Finding Passion through Curiosity
Written By: Diondra Filicetti
There is a lot of focus on finding your passion and doing things in life that you are passionate about. For many people, this only leaves them questioning what their passions are.
Instead of simply offering you steps to follow in order to find something you’re passionate about, we wanted to offer a different perspective.
What Searching for Passion Feels Like
More often than not, we begin our search for passion with the realization that we lack joy, creativity or inspiration in our lives. We want something in our daily lives that will get us excited about what we are doing.
This is the point where people begin the search for passion, and it usually looks like a whole lot of thinking, reflecting and researching and not a whole lot of doing. Have you ever researched a particular activity or even a job and it turned out to be nothing like what you thought it was going to be? Well the same goes for passion.
The truth is, there is no trick to discovering what your passion is, you simply have to experience different activities to see if they provide you with the feelings that you were looking for. When we say try, we don’t mean, try a new activity for five minutes, or one day or just one time. When trying something new, the very first time is often filled with anxiousness, failure, and heavy processing as we figure out how the task or activity is done and how we can improve at it. It is not until we get past this initial stage that we can experience the activity for what it could be.
Start With Curiosity
Trying new things on a mission to find your passion can be a long process. It takes time to come up with a list of new things to do that may or may not be something you’re passionate about.
Instead of searching for your passion, let your curiosity lead you to your passion. Many of us have interests in the back of our minds that we have always been curious about exploring. For many of us, we brush these lingering interests off to the side as something we will get to at some point, but not important enough to focus on right now.
“One day I’ll travel. One day I’ll try a new sport. One day I’ll start my own business.”
These “One day” statements in the back of our minds are our curiosity poking at us and trying to tell us which direction we should go. Travelling, new sports and starting your own new business, is not necessarily the destination, however it is the direction that will lead us to other opportunities, people, and experiences.
Where to Start
Write It Down:
Let’s start by taking all of those interests and desires from the back of your mind and putting them on paper. Write down 5 things that you have been curious about trying.
For Example:
I want to try tennis.
I would like to learn more about naturopathic medicine.
I want to travel.
I want to start a small business.
I want to learn to salsa dance.
Ask Your Questions:
Sometimes our hesitation for trying a new activity comes from the fact that we don’t have all the details, leaving us feeling uncertain or unconfident about trying. Map out your uncertainty and write down the questions that you would like answered before starting the activity. Write down 3 questions under each activity/interest.
For Example:
I want to try tennis.
What equipment do I need to play tennis?
Is there a tennis club that I can join?
Where do they offer tennis lessons and how much do they cost?
Find the Answers:
Although you don’t have the answers now, there is an answer out there for every question you have about the activities that you are curious about! Take the time to explore the internet, ask people in your network or contact the groups/institutions that can help you get the answers you are looking for.
Turn One Day Into Day One:
So you found the answers you needed to get you started, all that is left to do is to take action. Remember, curiosities will remain curiosities if you don’t explore them. Take the next step and explore.
Where Curiosity Leads
As you explore your curiosities, you will learn along the way and discover the feelings of joy, creativity or inspiration if these activities spark your passion. More importantly, as you dive into your curiosities and answer your burning questions, more questions will come up and your curiosity will continue to lead you on a path of purpose discovery.
For another perspective on curiosity, finding your passion and stepping into your power, watch our “Stepping Into Your Power” recap video from our DRIVEN Community seminar with Vanessa Vakharia!
For more information on seminars as part of the DRIVEN Community, click here.
