Written by: Kris de Jong, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Still, searching for your “passion” in life? I’m sure you’ve often heard or read about how you should be looking for your one, true passion, and how you’ll be fulfilled and happy once you do.
Self-help gurus and social influencers love to tell you about how they’re living their best life because they’ve found their passion. Good for them, but what if you can’t seem to find yours? Maybe you’ve been searching for this elusive diamond of passion for years with no luck. “If only I could find my passion”, I could work in my dream job, or make a ton of money, or have everything fall into place.
You don’t need to “find your passion”
The truth is, you don’t need a “passion” to live a full and rewarding life. If you do have a passion, good for you! If you don’t, there’s no need to panic – think purpose and intention instead. Your passion may appear later as you live with purpose and have intention, or it may not. It doesn’t matter – the main thing is you’re doing what you enjoy and getting satisfaction from it.
Purpose is the reason for doing what you do, and intention is the action you take to move toward what you really want in your life.
Find your purpose
Purpose is more powerful than passion, as it resides within your soul. Passion is developed and takes practice. Purpose amplifies passion.
Having a sense of purpose helps to align your actions and behaviors with a core aspiration, or “lodestar” if you will.
Your sense of purpose comes from striving to be the best version of who you are and living according to your core values.
Core values are the tenets you tend to live by and don’t usually compromise. Examples can be things such as freedom, integrity, love, family, money, kindness, justice, success, respect. Everyone’s set of values are different, so I encourage you to take some time to think about what values are most important to you. Try to pare them down to 5 or 6, so you can remember them when you need to make a big decision, respond to a significant event, or plan for the future.
Aligning your work and your life as closely as possible with your core values helps you to create a sense of purpose.
A powerful exercise you can try is to think about and write down an overarching purpose, or personal mission statement. Here are some examples to get you thinking:
“To have as many wonderful experiences in my life as possible”
“For my business to make a real and positive difference to people’s lives”
“To inspire young people to reach their goals”
“To create innovative tech solutions to combat climate change”
“To provide and care for my family as best I can”
Your purpose will be your own, based on who you are and what you want to be doing in your life.
Build your intention
Intention involves living a deliberate life and doing things that align with your purpose. It means taking specific actions that move you toward your goals.
This involves using your natural talents.
Try writing down what you’re objectively good at. These could be the skills others have told you you’re great at, or have even won awards for. Then write down the things you enjoy doing, both in and outside of work. Now try to find some intersectional points or commonalities. This is the “sweet spot” where fulfillment lives.
Living and working in your genius zone gives you a deep sense of satisfaction and meaning.
Live your dream
It’s always a good idea to think about what you want in the bigger picture before worrying about the shorter-term stuff.
With this in mind, create a vision or lifestyle goal you want to achieve within the next 3, 5, 10 years, or whatever timeframe suits you. Write down what you want in your life, how you want to be feeling, what lifestyle you want, even what material things you desire. This is the start of your sense of clarity and direction – the start of your intention.
Now make a plan to reach your goals. This may consist of creating shorter-term goals and strategies that will move you inexorably toward your big picture lifestyle goal. Embed good habits and routines, and stay true to your values along the way. Most of all, enjoy the journey!
Passion is great, but don’t try to seek it out at the expense of intentional purpose.
Kris de Jong, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Kris de Jong is an experienced and certified Executive Life Coach living in Auckland, New Zealand. He studied at the University of Waikato, completing a BSc in Biology and Psychology, and was later certified in Cognitive Behavioural Coaching and Professional Life Coaching. He's also a Certified Practitioner of the Global Leadership Assessment 360 (GLA360). Recently he's become a co-founding ambassador for Prox.io, a global virtual knowledge exchange platform.
Kris has managed large and diverse teams over the years while building his coaching and mentoring skills. His experience in HR, recruitment, performance, and people management allows him to optimize employee coaching for organizations looking to improve workplace wellbeing.
He's written over 100 articles, published in national news outlets, and featured on national radio.
After achieving financial freedom at 40, Kris started Eclipse Life Coaching and is passionate about coaching and helping people to get what they want in life.
