3 Steps to Finding Your Passion

What are you passionate about?

It’s one of life’s big questions. And the answer feels like something only the luckiest among us ever truly find.

The truth is that finding yours does not have to be a lifelong quest or require a life makeover. In fact, there’s a simple formula to not only find your passion but put it into action—even making you happier, healthier, and more resilient along the way.

Keep reading for an easy three-step guide to help you find and follow your passion:

1. Find Your Interests

The first step is to make a list of your interests. Start by thinking about what you do in your free time. What do you enjoy doing? What tends to capture your attention? These prompts will help you if you’re feeling stuck or if you aren’t sure where to begin:

• Think about the content you consume. What topics are you fascinated in? What sparks your curiosity? For example, maybe you devour film reviews or are a dedicated subscriber to an interior design magazine.

• Remember what kind of play you engaged in as a kid. Think about what captured your imagination as a child. What activities were you drawn to before you set limitations for yourself? Perhaps you loved arts and crafts or spent hours building with blocks.

• Where do you find your flow? The activities you lose yourself in are the ones you can find yourself in, too. When do you feel most “in the zone” and fully engaged with the task at hand? Maybe you could spend all day baking or feel most like yourself when you’re dancing.

2. Find Your Talents

The next step is to make a list of your talents. What are you naturally good at? (There may be some overlap with your first list, but your abilities are distinctly different from your interests—after all, liking something doesn’t make you good at it, and vice versa.)

Hint: Think about the traits and abilities that others value in you, but that you may take for granted because they come so easily to you. Don’t limit your list to traditional “hard skills” like typing speed, computer programming, or carpentry. Some examples of valuable “soft skills” include listening well, bringing people together, and creative thinking. Perhaps you’re the designated email editor in your office and the go-to person your friends come to for advice when they have a problem.

3. Find Your Sweet Spot

To put your passions into action, you need to find your sweet spot: the place where your interests and talents blend together. Take a look at both of your lists. How can you match your interests with your abilities to create a meaningful contribution in your community?

You don’t have to set out to change the world right away—meet yourself where you’re at. If fitness is your passion, for example, you don’t need to organize a charitable 5K right away. Instead, start by organizing a local running club in your neighborhood. Or maybe you love reading and writing and you’re good at working with kids. You could create an at-home book club for your kids and their friends, volunteer at the library, or even draft a story to submit to a children’s magazine. However you pursue your purpose, let your passion be the fire that fuels you.

Elior Moskowitz is the Content Coordinator at meQuilibrium. A frequent Cup of Calm contributor, she also writes for various major business journals and lifestyle publications. Elior holds a B.A. in Psychology and English, with special training in both positive psychology and mental health counseling.