The 4-Way Test: How to Find Your Life's Passion
Learning for its own sake. What could be a better vocation?
Learning is in itself a fulfilling adventure, much like building your own house from foundation to finish. Brick by brick, tile by tile. But to uncover something that you truly love to do, something that excites you? Discovering new things on top of what you already know about it, that’s like building the Burj Khalifa. It’s a whole other level altogether.
For some, their Burj Khalifa is already a reality. It comes easy, something they’ve always known, even as children. But others have to search their entire lives for it - sometimes, in vain - and in the meantime, spend too many years in a dead-end pursuit. Living to earn, not earning to live.
Forget about mid-life crisis. Some of Australia’s Millennials are said to be suffering from quarter-life crisis! And the top trigger, according to a study, is anxiety over finding an occupation that stokes their passion, too.
No other generation before today’s Millennial set has felt this much pressure to succeed in their careers before reaching the age of 30. LinkedIn’s talent expert suggests upskilling, to train and gain transferable skills. And we agree.
But what skills? How do you find what makes your heart beat?
The serious purveyors of passion that we are, we have put together this 4-step exercise to set you off on your adventure.
What are you good at?
Think of the things you’re good at and put them down in a list. We don’t mean just any old skills: Focus on the things you actually like doing, that get you “in the zone”.
Even if you think you’re not the best at it or you’re worried that it’s not practical or maybe you were hoping for something a little more life-changing or earth-shaking, forget about all that. If doing this one thing gives you so much pleasure that time simply flies by and all else falls away, it goes on the list.
What have you always wanted to be?
Remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? Are you living the dream?
If life has somehow taken over your childhood plans, now’s the time to take out that old journal, vision board, or otherwise forgotten memory. Who knows, maybe you did know as a kid what you’re truly passionate about, your true vocation. Add it to the list!
Is there a thing about other people that vexes you?
Now, let’s look outwards. Do you feel bothered sometimes, when you see other people engaging in what you see as a trivial pursuit, and they seem to derive such pure joy out of it? Do you find yourself muttering “why don’t you grow up!”
Maybe this feeling of irritation is really masking something else… could there be a bit of jealousy or envy in disguise? Maybe, you secretly wish you were doing the exact same thing! Put it on there.
Meet your bucket list. But there’s one more filter.
What stirs up the fire in you?
On your list, is there something that:
- You would choose to do if you had all the money in the world?
- You would wake up early and stay up all night, indulge in it day after day, without ever getting bored?
- You can spend hours on end learning about, class after class, book after book, video after video?
- You will drop everything for, even if you don’t get paid to do it. Maybe, you won’t mind paying for it!
- You find so exciting, you can’t wait to tell anyone who would listen, probably even teach them how to do it, too.
Have you just found your life’s passion? Maybe, maybe not.
I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I JUST ATE. - Julia Child
Julia Child didn’t published her first cookbook until she was 49, about only 10 years after she decided to become a serious cook. Toni Morrison, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, finished her first novel at 39; and it took years before critics started paying attention to her writing. The first McDonald’s opened in 1955, when Ray Kroc was 52. Before that, he flirted with multiple careers until he landed a salesman job in the food equipment industry.
It’s never too late to go out and experience life. And that’s the beauty of it all, isn’t it? it’s the journey, not the destination, as they say.
Nor is it too soon, if you’re a millennial looking for meaning in your life. The struggle is real, but nobody said it couldn’t be fun.
Have you already found your life’s passion and can’t wait to share your knowledge with the world?
WeTeachMe is holding a Zoom webinar on Thursday, 22nd August 2019, 11:00-11:40 AM. Discover some of the best practices and strategies that have helped our best-performing vendors succeed.