I have long struggled with this question.
Most motivational type books say “find your passion and you will be happy” or something like that. What if you don’t know what your passion is? Are you doomed to be unhappy?
There are those who know – just KNOW – what they are destined to do in life. Maybe they know they will be a singer, an artist, a writer, an entrepreneur, a lawyer, a politician, or maybe a full time parent. I have always somewhat secretly envied these souls.
A few weeks ago, I came across some papers from high school where I was trying to figure out a career. One of the things I indicated as an “interest” was “helping people”. That’s a rather vague statement and I doubt I knew exactly what I meant by that. It was an appropriately female thing to want. Somehow I ended up in a career that is mostly adversarial to people. Huh. I say mostly because I suppose some of the “problem solving” parts of the job sort of do help people. Sort of.
It occurred to me this weekend, for reasons that will be left unsaid, that maybe my passion is just being a better person, making the world a better place, and helping/inspiring other people to get out of their comfort zone. Need to think a bit more about this.
I am an absolute believer in living your best life, whatever that is. You don’t have to be wealthy to do the things you want in life. You only need desire and focus to accomplish your goals, whatever they are. Everyone is different. Everyone has a different “best life”.
So this year’s “goal” is just to live my best life and to “be a better person”. A vague statement, I know, but it leaves room for tweaking later. This might be a more difficult goal to achieve than anything on last year’s Fifty for Fifty list.
So… I have to agree that this years goal does sound a bit more daunting than the fifty for fifty thing. Good luck!!
Yes, a bit more daunting and far less measurable. Since I wrote this, I have changed the plan to try to be a more authentic person. I found a list! LOL
Hi Pam,
Glad you’re back at the keyboard! Great topic – passion…
Mine would be entertaining – getting to feel the energy of the audience, seeing how they react. Don’t get to do it as often as I’d like – but still.
“Living the best life” – I suppose the fact that you’re even asking the question or planning to make it happen is a giant step. Most people wouldn’t be that introspective and probably assume they already are. The fact that you’ve asked leaves you open the universe providing an answer.
Appreciate your comments on working in an adversarial job – glad that’s not me. I’d fail miserably I’m afraid. I’m in a problem solving job – but even more than that – I’m in a problem cause identification job. Must identify the correct cause before a problem can be solved.
Look forward to reading more!
LT
I really do need to get back to the keyboard again. Things have been so crazy this year that I don’t have much time to write and that is somewhat sad. I narrowed down the goal for this year to live an “authentic life” which is sort of the same but different. I think being true to yourself is very important. There are far too many people who drift through life doing what other people think they should do…