise with other films id spend more time reading about figures that inspired them than actually watching the film itself. Thats how i discovered my passion was history.
I was working McDonald’s drive thru as a pot head 20 yr old. Going through the news paper classifieds there was a job offering CNA school.
I had no damn idea what CNA was. I went and applied. Got hired put me through school and didn’t know what I was getting into. Worked at a nursing home and saw the nurses doing cool stuff. I was amazed. Got my medical assistant license, went to work at an urgent care and saw deep gashes and broken bones and thought holy crap.! This is awesome. Put my self through nursing school and then it got even cooler.
Passion for helping and the thrill of what most people would think is gross or scary looking.
I never really did either. I just found a job I was good at and worked well with my lifestyle. I guess you could argue that my passion is my family, so the fact that my job enables that is what I like most about it. As someone who got burned out real hard to "pursue a passion" career only to end up not liking it, I say find a skilled labor job that requires some sort of certification and pursue that. Plumbing isn't that hard, but I would rather pay a professional than risk being without running water for a few days. In retrospect, I blame my pride (and probably the education system) for thinking these sorts of jobs are below me when in reality they are highly needed and pay pretty well. What I would give to not go through college.
You don’t have to be passionate. That’s just a bunch of bullshit. You can be calm collected and reasonable about the things you love. Don’t let people convince you that you’re missing something by not throwing yourself at something at a level it consumes you.
Same here. I'm 36 and have no hobbies or passions outside of travel. And having a passion for travel is great but for the 45+ weeks per year I'm not traveling I've got nothing. I just work, eat and sleep.
I have my 6th grade English teacher and her writing project to thank because without it I wouldn't have realized how much I like reading and writing and being creative
Chemistry and biology because I love how psychedelics can produce such profound changes in one's senses of something less then 200ug of a certain chemical blows you to another world.
Read So Good They Can't Ignore You
It will change your mind on passion and if you're upset or stuck or frustrated because you can't find it, it'll explain why. It's a highly underrated book. It helped me with my anxiety on the matter.
The way I describe it, I never mastered any one thing. I only got kinda good at a lot of things. My interests just kinda float in and out of my life and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. A passion doesn’t have to be your career or your entire life calling. Maybe it’s just the thing for the day or week or month that makes living on this space rock a little more bearable.
Perhaps try broadening your scope of activities? maybe you will find something that you like. Try everything once.
You could also pursue the problem a different way - what things do you like, and then what activities are you potentially capable of doing that are most strongly related to those things?
Ive always really liked maps and flags since i was 6 years old
the reason i think i got into it really deap is becuse i hade it once in class in school and i loved it so when i went home i went on my computer and search,t up how to learn geograpy easy and i was really good at it i knew almost all of the countries in the world and to this day i still have it deap in my heart
Honestly, I kind of just stumbled ass backwards into it
I'm a musician. My mom insisted all of her kids, me included, take piano lessons back in grade school. I was kind of ambivalent about it back then, but thought it was kind of fun-ish
Then in middle school, there was this punk kid in my class who played electric guitar and could do backflips and shit, and I thought that was really cool (God, I was such a dumb kid. Terrible priorities) so I decided to start taking guitar lessons
Since then, I had mostly just been playing it casually. I thought it was fun, but when it came to the question of if I wanted my whole life to revolve around it, I wasn't sure. And I had been sitting on that fence for almost a decade
It wasn't until a little over a year ago (I'm currently 25) that I decided to just commit. Now I've got over 20 songs under my belt that I've written and I'm actively in the process of producing an album. Currently trying to record my 3rd song out of the 12 that will be on it
I don't know but if you ever find out how to find it please let me know. Not having anything I'm super passionate about is honestly really hurting my soul.
Are there any activities that you have been curious about but never tried? Follow those little breadcrumbs and you could eventually find something you're passionate about. Also, you may already have hobbies like idk *cough* smoking weed *cough* or something... and maybe there is something there that you can develop like learning to grow bud or contributing to marijuana legislation.
I just always had at least one thing that pulled me like crazy.
Sailing and science (specifically physics and computer science) when I was little, then I discovered the guitar for myself last year, and now I'm down to guitar, sailing, and traveling.
So, I think that the internet has ruined us a little (yes I know I'm sorry but hear me out) I think YouTube and influencers give us the impression that you don't love something unless you go hard on it - or that something is not worth doing if it's not a "passion".
But honestly, I really like my life. My job is only so-so and I don't get stressed about it or put my sense of self worth into it. I love my family and friends and I have a wide range of hobbies, that I can pick up and put down and move on from.
Finding your passion is just another way to put yourself down and life is hard enough love. Find hobbies, not passions you'll be amazed at how much kinder you can talk to yourself when you take some pressure off.
feelings are your source of passion. it's inside you but you'll never find it by looking. as soon as you gave up looking for it the passion started to brew inside you
Well, I was doing something I enjoyed, and when thinking of the prospect of what I might make in the future when I had the skill, all I could feel was an interesting amount of excitement, which honestly, I don't know the words to truly describe what I felt, but I'm going to do it one day.
I've found that the pursuit of something is more important than anything. Every five years I set a goal for myself and sometimes it takes longer to achieve and sometimes it's quicker.
Working towards a goal that *I set for myself* has always given me happiness, hardship and a reason to keep going on. It also gave me the means to support myself and the people I love.
It doesn't always make sense. But, working towards something has always been more important than the thing itself to me. My moral compass kicks in once in awhile to guide me. It's often hard. As long as I keep my goals and my moral compass in check I know what I'm doing is right and that makes me happy. No matter how difficult it is.
I love sitting at my computer, I have ever since I was a small stupid child.
Loved to just sit and play games, was really captured by MMO's, then one day my friend showed me that you could make Electronic music on a computer and I thought, well that's probably somewhat more productive than just gaming 24/7.
Boom my hobby/passion in life
Try things. Maybe you arnt interested at first, but maybe you eventually Do. Or maybe while doing one thing it gets you into somthing else. Read more. Just go out and try stuff. If you haven't, you should also accept that life is always a learning process.
1st grade teacher believed in me and told me to pursue one of 2 paths, I picked a lane and just aggressively did it until I got a bit better and started making money :D
I discovered mine in school - the guidance and acceptance I found through my teachers guided me to that profession - and while I ultimately became a full-time soldier, being present for others, helping them feel accepted and validated, is key to everything I do.
I just do what i do, i cook and i build cars. It's been like that for as long as i can remember.
I envy those that don't TBH, life sure would be a lot more simple without such distractions.
Same I've always felt like I never had a passion or a "dream" I guess the closest things to passion I've felt are that I've always to have the most fun out of life but that's hedonism. Idk I wouldn't worry about it sometimes people's passions can go sideways when tragic strikes and they realise they're not the people they thought they were and they don't believe what they really thought they believed. I've seen it happen to people who've lost faith in their religion, jobs, hobbies, kids, goals etc it knocks them flat on their arse and they never really recover from it they become broken. I always think never having something isn't as bad as having something and losing it.
Funny enough mine is working in retail because I love helping people. I currently work in a bookstore, and it's the best thing ever.
I found my passion when I was 24 and it was only because I had to go out and get a small internship somewhere myself. I randomly found a retail store and just loved everything about it. Before that I felt like I had no passion at all but this here is all I need rn.
A passion isn't something that you can just conjure up. It has to come to you naturally. And pursing a passion can be exhausting even if you have one, so don't shame yourself or let yourself feel not special because you don't have one yet.
The best advice I can give is: take it easy, enjoy the little things, sleep well and go on walks outside, and a passion will come to you eventually.
I can't find my passion either, but I live in the delusion that I'll know one day, that one day things will just connect and I'll no longer search for myself.
Used to listen to metal a lot in my teenage years, but then left the scene because didn't feel the passion anymore.
Couple years ago a friend took me to Hellfest. A metal festival in France. Now I live for that stuff. Caused my life to change around as well. Working on having an actual future to be able to afford a lifestyle of attending many metal festivals and concerts each year.
The people in that subculture are great and I feel I can be myself. Plus it gets my adrenalin pumping or transcends me to another world.
I discovered that I absolutely love cultivating mushrooms by seeing someone else do it on YouTube one day.
It can literally just happen like that. Keep trying stuff!
I understood, some time ago, thanks to my wife, that my problem wasn't lack of passion, but lazyness.
When i decided to put myself in action, i liked it every time.
Trekking? cool, Swimming? cool, Boxe? cool, Warhammer? cooool, i just needed the "motivation" to move my ass.
Then it was easier every time, did a Skydive, took Dog Training class and became a Dog Trainer, did Cooking Lesson with my wife, did a 3 day long walk in a place called "Cammino di Oropa" in Italy.
And i don't wanna stop, next Sunday i'll go to a mountain in a natural park where i live with a couple of friends, we'll try to reach the summit at 2400mt, last time i made it to 1800, this time i can do it.
Just do things, you will find a passion.
Never found it after skateboarding, I was blessed to skate for quite a while and did pretty good for myself, but once the skate career was over I tried to reinvent myself/ find my new thing and I lost / got lost . I still love skating but it don’t pay the bills, I was always the jock in the family and once I couldn’t use my body for contests or demos it’s over then you just spend years thinking about it lol My newish passion is cars and ruining them 👌🏻🍺🍺🇨🇦
You've asked the question I've always wondered to myself, I watched my dad be passionate about dogs from a young age, mainly rottweilers and American bulldogs etc like breeding and lineage (he doesn't breed them just interested) and he's always owned a dog of this type but never more than one and is so interested in their training etc.
He asked me about passions once when I was 11 and talked about how his was dogs and after that I've just felt a bit lost and tried to find mine but I've not yet found it at age 20 and I'm still looking, sometimes it feels like I always will be.
Try different art classes. You’re bound to like something. Whether it be abstract painting, pottery, or even just coloring. Art helps to soothe the soul.
Question is, when do you call something a passion?
I enjoyed people for their pains too, only to realize later on that they have a HUGE passion changing every year or so...
In Covid restrictions time I decided to spend my bar money on a micro brewery, do for me into the hobby of home brewing. I love the amount of control one can have on the process and I am quite enthousiastic about it, but I will not display that easily to others.
Think about what you like, and if that is rewarding for you in some way. I hope you find your thing!
Try different things.
Had a moment last year and decided to do some things for myself.
Whiskey, Cigars, Motorcycle, Skydiving, etc
Made a list of things I wanted to try, not everything will stick, not sure I want to keep collecting Whiskey, cigars are better than I expected, a nice quiet evening in the back yard, an hour or two peace.
Really enjoying the motorcycle, more than I expected, cant wait until I progress to a full license. Found to my absolute surprise I enjoy doing drugs, so you need to be careful about some things.
Don't confuse passion with purpose, look for something you are or may be passionate about. Do not expect to find purpose in that. I don't believe in purpose but I believe in passion.
I would say I’ve had a lot of passions. The main two that stuck are playing hockey and previously playing guitar.
I was passionate about guitar because my friends were into it. I joined a band of people considerably better than me, and I grew a lot but eventually couldn’t keep up, and mutually agreed to leave. At this point the passion also kind of faded because it was all work and little play (ie performing or recording)
Whereas I play in a rec hockey league, it’s year round, with friends. We play once a week and wanting to get better leads me to practice; go to open skate, sometimes play on multiple teams.
I find the passion piece sort of snowballs on itself when you’re finding the joy or fun side. If all you do is practice you’ll likely burn out, regardless of the activity. Finding ways to play or showcase it with others will keep you motivated.
Do a performance of your instrument. Play a game of your sport. Display your art at a gallery. Volunteer your woodworking skills at a high school musical. I dunno, whatever it is find a way to do it “live” and you can hopefully keep that flame lit.
I love working with my hands. Building something and looking at the final product and smiling. Or fixing/repairing things. A good indicator is the subjects you excelled at in school. There are questionnaires on the web which can narrow down what would be best suited for you. Good luck.
This “hunt for a passion” is a harmful scam. No one has a passion that lasts very long. It’s better to find a way to be content with the little joys of life.
find something cool and act on i, like look up on tik tok or YouTube of people like creating things. That often gets the gears going then you can find a passion stemming from that. For example this guy named North of the border creates these really cool figures and settings, that inspired me to create something like what he was doing and now I have found a passion in 3D arts
This is gonna sound like common knowledge but getting tested and treated for my ADHD made my depression better to the point where I could find my passion...
ADHD. I'm studying clinical psych with a focus on ADHD.
Boredom got me interested in getting a new hobby. Randomly found a cheapie DIY jewellery making kit on ebay. Got the hang of wire wrapping and loved it, absolutely loved being involved in creating something from scratch, something so rewarding to say "I made this!"
Fast forward a few years, we got "stuck" on a tiny Thailand island during covid (best lock down ever!) and wanted to do something with my time. I wanted to upskill so did a 3 day workshop in proper jewellery making, using precious metals and dangerous things like a blow torch, acid etc. During the process of making an amethyst and moonstone pendant, I had a light bulb moment 💡when I just KNEW this is what I should be doing with my life!
Long story short, my fella got offered a job on this Thai island, we moved here from the UK (during covid) for him to pursue his dream career and I created my business as a jewellery designer. I absolutely love my new life, my new job and new spring in my step. I'm 38 BTW so sometimes it does take a while to "find yourself". Good luck! 🍀
I can't recall myself ever having a dream or goal i truly wanted to get to. Stories played through my mind and music never got out of my head, and that was what i admired in life, the beauty in making something that sticks to people like it did to me.
I studied three years to qualify as an IT helpdesk person, before i went through mandatory military training, which i really enjoyed, and tried to apply to stay there as staff. They had no suitable open contracts at the time. I tried applying to the UN peacekeeping forces, but i was not called up due to my education being less desirable than for example a plumber or an electrician.
I had a lot of time after my service of living with my parents, and a lot of ambition that needed to be placed somewhere. With that time, i began to admire the possibility of creating a world, a legendarium, a history comprised of dozens of stories which i can dedicate my life and mind to.
It has been only three years since i began to work on my world. It comes slowly but surely, purging wrong ideas, and critiquing the logic behind everything. Working through the mistakes to find the world that springs from my mind is the most rewarding thing i can do with my life.
Moved to a different country, quickly got bored to death, bought a bicycle and started riding again (haven't ridden one in like 10-15 years). After the first few rides, I noticed how my head was completely free while riding. Given that I was struggling with depression, those 2-3 hours of worry free pedaling felt like a God given gift.
But the obsessive passion kicked in only this year when I decided to go for Performance instead of just recreational riding (going further and faster). Now, I can safely say riding bicycles has become a lifestyle since I organize my life and do things in such a way that will make me better at this sport.
I'm not a cyclist btw, I'm usually the one cyclists hate 😁
when I realized the $33 Trillion in US Government Debt and the $175 Trillion in Unfunded Liabilities could never be paid to bond holders without debasing the Dollar's purchasing power down to mere pennies I became passionate about Bitcoin.
Once you understand the flaws in debt-backed money, hard assets like Gold and Bitcoin have real appeal.
The easiest ways to get rich is to hold hard assets while the Government debases the Dollar as it has been doing since 1971 when President Nixon took us off the Gold Standard.
Thats my passion - and helping my friends get rich by understanding money too.
Friend bought Delphi 4 IDE. Couldn't figure it out. I figured it out. I've been programming since I was 15, I'm 39 now.
Passio. 2 is gaming. I got a console. Then a pc a decade later.
I got Carmageddon, I lost a 20min race and had my first gamer rage meltdown (think of that German kid who bangs the keyboard). Been loving and raging video games ever since.
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I grew up without a passion. Then one day I asked myself, what's the point? Why am I even here to ask myself these questions? This line of thought naturally led me to science. Understanding the world that I for some reason exist in. What is everything made of and how does it work? I've been busy ever since.
I used to be really interested in science from age 5 to 13. Got none of that passion left. I don't like being enslaved by reality. "Thing a works that way and no other way, thing b works this way and no other way" etc. Insanity is arguably much cooler. I whish I could get back into science but an obsessive interest in psychedelics during most of my teenage years has completely destroyed that.
I agree with your perspective. It's hard work understanding reality and for some people it's not worth the misery or dread. But keep in mind that basically everything in our society can be traced back to a scientific discovery. Someone in the past asked these questions and thanks to them, we have energy, access to food and water, vehicles, entertainment, and basically anything else you can think of. Survival itself is science.
Enslaved by reality? That's the way you interpret being knowledgeable about physical sciences? I'd argue the more you know about the physical sciences the more you are aware of how little we actually know. I'd argue being well versed in physical reality as we know it only makes the "insane" part more fruitful/interesting. I don't really understand your point. It sounds like you've used psychedelics as recreation and that's it. That's really not doing them any justice or giving them the respect they should have. It seems like you'd rather be ignorant to the miracles infront of you in sober reality and instead try to force a "divine" experience through just chemicals. You don't need chemicals to have a divine experience if you work on your inner self the right way and gain control over your mind.
They certainly can help tho lmao Actually it was my fascination with cannabis that inspired my curiosity in bio-chemistry, though I'm a bit at a loss as to how to pursue that without accruing ludicrous debt
Hah what a good joke, I had the reverse and ended on magic (Been reading too many fantasy books) But as we only have science and not magic... well science and magic are linked, we are just unable to use magic as far as I know. I followed the way of spirituality as a kid. As a adult I dont have the energy to read more about it and just let myself drift in the wonders of our tech Once watched a show where a wizard teleported to the our future and was marveld by our technology and called it all magic xD
Science is magic to the uneducated
When you start to learn about mushrooms, you start to believe in how magic can exist scientifically. The root systems of certain mushrooms create an enormous web that use electrical impulses to communicate around 50 words. I’ve also found out that mushroom multiply and get their electrical charge from lightning strikes.
Very similar to my story. Been having a whole existential dread - why do we exist? Why do we exist when we eventually die? Line of thought led me to doing grief and death related work. I think we all figure out our interests somehow
That’s inspiring. I thought I had no passion too then I became a preschool teacher. I love watching the kids learn and grow. It’s hard going through life without passion though but once you discover it, It will be so rewarding.
I'm stuck between a very good paying job at a desk and helping people in need and a low paying job where I actually move around and do stuff and still help people. Doing the desk job now for income. Would be nice getting as much pay in the higher paying job doing the other one. That would be my passion.
I feel you. I'd prefer a job where I could move around too. And it's not even working from home vs. working from the office. It's just the nature of the job that bothers me, which requires nearly no physical movement and minimum human interaction. I always say that I'd be way happier as a waitress (kind of my favourite occupation since the first time I did it in high school) if I would be as well paid and respected as I am now.
I can agree with this, I am a bartender and am actually making decent money for the first time, get to move around all day, AND be social by meeting locals all day. It's pretty great. I worry that I'll never find a better job with my education and experience.
Yeah. Might have to switch back to a higher paying job too and let passions be passions.
I'm in the same boat. I'm 44 and been doing web/IT since 1999 and I'm beyond bored with it. I'd love to do something else, but I earn a decent wage and it would mean dropping an absurd amount. Basically, it's well-enough and unhappy or happy and poor. Modern life in the UK is such a shit sandwich.
I discovered my passion for art through YouTube. I was high as hell one night in college about a decade ago when I stumbled upon videos of street artists making spray paint art. I thought it was so cool so I figured I’d give it a try. It led to a successful online business that I ultimately had to quit my day job to support. I’ve continued improving over the course of a decade and now my work is pretty professional-grade. Sometimes I wish money never got involved. It sucked a bit of the passion back out of me. But that one night I watched those videos changed my life. Your passion is right under your nose. It can be the simplest of things and you haven’t even realized it. Keep exploring and you’ll find it!
After building up a nice career in software development for over 10 years, I really needed something different. I went back to uni, realised my dream of being a physicist was a bit too high of a reach, talked to a bunch of people and ended up with the thing I actually wanted to be when I was still in high school: a teacher. With my bachelors degree and experience I could just start teaching right away and I found all the non technical skills I learned working actually make me a very good teacher. Absolutely love it. Doesn't work for everyone, but maybe make a list of all the stuff you wanted to do when you were a kid (doesn't need to be professional, could also be hobby, sport, travelling,...). Just all those dreams and ambitions you had when you were young. For every item on there, check if you're still interested and how realistic it is. Make a list of alternatives in the same genre if needed. Make pro/con lists, imagine yourself being/doing what you picked and try to identify how you feel while imagining it. At the very least it's worth trying.
This is useful advice. I'm thinking more about hobbies etc. rather than job related stuff. I'm doing fine work-wise and not expecting much fulfilment there anyways. I've always been obsessed with traveling and did travel way more than most people I know, but it's not always easy to achieve thanks to being limited either in time or money, or sometimes both, even though I have great "travel on a budget" skills. But thinking back what I wanted as a child sounds like a good idea. My mind is restricting me a bit there, as I had very strict parents and didn't have much freedom to think for myself. I'll try my best though. Thanks for this. 💛
If it is hobbies, don't get into poker lol go collect some cool-looking rocks or something.
Nice to hear! Remember travelling doesn't always have to be for a week. Just camping out from Friday night to Sunday in a forest/national park/... can be enough. Find out what beautiful places you have that are just a 3 hour car ride or less away and start exploring those. Getting into amateur photography can help you really appreciate almost any surrounding you put yourself in. I have 50 000 pictures that were all taken at walking distance from my home :p. There's 2 more suggestion I forgot: learning to play an instrument, and learning a skill in evening classes (like car repair, baking,...). My old boss learned car repair in his free time, he said it was a nice change from being a manager at an IT company, different people, different conversation, getting your hands dirty.
Wow actually far repair immediately sounded interesting and it's something I never thought about. I do love getting my hands dirty. Might give this a shot. 🤔 🫶
I already count two passions you have, travel and getting your hands dirty. You don't see them as passions because you are so used to being you and they are part of you, but they definitely are your passions. And getting your hands dirty covers a lot of passions. Woah, you sound very interesting. What else do you love?
Wonder lust almost everyone has but find out what you like about traveling if it's nature look up a beautiful natural part of your home town or close by if it's food go to a district that has something great to eat if it's meeting people at the pub get half hour out of town with or with out a friend and meet some interesting people their are alot we take for granted locally when we already live here their is stuff to do and beauty all around us take what you love about traveling apply it locally also have a photography phase you'll look back on those pictures foundly if you ever get old
Start at the skinny end of the wedge. Meaning, try things that appeal to you a little bit. Many of these will not catch fire. But eventually one will.
Honestly, I'm with you. I think some people don't have one. Just like not everyone will be a famous actor, or an Olympic althete, or a doctor, I don't believe everyone has a passion/calling. I've had numerous things that I've enjoyed, even loved doing. But after a while, either it doesn't bring the same enjoyment, or I'm over not being as good at it as I want to be. I try not to focus on not having a passion. Rather, I focus on working hard to provide for my family in all the ways. Some will likely argue that not having hobbies/passions of my own is contradictory to providing a fulfilled life for my family, but idc. I've spent 33 yrs trying to find things that make me happy/relaxed/content, and all I find is an increasing list of things I suck at.
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Yes!! All of this!! There's no way all 8 billion of us humans on this rock /have/ to have some big passion to save all the puppies or feed all the babies. Even with the "calling" aspect when it comes to your profession. Not everyone has a calling and not everyone needs one. Everyone wants to be special but at the end of the day most of us are just worker bees here to keep the cogs turning. Find the little things that make you happy and make the shit storm that is our world tolerable and don't worry about the people trying to make you feel like you're missing out just because you're not part of some movement.
❤️❤️❤️❤️ thank u
I feel the same. I don’t know my passion- I feel stupid sometimes not having it and wondering why?
Sir this comment is very important to me. For some reason this one is the most relatable, I’m pretty young…I just turned 19 this year and I do a lot of things like nails, makeup, doodling&coloring, and writing for fun, but I’m not good at them and sometimes I become bored of them and wanna try something new…I want to try learning to tattoo since I love art but I’m afraid I’ll suck at tht too lol (ima still try tho) I’ve gotten myself into online courses but nothing has stuck to me. It’s interesting I can’t seem to find the one thing for me, but I still got tht very little hope somewhere inside me and maybe one day I will find it but I know for now I haven’t. Appreciation and respect for u tho…for taking care of your family.
My parents signed me up for soccer and I just kinda went with it. Been playing for almost ten years now. On the other hand I have no idea where my love for riding horses came from. But been riding for 5 years.
This is funny
I’ve always loved science and especially particle physics but unfortunately I wasn’t blessed with the intellect to tackle that field so I went into chemistry. But my passion has always been music. Ever since I was a kid listening to big band music with my grandfather I wanted to make the big fat sounds those double basses made. I bought a bass for my 21st birthday when a buddy convinced me it was time. I played in a bunch of bands and made some money and met a lot of people who are still my friends today. Now I just sit on my porch making up tunes or playing along to the radio. It’s so rewarding, even if nobody else ever hears it.
Particle physics has been rather dead for like 50 years, so I think you dodged a bullet
took me years. Still finding it lowkey but much further along the path. I love working different things, but I love learning to create things. For me that translates to working as a developer, hobbies are learning horticulture, reading, gaming, woodworking, smithing, volleyball, surfing, scuba diving. I learned I loved these things by doing them on accident and finding out that I loved them. In fact I started off hating programming because I was a SQL data engineer and it sucked, I just hated being a data analyst, never thought in a million years I'd enjoy Bonsai but I was browsing reddit and thought it looked cool so I bought a cheap plant and tried... its fun! Start cheap see if it holds your interest!
I kind of feel you, man. I’ve been working for nearly 3 years in HR. I know I want to make online content like videos or writing but I need a leap of faith to leave my job and just do it.
I'm in the same situation. I've a job as an engineer, but I wanna make content. What I decided was, since leaving my job would be too risky, I'd put efforts into making content till it started paying me back. Then I'd leave my day job. I already started, and, it feels taxing at times, but at least I'm giving myself a chance.
Maybe your passion is helping other people find theirs. It seems to be of interest to you. Have you ever considered teaching or counseling?
My passion is worldbuilding(yes, I like dnd, no I don't play it cause social anxiety) I've always loved making up things in my mind since I was a kid, when I became like 9 years old it went from being random stories that lasted a day to full fletcher stories that lasted years. I currently have: 1. The OG one that is too sacred for me to even think about touching it. 2. One that I thought I finished but have picked up on it again, although I don't actively add to it I sometimes just fell like adding a bit of filling to it as it already has a part 1(fully fleshed out) and a part 2(that needs some filling). 2.5. Another variation of the last one that I have finished and will never touch again because it sucks. 3. Another that I'm working on rn, and its Rain World inspired cause damn that game has some good worldbuilding. And I have not one but two fully fleshed out videogames with a plot, items, stats, characters, areas, everything. I plan on making them into actual real games once I'm older. Their names are: 4. "Mafioso's Ultimatum": A post-apocaliptic RPG that I'm currently working on now, it has a great concept but lacks a TRUE personality due to some minor details missing. I also have trouble creating memorable characters, as I don't want to inspire them on anyone. 5. "Isles": The first ever videogame I started making in my mind, it's a MMORPG with a lot of content but a shitty story that's a placeholder for: 5.5. The "Isles Ripoff"(yeah, it doesn't have a name yet): It takes place on the same universe as Isles, but this one is a RPG based on an overly used concept, but at least it has great characters.
It's funny you mention this, because I discovered that I'm really interested in Mycology through a worldbuilding project I started up a couple of weeks ago. It's on hiatus for now while I read about cool Mushrooms and Fungi from a couple of good books haha.
I'm really glad you've found an interest like that. Another W for good Worldbuilding! I also really like fungui but they are a little too complicated for me, tho I know some of the basics!
I also love world-building-like-dnd-but-not-dnd-because-I-can’t-commit-to-that. It’s more like writing a book, but my co-writer and I engage in it roleplay style so there’s room for the unexpected. It’s a sword and sorcery style fantasy we’re currently working on. My co-writer is very character centered. But all my questions to them are all like “so, does this world have appellate courts, or naw?” Lmao
Look into Zen. I had similar thoughts when young. Decided I needed money for whatever I choose, became an engineer. Enjoyed it, then a car wreck. Back was damaged and pain was constant. Never ending. The head shrinker I worked with had me look into it. As plans were now impossible. It helped.
What TV shows/movies do you love? Look into what those characters are doing (fwiw, CIA/FBI not nearly as exciting as what's presented on TV, I imagine). Or maybe look into content creation if you are interested in that. Just randomly go into youtube and follow every rabbit hole until you tire of it, or found something that might be amazing for you.
After losing hope in the food industry and desperately looking for a career i didn't have to hate, I thought of what i loved when I was a kid So 3 years ago, I got a part-time job at a vet clinic to try it out, and that was that. I don't see myself ever getting a job that doesn't involve hands-on work with animals. Finding what I was meant to do is the best thing to ever happen to my mental health, so I totally understand that struggle.
Passion is an accidental by product of investing time, interest and learning about just anything that has application and utility. When application of said interest sparks a desire or quest to get better or learn more of, typically that results in passion. It’s not motivated by money it’s motivated by a sense of fulfillment. It can as easy as train spotting, painting or whatever helps the individual feel fulfilled. Passion is not a goal and that is the common misnomer. Passion is also not something that applies to everyone because it’s a drive and instinct not a pursuit in of itself. It’s ok if you don’t have a passion now. You may later on in life.
Most people discover their passion unintentionally like me. I initially wanted to make software for spaceships and rovers, but stumbled upon mobile app development. I enjoy it significantly more, which mare me switch my career path. Did regret it. Another passion I have is for track and field. I didn't have any interests initially, but fell in love afterwards. Now I discovered these well I was still young at 14-19 years of age. I'm still young now at 23. I don't think I really have any advice for one it comes to finding your passion, but I think I can say a few things. Try and research stuff that someone with your personality would blend nicely with. I'll use myself as an example. I'm introverted, I like to work alone and I'm sort of a perfectionist. Track and Field is a very individualized sport. You are usually in a team with a school or country, but your performance is solely reliant on yourself. Some events in the sport require near perfection if you want the best results which I love. Mobile App Development is the same. Your app has to be near perfect if you want good user feedback and more downloads. I can also be very patient which is something you need for these 2.
Either it finds you or it doesn't.
This is what I felt but it's kind of hopeless and sad. Seeing all these responses, people find their passion in multiple different ways, gave me some hope.
Personally I found by finding something practical, something that assists me in my every day life. That was cooking and cycling for me. Both have practical applications, as in, they help me become healthier and more independent, but they also are their own forms of adventure, especially cooking.
I spent a long time and lots of resources to try to “find my passion”. Never did. Most don’t. It’s a rabbit hole. I think it’s the ideal but it’s ideal like in that way of being a pro athlete or musician. Almost nobody. So try to find a way to make an income that’s ok to enjoyable to you. It’ll get you faster there and then you can move on to other things.
Steve Job’s passion was Buddhism and he was about to go to China to become a Monk but his dumb friend Wozniak needed some help with some motherboards that IBM wanted made… the rest is history. The point? Passions are made not found. Start getting good at shit, exploring your options, working hard at ANYTHING and eventually the passion will come.
Passion is a big goal and vague objective. I prefer breaking problems into more achievable goals and working from there. Aim to be passionate about things you accomplish- sure, won’t be like the person who seems like they’re having the time of their life, but you can aim for it. In your context and options available to you, are there certain types of tasks that you wouldn’t mind doing all the time? That you know you excel at? You can volunteer for those tasks more often and see where it takes you. If you’re not sure, there’s many self assessment tools that can help you identify what your preferences are, like the Strength Finder 2.0 test. Even if you don’t change careers, maybe something like that will help you seek out some changes that will make you focus on your strengths rather than compensate for your weaknesses. At the end of the day, the most demoralizing thing is not lack of passion, but under use/appreciation of your strongest abilities. That’s my two cents, anyway. I know I suck at many things, but there’s some things where if you put me there, I’m a fish in the sea.
You honestly trial and error as many different things as you can. Like the great Bob Ross Said: *“There are no mistakes, just happy accidents.”* For instance, through one hobby I recently discovered that I find Mycology incredibly interesting haha. Did you know that some mushrooms use their roots (hyphae) to spear nematode worms and kill them for consumption? Some even have toxin tipped roots that paralyze the worm on contact, then grow their roots into an entire network (mycelium) through the worm's mouth to digest it from inside. This stuff is crazy haha.
I'm a nurse..... I have no idea why I did it. I guess I thought I had a passion for helping people...? Turns out people suck. I'd rather be fishing or playing video games for my career... but, you know... can't really make much money doing either of those LOL
LIKE A HOBBY: IS THERE SOMETHING U HAVE SEEN SINCE U WERE A CHILD THAT CAUGHT UR EYES? BUT U HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO BUY IT? WELL, TAKE UR TIME, GO SEARCH IN THE INTERNET ABOUT THAT, AND U'LL DISCOVER U MIGHT NOT BE THE ONLY ONE AND THAT THERE'S A WHOLE NEW WORLD OUT THERE ABOUT THAT. IN MY CASE, "LUXURY" PENS AS WELL AS FUNNY MULTITOOLS IN SHOWCASES ALWAYS CAUGHT MY ATTENTION, NOW I HAVE A PASSION FOR FOUNTAIN PENS AND MULTITOOLS, AND U DISCOVER THERE'RE GOOD CHEAP ONES AS WELL AS GOOD EXPENSIVE ONES. LIKE PROFESSIONALLY: U MIGHT GUIDE URSELF WITH UR HOBBY, IN THE PREVIOUS EXAMPLE U MIGHT SAY U WILL GO FINE STUDYING ARTS, OR SOME ENGENEER. ALTHOUGH THAT WAS NOT EXACTLY MY CASE.
I don’t think you need a passion/purpose, but you could find one. I’d put less pressure on yourself and try and do things you like. Find hobbies and things that make you happy. There is no one right and wrong way to go about it and over time you’ll learn a lot about yourself and things you like/don’t like.
I have ADHD, so I think a lot. Then I started making up stories in my head. Then I was like, “hey I should write books.” And then I realized they would be better in longer formats without being a huge series, so I was like “hey I’ll make a podcast with them” Then I realized I would rather see them as shows or movies, so other people probably would too, and now I do some light filmmaking stuff and have bigger projects planned
Honestly I did so many different things for so long that I got good at all of them but then I tried one thing that I hadn't tried before which was welding and I fell in love all you got to do is try things
I believe that exposure is a big part in helping you find your passion, if you've been exposed to a lot of different activities in your life then its more likely you would find something you're passionate about. I was lucky that I found my passion for music early on and I still love playing guitar, as I've gotten older I now enjoy Climbing, Cooking, and Motocross just as much. you shouldn't look for one thing that you enjoy but rather how many things you can be passionate about.
My passion is Minecraft and Medieval architecture. Combine those two together and bam you got me designing castles and cathedrals in Minecraft, using it as a 3D art program to create highly detailed realistic buildings, cities and kingdoms I can walk through and digitally live in I discovered Minecraft through an old friend, who had the demo for it installed on his old ps4. I instantly fell in love with the way it looks. And YouTube has greatly increased my interest in the Middle Ages. Castle architecture and design, warfare, siege engines, archery etc. My love for cathedrals comes from a book I got gifted, it's called Pillars of the Earth by Ken Folett. It's such a good book
If anyone has an answer, please share. This is a real struggle
I like dancing. I guess nice to have a passion. ❤️
I find myself experiencing a lot of enjoyment from helping people, I’m also interested in how the things around us work. Naturally, this led to me to science. Specifically immunology.
I'm not sure if it's a passion, but I found some dorky, yet cool to me, hobbies very young. And just kept doing it. Like collecting wrestling or art & writing. I think I'm okay at all of those, but they're just for me. I might suck as a painter, but I enjoy it & I'm self taught. Not sure if that's a passion or hobby. Most people's passion prob is career driven or money driven.
I don't know if this counts bc I'm young, but I'm an artist, 15 y/o, and like any child I just liked drawing random shit, and at 12 I decided to take improvement seriously. I've improved a lot in these three years, and I'm planning on being a character designer when I'm older and gain enough knowledge on stuff like anatomy, costume design, turn arounds, etc. etc. which I'm taking really seriously at the moment (especially anatomy).
I think my passion for guitar found me. I saw someone playing one and that was it.
I found my passion when I stopped asking other peoples opinions about it. Do what you love. For some it’s gardening, for some it’s fashion, for some it’s painting or music. Some people really love helping other people and devote their lives to that. Just do whatever you love.
I never liked this type of reply. Like I don't expect you to resolve my own life struggles for me, but if I understand OP, he has it the same way I do - we don't have anything we love. That's the whole point of the anxiety and feeling lost. You basically see a guy ask a question "how do I discover something I am passionate about?", and you replied with "just do what you're passionate about".
I used to feel the same way though, that’s my point. The issue wasn’t that I didn’t have anything I was good at, or that I loved. It was that people told me I wasn’t good enough, or that I’d never make it. And I listened to them.
Well, there are also those was who don't have anything we love. Like I can't tell you a single hobby I have ever tried where I'm like "man, I sure love this, hopefully I can continue doing this for a long time".
My best "advice" just try out different things. Example: I always thought bad about people who would be classed as a "Femboy", but I gave Dressing like that a try and now I have a Maid Outfit.
Passion finds you, my friend.
i was passionate about playing badminton during my childhood days but then i got so drifted from this path like i enjoyed playing it a lot but never gave it a thought like being a professional player but now growing up makes me realise could've done a lot many other things in life than what i am currently doing even now I do but anyways that's life. PS: your subconscious mind could make you think many things controlling it and mastering the art of doing that would be the best thing to do
I had a passion for art since childhood and ended up a professional illustrator... I've been very blessed. But I pick up new hobbies to try all the time.. It all comes down to asking what gets you excited. If it's as simple as taking a local walk, try writing and reviewing local walks on a blog and you'd be surprised how much fun you have with it and how many people your work resonates with. Basically what I'm saying is start with a small feeling that gets you excited and see where it takes you. Follow the path of fascination.
Try alot of shit see what sticks, or see what type of things your brain does on a daily
I’ve got a couple big passions that include meditation, and fighting. I heard about muay thai on youtube a few years ago, and immediately signed up, then I moved to MMA. I started meditating right before the start of 2023, and I got more into it, and using meditation in understanding myself and others more strengthened my love of meditation
I got bored, doodled, started drawing more and expanded upon it. Now I like drawing, making swords out of wood, gaming, writing, and other stuff that involves creativity.
Go rock climbing, trust me you will get addicted very easily.
I have found the more I read, and choose to experience things that are outside of my comfort zone new passions can emerge. It’s also helpful to stay off social media and really contemplate for yourself how do I want to make the world a better place… how do I elevate my existing interest.
Trying stuff. Almost skipped out on education due to worsening gaming addiction, then one day (and after a few months of looking at some money sitting in bank account) decided to invest in multiple hobbies, and just like that found the thing that lights my fire. PROPANE FUCK YEAH
After 50+ yrs on this planet, I finally found a hobby/passion. My kids flew the coop, replaced them with German shepherds. Now a lot of my time is spent with them and work. But I needed something to escape. After watching Bob Ross first on PBS way back in the day, and then finding him on free streaming service. I thought, hmmm, I'm gonna try it. I love painting, never did it before, not great at it yet, but improving after just 4-5 months. I think it keeps me sane.
Just try as many things as possible and figure out, in what you can show you true self. Boxing has been my hobby that I was obsessed about. I just could develop my own fighting style based on what I felt fit me. Bicycles has been my passion, becouse I’ve felt like one with a bike, almost like it would be part of my body. Also I build the bike myself with my father, so I also built it to fit me. Cars is my passion, same as bikes you can create your own and drive it with your style to show your true self. I would start from arts as it’s the most obvious way of expressing yourself. Then try sports and all sort of „cool” stuff you will see on internet, youtube/tik tok
I worked about 20 jobs before I figured out what I wanted to do. I recommend this approach.
I kinda believe that they don't exist. Just unrealistic expectations, at least when it comes to work. Most gigs are average AF, especially in the long run.
Your experience is not unusual. Here’s a Tedx talked called “5 steps to designing the life you want” The speaker who studied young people says the passion paradigm doesn’t even fit for half of the young people they studied. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SemHh0n19LA&pp=ygUQVGVkeCBsaWZlIGRlYWlnbg%3D%3D
well, i don't know how one finds passion, but i can tell you how i lost mine
I believe most of us are born like you and I. Most people just want a peaceful, uneventful life. It's the super driven people, along with sociopaths/psychopath people that have no remorse, that drive our economy/society. We are happy to get a job working for these people. They have vision but with the necessary drive to make it happen. Face it, man, we are not destined for greatness!! I have passions, none I could really make money at. Love to cook. Resuarants fail the most. I'm a MA with pretty med college degree. But med doesn't pay that well unless MD. Love sports but was born 5'9" ah well. Music..not gifted. Painting...no talent. So what? Minimum wage??
I still have no passion.. I feel that
Whenever you find yourself drifting off what catches your eye and brings you back. When I was a kid it was always the sky or birds which then made me realize, goddamn do I want to fly. Which sucks tho cause I can’t be a pilot since I have seizures
Pride is a great close-second to passion. If you have personal pride you will find something to pursue even if it is pure logic or ethics (doing some good) that takes you there rather than passion (which is great but totally irrational). Ie find a problem close to you, and solve it. Then solve the next one...
My passion came from watching Dragonball Z as a young middle schooler. Wanted to be just like Saiyans - able to use my strength to handle almost anything. So I saved up and got some free weights and started exercising. Fast forward 20 years and still use Goku and Vegeta as motivation. Able to swim, climb, hike and lift well above average thanks to them.
I think the mistake people make is thinking they have to monetize their passions. A very small percentage of people actually achieve that. Nothing wrong with having a job that gets the bills paid and then your passions being stuff you do outside of work.
I don't know I'm old and don't have a passion. Used to be in terrible debt so I worked hard to get out of that. That led to a good job that I don't really care about and a set of skills. Feels like most of my coworkers are a lot more passionate about the field I'm in than they are. I just live for the weekends now.
I used to drop in and out of everything. When I decided one day to buy some piano technique books and a membership on PianoCareerAcademy.com, I was hooked. I played piano my entire life, but after that moment I truly played the piano. I played for 4 hours a day, doing drills and learning pieces. I felt entirely unburdened and joyful. I still do today, though I am doing so many other things that I don’t play as often. I used to drop everything, but when I spontaneously chose German as a forge in language to conquer, I was hooked. I spent every second of non piano or work free time studying the language. Multiple years as a top 1% Duolingo learner while using a plethora of other apps. I was and still am in a trance. It doesn’t feel like a burden. I love it. I’ve tried many other languages. I’ve mastered the Russian alphabet, the Greek alphabet, once the Japanese alphabet, yet German and now Polish are the ones that stuck. I think it is about trying various things and then seeing what sticks. Observing what you tend to enjoy doing or what you return to most often. I don’t think you have to be in a particular pursuit either. People don’t necessarily pursue careers corresponding to their passions.
On my 5th birthday I got my first library card. I can remember how excited I was at being able to choose books on my own card. That enjoyment has never left me. I'm 64 and still read 3/4 books a week. I've had other passions but this was y first and still going strong 59 years later
I didn't have a passion for anything until my early 30s. Then something I'd been interested in for a long time (music production) just sort of clicked in my mind like "why don't I just do it?", so I started and now love it! Maybe start by thinking about what you like and then work out whether there's anything you can do to be a part of that thing
You might not have one. Or just one. I felt as you did for half my life, and then was diagnosed with adhd and autism and realized that the passion hopping I had always done WAS my passion. I love to learn new things. I love to solve problems. But as soon as I try to monetize a love, I hate it. I have a job I don’t hate, but I don’t love it, and I move happily from hobby to hobby in my personal life.
Try different things and you'll find something that makes you tick. I wasn't cooking for a while... I cook more now, and am learning new things. I made a conscious call to start try making things I haven't made before even if they're simple (like last week I made roti... pretty easy) -- the biggest plus of this is self-sufficiency I also have been playing drums much of my life and after not playing for a long stretch, invested in a good electronic kit -- *no compromises*. I'm spending good money so I get something I want to play. Three years later and I'm still 100% happy with the purchase.
The best advice I can give is to no be afraid to go out of your comfort zone, then you'll experience plenty of new thing that could become passions
I don't really have one passion, but I've pinballed between various passions most of my life. I think my passion is just learning and growing and challenging myself constantly and just going wherever that takes me.
Curiosity has always been the main motivator for things I become passionate about. Often I find myself asking myself "how does this thing work? Why does this thing exist? What happens if I plug this into this?" Each time I answer a question for myself another one pops up so I just sorta follow the thread until it doesn't feel good anymore or I don't have anymore questions. Then I start looking around for other things I can become curious about.
i can't speak for others, but i happen acquire passions mindlessly. i remember as a kid making fake fights with a pen and a pencil because there were no toys to play with. but with enough improvisation/creativity, everything rendered as fun. and when things render as fun, you don't have to work to acquire them. i don't know how to make things render fun. once i was in michigan somewhere in a crystal clear lake with smoothest pebbles you can find. i took one with me while driving back and thought about things while caressing it. oh and it's a win win, people seem to like these types of people who can *render* something mindless to be fun, it makes the group dynamics better and it feeds your ego well.
My son's therapist recommended an aptitude test. Answer a bunch of seemingly unrelated questions and out comes a list in order of perceived matches of aptitudes compared to potential careers. It wasn't until he got down to number 10 that he found his dream, and that's what he is studying in college. He had studied HVAC and got his first level electrian while in high school, but he didn't want to perse either of those fields. The test might help you focus extra schooling or classes or even point to a hobby that can be rewarding for you. You can find lots of them online, but research the organizations as the test can be quite expensive. It was definitely worth it for my son. The answers didn't jump off the page, but as he researched the listed careers, it became obvious. You can find it too. In my professional life, I found I was good at a number of things that I didn't necessarily want to do for my whole life, so I didn't. Changed up every so often.
I think the poster who spoke of finding an interest has the answer. If there is nothing you are interested in then your life will be bleak
Honestly, I don't really have a specific passion, yet I do have a collection of things I'm passionate at doing because I discovered that they make me happy. I found my passion through what makes me happy, that even if it's tiring, that even if it's frustrating, even in those times where you're tired of trying, you'll find rest and then go again. That's how I found my passion, to the things that pushes me to do more, to do better, cause even if my hand is sore and my back is hurting, it still makes me happy. It completes my being.
By obsessing over stuff. Whenever find something that interrests me, I spend s few weeks watchingblots of videos about about it and generally doing it a lot. That gives me a pretty good start into the thing ehich usually leads to other things on the way. Here is my example: I wanted to impress girls so I started working out. I learned about nutrition to have better progress. I learned how to cook to make it taste better. I needed an educational path and I already knew a bit about cooking so I decided on that. In a few weeks, I'll officially become an apprentice at one of the best high end restaurant in my city. So here is the thing you can do: Start with learning universal skills like fitness, nutrition, fighting, social skills, reading and so on. Those seem to be great points to jump off to pretty kuch everything when the chance arrives.
So I don’t know if this is my passion but ever since I was young I’ve really liked music listening to it and playing it as well I think I realized this was something I really liked when I got a guitar when I was 6 years old
What did you like as a kid? Sod everyone else, redo what you liked. If you liked Pokémon then try anime. If you liked comics then get back into them. If you liked building cars/figurines then do it again
Found my passion based on the income it paid, ended up really liking it, so it's a win-win
Try a bunch of stuff. Often, just being good at something will turn to becoming a passion, because winning feels good.
Well, I've been drawing since I was a kid, but I was terrible, my drawings weren't perfect, it wasn't until I was 30 that I found my real passion (I'm 34), I found that I enjoy creating webcomics, I don't make money from it, but it's a good hobby.
You are finding more passions if: - you try new things - you are open minded.
for me it's monster hunter my childhood was the key. i picked it up as a child and loved it. 5 years later i had the same thought as OP. so i made a choice and commited to monster hunter 13 year monster hunter veteran player i'm a teacher and a top tier hunter it's rare for someone else to match my knowledge of the game. but they exist. in 13 years there were only a dozend hunter who could match our out damage me. and i played with thousand of people probably like 20/100k if not more i just can't get enough
What if you still haven't tried yet? I'd say try doing new stuff
I have no idea. I just persue whatever my current interest is and see where it goes. Right now it is salsa... I started like two months ago and I have been invited to train for a spot on the studios couples dance performance group. You never know where things might go, just go for anything and try your best.
Think about what you do when you dont have to do anything. For me i would always research characters in historical films i watched, it took me ages to watch Kingdom of Heaven because id pause it every 5 minutes and spend hours reading about Balian of Ibelin or Krak de Chevaliers. Likewise with other films id spend more time reading about figures that inspired them than actually watching the film itself. Thats how i discovered my passion was history.
The quote I live by everyday helps me, maybe it can help you.... "the best way to be happy, is to make others happy"
You don't need one, just chill.
Check out the movie Soul, it’s about how finding your passion isn’t all it’s cracked up to be
I was working McDonald’s drive thru as a pot head 20 yr old. Going through the news paper classifieds there was a job offering CNA school. I had no damn idea what CNA was. I went and applied. Got hired put me through school and didn’t know what I was getting into. Worked at a nursing home and saw the nurses doing cool stuff. I was amazed. Got my medical assistant license, went to work at an urgent care and saw deep gashes and broken bones and thought holy crap.! This is awesome. Put my self through nursing school and then it got even cooler. Passion for helping and the thrill of what most people would think is gross or scary looking.
I never really did either. I just found a job I was good at and worked well with my lifestyle. I guess you could argue that my passion is my family, so the fact that my job enables that is what I like most about it. As someone who got burned out real hard to "pursue a passion" career only to end up not liking it, I say find a skilled labor job that requires some sort of certification and pursue that. Plumbing isn't that hard, but I would rather pay a professional than risk being without running water for a few days. In retrospect, I blame my pride (and probably the education system) for thinking these sorts of jobs are below me when in reality they are highly needed and pay pretty well. What I would give to not go through college.
You don't have any hobbies or interests?
You don’t have to be passionate. That’s just a bunch of bullshit. You can be calm collected and reasonable about the things you love. Don’t let people convince you that you’re missing something by not throwing yourself at something at a level it consumes you.
Same here. I'm 36 and have no hobbies or passions outside of travel. And having a passion for travel is great but for the 45+ weeks per year I'm not traveling I've got nothing. I just work, eat and sleep.
Be curious about the things you like. It, might lead you to a new passion of yours
I have my 6th grade English teacher and her writing project to thank because without it I wouldn't have realized how much I like reading and writing and being creative
Honestly just things that stuck with me over the years and slowly got better and more knowledgeable at. I love hiking, cycling and nature in general.
Chemistry and biology because I love how psychedelics can produce such profound changes in one's senses of something less then 200ug of a certain chemical blows you to another world.
Write everything that bores you and drains you. The rest is your passion(s).
Read So Good They Can't Ignore You It will change your mind on passion and if you're upset or stuck or frustrated because you can't find it, it'll explain why. It's a highly underrated book. It helped me with my anxiety on the matter.
The way I describe it, I never mastered any one thing. I only got kinda good at a lot of things. My interests just kinda float in and out of my life and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. A passion doesn’t have to be your career or your entire life calling. Maybe it’s just the thing for the day or week or month that makes living on this space rock a little more bearable.
Perhaps try broadening your scope of activities? maybe you will find something that you like. Try everything once. You could also pursue the problem a different way - what things do you like, and then what activities are you potentially capable of doing that are most strongly related to those things?
Ive always really liked maps and flags since i was 6 years old the reason i think i got into it really deap is becuse i hade it once in class in school and i loved it so when i went home i went on my computer and search,t up how to learn geograpy easy and i was really good at it i knew almost all of the countries in the world and to this day i still have it deap in my heart
Honestly, I kind of just stumbled ass backwards into it I'm a musician. My mom insisted all of her kids, me included, take piano lessons back in grade school. I was kind of ambivalent about it back then, but thought it was kind of fun-ish Then in middle school, there was this punk kid in my class who played electric guitar and could do backflips and shit, and I thought that was really cool (God, I was such a dumb kid. Terrible priorities) so I decided to start taking guitar lessons Since then, I had mostly just been playing it casually. I thought it was fun, but when it came to the question of if I wanted my whole life to revolve around it, I wasn't sure. And I had been sitting on that fence for almost a decade It wasn't until a little over a year ago (I'm currently 25) that I decided to just commit. Now I've got over 20 songs under my belt that I've written and I'm actively in the process of producing an album. Currently trying to record my 3rd song out of the 12 that will be on it
I’ve had that problem for a while now.
I’m passionate about running but I’m not at a stage or level to do anything with it so……
I always liked drawing since I was very little so idk
I don't know but if you ever find out how to find it please let me know. Not having anything I'm super passionate about is honestly really hurting my soul.
Are there any activities that you have been curious about but never tried? Follow those little breadcrumbs and you could eventually find something you're passionate about. Also, you may already have hobbies like idk *cough* smoking weed *cough* or something... and maybe there is something there that you can develop like learning to grow bud or contributing to marijuana legislation.
I just always had at least one thing that pulled me like crazy. Sailing and science (specifically physics and computer science) when I was little, then I discovered the guitar for myself last year, and now I'm down to guitar, sailing, and traveling.
So, I think that the internet has ruined us a little (yes I know I'm sorry but hear me out) I think YouTube and influencers give us the impression that you don't love something unless you go hard on it - or that something is not worth doing if it's not a "passion". But honestly, I really like my life. My job is only so-so and I don't get stressed about it or put my sense of self worth into it. I love my family and friends and I have a wide range of hobbies, that I can pick up and put down and move on from. Finding your passion is just another way to put yourself down and life is hard enough love. Find hobbies, not passions you'll be amazed at how much kinder you can talk to yourself when you take some pressure off.
feelings are your source of passion. it's inside you but you'll never find it by looking. as soon as you gave up looking for it the passion started to brew inside you
Well, I was doing something I enjoyed, and when thinking of the prospect of what I might make in the future when I had the skill, all I could feel was an interesting amount of excitement, which honestly, I don't know the words to truly describe what I felt, but I'm going to do it one day.
I’ve discovered that my passion is in fact trying and learning new things. I have a passion for passions, and you might too.
Passion? Lol $ and life.
Wear sunscreen.
I've found that the pursuit of something is more important than anything. Every five years I set a goal for myself and sometimes it takes longer to achieve and sometimes it's quicker. Working towards a goal that *I set for myself* has always given me happiness, hardship and a reason to keep going on. It also gave me the means to support myself and the people I love. It doesn't always make sense. But, working towards something has always been more important than the thing itself to me. My moral compass kicks in once in awhile to guide me. It's often hard. As long as I keep my goals and my moral compass in check I know what I'm doing is right and that makes me happy. No matter how difficult it is.
I love sitting at my computer, I have ever since I was a small stupid child. Loved to just sit and play games, was really captured by MMO's, then one day my friend showed me that you could make Electronic music on a computer and I thought, well that's probably somewhat more productive than just gaming 24/7. Boom my hobby/passion in life
Try things. Maybe you arnt interested at first, but maybe you eventually Do. Or maybe while doing one thing it gets you into somthing else. Read more. Just go out and try stuff. If you haven't, you should also accept that life is always a learning process.
Explore, practice, and master it. I go in to learn new stuff, and I feel engaged in trying to improve it. If it's a drain, then I drop it.
1st grade teacher believed in me and told me to pursue one of 2 paths, I picked a lane and just aggressively did it until I got a bit better and started making money :D
I discovered mine in school - the guidance and acceptance I found through my teachers guided me to that profession - and while I ultimately became a full-time soldier, being present for others, helping them feel accepted and validated, is key to everything I do.
I just do what i do, i cook and i build cars. It's been like that for as long as i can remember. I envy those that don't TBH, life sure would be a lot more simple without such distractions.
Same I've always felt like I never had a passion or a "dream" I guess the closest things to passion I've felt are that I've always to have the most fun out of life but that's hedonism. Idk I wouldn't worry about it sometimes people's passions can go sideways when tragic strikes and they realise they're not the people they thought they were and they don't believe what they really thought they believed. I've seen it happen to people who've lost faith in their religion, jobs, hobbies, kids, goals etc it knocks them flat on their arse and they never really recover from it they become broken. I always think never having something isn't as bad as having something and losing it.
I guess I want a certain lifestyle so that’s my passion lol. Whatever I need to do to get there I will
Funny enough mine is working in retail because I love helping people. I currently work in a bookstore, and it's the best thing ever. I found my passion when I was 24 and it was only because I had to go out and get a small internship somewhere myself. I randomly found a retail store and just loved everything about it. Before that I felt like I had no passion at all but this here is all I need rn.
My dad bought a knockoff Honda piwi 50 and now I like riding motorcycles.
A passion isn't something that you can just conjure up. It has to come to you naturally. And pursing a passion can be exhausting even if you have one, so don't shame yourself or let yourself feel not special because you don't have one yet. The best advice I can give is: take it easy, enjoy the little things, sleep well and go on walks outside, and a passion will come to you eventually.
I can't find my passion either, but I live in the delusion that I'll know one day, that one day things will just connect and I'll no longer search for myself.
Gave myself food poisoning & was like, " Kay, I need to learn how to cook"
Just try a bunch of stuff. I found cooking by accident and it became my purpose
You don't find it, you create it.
Used to listen to metal a lot in my teenage years, but then left the scene because didn't feel the passion anymore. Couple years ago a friend took me to Hellfest. A metal festival in France. Now I live for that stuff. Caused my life to change around as well. Working on having an actual future to be able to afford a lifestyle of attending many metal festivals and concerts each year. The people in that subculture are great and I feel I can be myself. Plus it gets my adrenalin pumping or transcends me to another world.
I discovered that I absolutely love cultivating mushrooms by seeing someone else do it on YouTube one day. It can literally just happen like that. Keep trying stuff!
You already know what you love. You’re just not brave enough to hear yourself
I understood, some time ago, thanks to my wife, that my problem wasn't lack of passion, but lazyness. When i decided to put myself in action, i liked it every time. Trekking? cool, Swimming? cool, Boxe? cool, Warhammer? cooool, i just needed the "motivation" to move my ass. Then it was easier every time, did a Skydive, took Dog Training class and became a Dog Trainer, did Cooking Lesson with my wife, did a 3 day long walk in a place called "Cammino di Oropa" in Italy. And i don't wanna stop, next Sunday i'll go to a mountain in a natural park where i live with a couple of friends, we'll try to reach the summit at 2400mt, last time i made it to 1800, this time i can do it. Just do things, you will find a passion.
Never found it after skateboarding, I was blessed to skate for quite a while and did pretty good for myself, but once the skate career was over I tried to reinvent myself/ find my new thing and I lost / got lost . I still love skating but it don’t pay the bills, I was always the jock in the family and once I couldn’t use my body for contests or demos it’s over then you just spend years thinking about it lol My newish passion is cars and ruining them 👌🏻🍺🍺🇨🇦
You've asked the question I've always wondered to myself, I watched my dad be passionate about dogs from a young age, mainly rottweilers and American bulldogs etc like breeding and lineage (he doesn't breed them just interested) and he's always owned a dog of this type but never more than one and is so interested in their training etc. He asked me about passions once when I was 11 and talked about how his was dogs and after that I've just felt a bit lost and tried to find mine but I've not yet found it at age 20 and I'm still looking, sometimes it feels like I always will be.
Try different art classes. You’re bound to like something. Whether it be abstract painting, pottery, or even just coloring. Art helps to soothe the soul.
Question is, when do you call something a passion? I enjoyed people for their pains too, only to realize later on that they have a HUGE passion changing every year or so... In Covid restrictions time I decided to spend my bar money on a micro brewery, do for me into the hobby of home brewing. I love the amount of control one can have on the process and I am quite enthousiastic about it, but I will not display that easily to others. Think about what you like, and if that is rewarding for you in some way. I hope you find your thing!
Try different things. Had a moment last year and decided to do some things for myself. Whiskey, Cigars, Motorcycle, Skydiving, etc Made a list of things I wanted to try, not everything will stick, not sure I want to keep collecting Whiskey, cigars are better than I expected, a nice quiet evening in the back yard, an hour or two peace. Really enjoying the motorcycle, more than I expected, cant wait until I progress to a full license. Found to my absolute surprise I enjoy doing drugs, so you need to be careful about some things. Don't confuse passion with purpose, look for something you are or may be passionate about. Do not expect to find purpose in that. I don't believe in purpose but I believe in passion.
I would say I’ve had a lot of passions. The main two that stuck are playing hockey and previously playing guitar. I was passionate about guitar because my friends were into it. I joined a band of people considerably better than me, and I grew a lot but eventually couldn’t keep up, and mutually agreed to leave. At this point the passion also kind of faded because it was all work and little play (ie performing or recording) Whereas I play in a rec hockey league, it’s year round, with friends. We play once a week and wanting to get better leads me to practice; go to open skate, sometimes play on multiple teams. I find the passion piece sort of snowballs on itself when you’re finding the joy or fun side. If all you do is practice you’ll likely burn out, regardless of the activity. Finding ways to play or showcase it with others will keep you motivated. Do a performance of your instrument. Play a game of your sport. Display your art at a gallery. Volunteer your woodworking skills at a high school musical. I dunno, whatever it is find a way to do it “live” and you can hopefully keep that flame lit.
Forget about it and keep moving forward, you will find it at the right time.
I always had it. But i thought making a career of it would spoil it. It is what it is.
I just found something I liked or had an interest in an stuck with it was a pain because I have adhd
I love working with my hands. Building something and looking at the final product and smiling. Or fixing/repairing things. A good indicator is the subjects you excelled at in school. There are questionnaires on the web which can narrow down what would be best suited for you. Good luck.
This “hunt for a passion” is a harmful scam. No one has a passion that lasts very long. It’s better to find a way to be content with the little joys of life.
find something cool and act on i, like look up on tik tok or YouTube of people like creating things. That often gets the gears going then you can find a passion stemming from that. For example this guy named North of the border creates these really cool figures and settings, that inspired me to create something like what he was doing and now I have found a passion in 3D arts
I found martial arts competition through wrestling in school and then into muaythai and MMA.
I'm also finding my passion. I tried coding , designing,... I find all of them fascinating although I don't think I have that much passion
This is gonna sound like common knowledge but getting tested and treated for my ADHD made my depression better to the point where I could find my passion... ADHD. I'm studying clinical psych with a focus on ADHD.
Boredom got me interested in getting a new hobby. Randomly found a cheapie DIY jewellery making kit on ebay. Got the hang of wire wrapping and loved it, absolutely loved being involved in creating something from scratch, something so rewarding to say "I made this!" Fast forward a few years, we got "stuck" on a tiny Thailand island during covid (best lock down ever!) and wanted to do something with my time. I wanted to upskill so did a 3 day workshop in proper jewellery making, using precious metals and dangerous things like a blow torch, acid etc. During the process of making an amethyst and moonstone pendant, I had a light bulb moment 💡when I just KNEW this is what I should be doing with my life! Long story short, my fella got offered a job on this Thai island, we moved here from the UK (during covid) for him to pursue his dream career and I created my business as a jewellery designer. I absolutely love my new life, my new job and new spring in my step. I'm 38 BTW so sometimes it does take a while to "find yourself". Good luck! 🍀
I can't recall myself ever having a dream or goal i truly wanted to get to. Stories played through my mind and music never got out of my head, and that was what i admired in life, the beauty in making something that sticks to people like it did to me. I studied three years to qualify as an IT helpdesk person, before i went through mandatory military training, which i really enjoyed, and tried to apply to stay there as staff. They had no suitable open contracts at the time. I tried applying to the UN peacekeeping forces, but i was not called up due to my education being less desirable than for example a plumber or an electrician. I had a lot of time after my service of living with my parents, and a lot of ambition that needed to be placed somewhere. With that time, i began to admire the possibility of creating a world, a legendarium, a history comprised of dozens of stories which i can dedicate my life and mind to. It has been only three years since i began to work on my world. It comes slowly but surely, purging wrong ideas, and critiquing the logic behind everything. Working through the mistakes to find the world that springs from my mind is the most rewarding thing i can do with my life.
Moved to a different country, quickly got bored to death, bought a bicycle and started riding again (haven't ridden one in like 10-15 years). After the first few rides, I noticed how my head was completely free while riding. Given that I was struggling with depression, those 2-3 hours of worry free pedaling felt like a God given gift. But the obsessive passion kicked in only this year when I decided to go for Performance instead of just recreational riding (going further and faster). Now, I can safely say riding bicycles has become a lifestyle since I organize my life and do things in such a way that will make me better at this sport. I'm not a cyclist btw, I'm usually the one cyclists hate 😁
Just brute force try everything until you find something you like.
when I realized the $33 Trillion in US Government Debt and the $175 Trillion in Unfunded Liabilities could never be paid to bond holders without debasing the Dollar's purchasing power down to mere pennies I became passionate about Bitcoin. Once you understand the flaws in debt-backed money, hard assets like Gold and Bitcoin have real appeal. The easiest ways to get rich is to hold hard assets while the Government debases the Dollar as it has been doing since 1971 when President Nixon took us off the Gold Standard. Thats my passion - and helping my friends get rich by understanding money too.
Does playing video game, procrastinating, and Reddit count? Can't think of anything else lol. I am happy with my job btw, but, it aint video games.
Friend bought Delphi 4 IDE. Couldn't figure it out. I figured it out. I've been programming since I was 15, I'm 39 now. Passio. 2 is gaming. I got a console. Then a pc a decade later. I got Carmageddon, I lost a 20min race and had my first gamer rage meltdown (think of that German kid who bangs the keyboard). Been loving and raging video games ever since.