What’s your passion?
What do you want to do with your life?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to help you find your passion.
What Does It Mean to Find Your Passion?
Finding your passion means discovering activities, subjects, or causes that deeply engage you, energize you, and provide a sense of fulfillment.
Your passion is something that you would happily pursue even without external rewards because the activity itself brings you joy and satisfaction. (Fun fact: Psychologists would refer to this as something that’s “intrinsically motivating.”)
Contrary to popular belief, passion isn’t always something that strikes like lightning. For many people, passion develops gradually through exploration, practice, and personal growth. It’s the intersection of what you’re good at, what you enjoy, and what the world needs.
Why Finding Your Passion Matters
Finding your passion can be crucial for living a fulfilling, happy life. Here’s why:
- Enhanced well-being: Studies consistently show that people who engage in activities they’re passionate about experience greater happiness and lower stress levels.
- Increased motivation: When you’re passionate about something, you’re naturally more motivated to put in the effort required to excel.
- Greater resilience: Passion provides the fuel to persevere through challenges and setbacks.
- Improved performance: People tend to perform better at tasks they genuinely care about.
- Sense of purpose: Passion often connects to a larger sense of meaning and contribution.
Looking for more tips on refining your sense of purpose and transforming your life? Check out our article: 25 Personal Growth Tips to Transform Yourself and Life.
Now, let’s explore 15 practical strategies to help you discover your own passion.
How to Find Your Passion in Life: 15 Strategies
Revisit Childhood Interests
Remember what captivated you as a child, before adult concerns like money and practicality influenced your choices? Those early interests might contain clues to your authentic passions.
J.K. Rowling was writing stories at age six. Warren Buffett was fascinated by numbers and started investing at eleven. These childhood interests blossomed into world-changing careers.
What did you love doing before the world told you what you “should” do?
- Make a timeline of activities you loved at different ages
- Ask family members what you spent hours doing
- Look through old photos or journals for forgotten interests
- Consider how childhood passions might translate to adult careers
If you loved building forts, perhaps architecture or construction might appeal to you. If you collected rocks, geology or environmental science might be worth exploring.
You might consider actually re-visiting some of these childhood activities even if they are a bit silly. If you loved painting, go grab a paint set. If you loved puzzles, grab an adult one. If you loved making home movies, make one for a friend.
You might rediscover a hidden passion.
Action Step: Create a childhood passion board with photos, memories, and stories of activities that captivated you as a child. For each one, brainstorm three modern adult expressions of that same interest.
Bet on Tiny Wins
Rather than pressuring yourself to discover one grand passion, make small bets—quick experiments with different activities to see what resonates.
Think of passion discovery as a series of low-risk experiments. Want to explore photography? Take a weekend workshop before investing in expensive equipment. Curious about cooking? Try a month-long challenge focusing on a specific cuisine.
These small bets allow you to gather real-world data about yourself without requiring massive commitments upfront. You’ll quickly learn whether an interest has passion potential based on how energized you feel during and after engaging with it.
Here are 10 quick, low-risk experiments to help you uncover what lights you up:
- Join a local meetup or club: Find a group on Meetup.com for an interest like hiking, book clubs, or board games. Attend one session to test if the activity or the community vibe sparks joy.
- Try a 7-day creative challenge: Pick something artsy, like sketching, journaling, or playing an instrument. Commit to 10 minutes daily for a week and notice if you look forward to it or feel energized afterward.
- Volunteer for a cause: Spend a few hours with a local nonprofit, like an animal shelter or community garden. See if giving back in that area feels meaningful or fuels your curiosity.
- Cook a new recipe weekly: Explore a cuisine you’ve never tried, like Thai or Ethiopian. Pick one recipe a week for a month and gauge whether experimenting in the kitchen excites you.
- Start a micro-side hustle: Test an entrepreneurial idea, like selling handmade crafts on Etsy or offering a skill like tutoring for a few hours. Track how it feels to create and share your work.
- Shadow a professional: Reach out to someone in a field you’re curious about, like marketing or woodworking, and ask to observe their work for a morning. Notice if their day-to-day inspires you.
- Try a fitness experiment: Sign up for a trial class in yoga, rock climbing, or dance. See if the physical challenge or group energy makes you want to come back for more.
- Curate a learning playlist: Spend an hour watching YouTube tutorials or TED Talks on a topic like astronomy or public speaking. If you’re hungry for more, it’s a sign of passion potential.
Pro Tip: Create a budget for passion experimentation: set aside a small amount of money each month specifically for trying new activities.
Hunt for Joy Sparks
Marie Kondo popularized the idea of sparking joy when deciding what items to keep in your home, and this same concept can be powerfully applied to finding your passion.
In my Find Your Calling Webinar, I suggest tracking what sparks joy—those random moments of “yes, this!”
For one week, carry a small notebook or use a notes app on your phone. Record any activities where you lose track of time and feel completely engaged. Pay attention to your energy levels—which activities energize you rather than drain you?
These joy sparks might seem small or insignificant, but collectively, they create a pattern that can point toward your passion. The key is being mindful enough to recognize them as they happen.
Pro Tip: Set a daily alarm on your phone labeled “Joy Check” to prompt yourself to pause and identify what’s bringing you joy in that moment.
Does the idea of becoming a social butterfly spark joy? Then consider signing up for our life-changing people skills program:
Master Your People Skills
- Create a Memorable Presence
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Have a question about the presentation or People School? Email Science of People support.
Play the “What’s Your Calling?” Game
I want to highlight one of Chris Guillebeau’s tips from his book “Born For This.” Chris advises people to be a master problem solver and look for the specific problems that people come to us for. Is there a problem or topic people constantly ask you about?
Let’s identify specific skills you have that you can use to find out what you are called to do.
We are going to play a game I created based on Chris’s book called: “What’s your calling?” Ready? Let’s get started!
In the grid below (feel free to download and print it) I have a list of skills. I have put them into a Skill Bingo Chart.
- Print out this chart (or copy it onto a piece of paper).
- Give each skill a rating 1, 2 or 3. Give it a 1 if it feels a lot like you, give it a 2 if it only sometimes feels like you and give it a 3 if it doesn’t feel like you at all.
- In the last column, add three skills or activities you do on a daily basis and give them ratings as well.
- Now, circle all the 1’s. These are all of the skills that you feel sound like you. These are your top capabilities.
As Chris Guillebeau writes in Born for This:
“Everyone’s an expert at something, and often the ‘something’ comes as a surprise.”
Action Step: Think of one thing you can do every day that makes you feel capable. Make sure that you are exercising at least one of your “1 rated” capabilities from the chart above.
Lean Into What Sticks
I call this the “go-to effect.” We all have things that people naturally come to us for—these requests often highlight gifts and talents we take for granted.
What do friends, family, or colleagues regularly ask for your help with? Is it planning trips, fixing technology, giving relationship advice, or editing their writing? These patterns reveal your natural abilities that others recognize, even if you don’t see them as special.
Next time someone comes to you for help, try asking them, “Why did you choose me for this?” Their answer might surprise you and reveal skills you’ve been overlooking.
Pro Tip: Create a “request log” where you track every time someone asks for your help over a two-week period. Note who asked, what they needed, and why they came to you specifically.
Follow the Curiosity Trail
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray, Love,” makes an important distinction between passion and curiosity. While passion can feel intimidating—something you must already know and commit to—curiosity is gentler and more accessible.
Curiosity simply asks, “I wonder what would happen if…” or “I’d like to know more about…”
Pay attention to what naturally captures your interest. What articles do you read all the way to the end? What topics make you stop scrolling on social media? What conversations do you eagerly jump into? These are all breadcrumbs on your curiosity trail.
Action Step: Keep a “curiosity journal” for two weeks. Each day, write down at least one thing you were genuinely curious about.
Create a Personal Mind Map
Sometimes visualizing your interests can reveal connections you might miss when just thinking about them. Mind mapping is a powerful tool for seeing how different aspects of your life and interests might combine into unique passion pathways.
Grab a large blank paper and some colored pens. Write your name in the center and draw a circle around it. Then create branches extending outward with key life areas: Work, Hobbies, Learning, Relationships, Values, etc.
For each branch, add specific activities, topics, and interests. Once you’ve populated your branches, look for interesting connections across different areas. Could your love of hiking, photography, and helping others combine into leading nature photography workshops for underprivileged youth?
The most fulfilling passions often emerge at the intersection of multiple interests and values, creating something unique to you.
Pro Tip: Use different colors for things that: 1) You’re good at, 2) You enjoy, 3) Others value in you, and 4) The world needs. Areas where multiple colors overlap reveal potential sweet spots.
Identify Your Values
Our deepest passions almost always align with our core values. Understanding what truly matters to you can narrow down potential passion areas and ensure that whatever path you choose will feel meaningful.
To clarify your values, try this exercise:
- Think about times when you felt most fulfilled and aligned. What values were being honored in those moments?
- Consider times you felt frustrated or resentful—often these negative feelings arise when our values are being violated.
- From our comprehensive list of 300+ core values, select your top five values.
- For each value, write down three ways your current activities honor that value and one new way you could express it more fully.
For instance, if one of your core values is autonomy, you might feel passionate about entrepreneurship, freelancing, or roles with significant independence. If you value mastery, you might find passion in pursuits that allow for continuous skill development.
Action Step: Create a values-to-activities map connecting each of your top values to potential passion areas that would honor them.
Analyze Your Energy
Energy never lies. Pay attention to what energizes you versus what depletes you—this awareness can be your most reliable guide to potential passions.
For one week, track your energy levels throughout the day. After each activity, briefly note whether you feel more energized or more drained.
Look for the activities that give you that “I could do this all day” feeling, where effort feels worthwhile rather than depleting. These energy-giving activities often point toward your genuine passions.
Pro Tip: Rate activities from -5 (completely depleting) to +5 (highly energizing). Review weekly to identify patterns.
Solve Problems That Matter to You
As Chris Guillebeau points out in “Born for This”, passion often emerges when we address problems we personally care about. What problems do you repeatedly notice or feel motivated to solve?
Perhaps you’re frustrated by the lack of healthy food options in your community, bothered by how challenging technology is for older adults, or concerned about environmental sustainability. These frustrations can be signposts pointing toward your passions.
Consider your own experiences. Have you overcome challenges that you could help others navigate? If you successfully changed careers mid-life, you might be passionate about helping others make similar transitions.
The most sustainable passions often combine personal meaning with service to others.
Action Step: Make a list of ten problems you’ve personally experienced or observed that bother you enough to want to solve them. Rate each problem on how emotionally invested you feel in solving it.
Take a Structured Passion Assessment
What if finding your passion was as simple as taking a “how to find your passion test”? Well, it turns out it might be.
Sometimes external frameworks can help us see patterns we might miss on our own. Several well-researched assessments can provide structured guidance for identifying potential passion areas.
The Ikigai framework, for example, explores the intersection of:
- What you love
- What you’re good at
- What the world needs
- What you can be paid for
By examining where these four areas overlap, you can identify potential passion paths that are also sustainable.
Other valuable assessments include:
- The Sparketype Assessment: Identifies your primary “sparketype” or innate impulse toward specific forms of work
- CliftonStrengths (formerly known as StrengthsFinder): Focuses on your natural talents, which often correlate with potential passion areas
- The Passion Test: Helps clarify your top five passions and create markers for living in alignment with them
Pro Tip: After taking an assessment, test your results in real life with small experiments.
Conduct Informational Interviews
One of the best ways to explore potential passion areas is by talking to people who are already working in fields that interest you. These conversations provide realistic insights beyond what you might find online.
Identify 3-5 people working in areas you’re curious about and request a brief conversation (LinkedIn is a great place to look for this). Most people are flattered to be asked about their work and willing to share their experience.
Prepare thoughtful questions:
- What does their daily work actually involve?
- What parts do they find most and least enjoyable?
- What path led them to this field?
- What advice would they give to newcomers?
Listen carefully for aspects of their work that excite you or make you think “I could see myself doing that!” Also notice which parts make you think “that sounds terrible”—these negative reactions are equally valuable for narrowing your focus.
Action Step: This week, identify one person working in a field you’re curious about and request a 20-minute conversation about their work.
Create a Personal Board of Directors
We often can’t see ourselves clearly, but others frequently recognize our gifts and passions before we do.
Select 3-5 people who know you well in different contexts—perhaps a colleague, a friend, a family member, and a mentor. Explain that you’re exploring potential passion areas and would value their insights.
Ask them specific questions:
- When have they seen you most engaged or “in the zone”?
- What strengths do they consistently observe in you?
- What do they come to you for help with?
- What could they see you doing professionally that you might not have considered?
Pro Tip: Ask for specific examples rather than general impressions to get more actionable insights.
Seek Flow Experiences
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described “flow” as a state where you’re so absorbed in an activity that you lose track of time. These flow states often indicate potential passion areas.
Think about times when hours passed like minutes because you were so engrossed in what you were doing. Perhaps you were coding, gardening, writing, playing music, or solving complex problems. These experiences of total immersion provide valuable clues about activities that naturally engage your full attention.
Flow typically occurs when you’re engaged in an activity that challenges you at the edge of your abilities—not so difficult that you become frustrated, but not so easy that you get bored. This optimal challenge level creates a sense of growth and accomplishment that can fuel passion.
Action Step: Create conditions for flow by eliminating distractions during activities you suspect might be passion candidates. Set aside uninterrupted time to fully immerse yourself.
Experiment With Teaching
One powerful way to test whether something is truly a passion is to try teaching it to others. The act of teaching often reveals how deeply we care about a subject and how much joy we take in sharing it.
Choose a skill or topic you enjoy and find a small way to teach it to someone else. This could be as simple as:
- Showing a friend how to cook your favorite dish
- Creating a social media post explaining a concept you find interesting
- Offering to mentor a colleague in a skill you’ve mastered
Pay attention to how you feel during the process. Do you find yourself getting excited as you prepare to teach? Do you feel energized rather than drained after sharing your knowledge? Do you keep thinking of more things you want to share about the topic?
Teaching also helps us deepen our own understanding and engagement with a subject, potentially transforming a casual interest into something more meaningful.
Pro Tip: Start a “teach to learn” journal where you document topics you’ve explained to others and your emotional response to teaching them.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About How to Find Out Your Passion
True passion consistently energizes you, even when facing challenges. You think about it voluntarily, would do it even without pay, and experience flow while engaged in it. Passions align with your values and feel meaningful, though they aren’t always accompanied by constant excitement. Even when difficulties arise, your fundamental interest remains strong.
Start by addressing basic wellbeing through sleep, movement, and connection. Focus on curiosity rather than passion—follow small interests without pressure. Try new activities regularly, revisit childhood enjoyments, and notice what you learn about voluntarily. Many people discover passion gradually rather than experiencing an immediate “lightning bolt” of inspiration.
Finding your passion is typically a gradual process that unfolds over months or years. Some identify their passion in childhood, while others discover new passions later in life. The timeline varies based on self-awareness, willingness to experiment, and life circumstances. Instead of focusing on a deadline, commit to ongoing exploration and reflection.
Yes, passions naturally evolve as you gain experiences, develop skills, and enter new life stages. Some people have sequential passions, focusing deeply on one area before moving to another, while others maintain core interests that express themselves differently over time. These changes reflect your growth as a person rather than suggesting earlier passions weren’t “real.”
Not necessarily. While aligning work with passion can create fulfillment, many find satisfaction in careers that enable their passions rather than embodying them directly. Consider various models: a job directly involving your passion, one using transferable skills from your passion, or one providing resources to pursue passions outside work. The key is finding an arrangement supporting your overall wellbeing.
Interests are subjects you enjoy engaging with, while passions involve deeper commitment, emotional investment, and intrinsic motivation. Interests might hold your attention temporarily, while passions sustain engagement through challenges and connect to your sense of purpose. Interests can develop into passions with deeper exploration, making them valuable stepping stones in passion discovery.
Start with low-commitment sampling through workshops, short volunteer projects, or borrowing equipment. Try the “month challenge” technique by dedicating 30 days to exploring one area. Follow the “learn, do, teach” progression with new topics. Create an exploration budget for trying new activities, and always reflect on what aspects you enjoyed and whether you want to go deeper.
Effective exercises include analyzing “peak experiences” to identify common elements, mapping core values to potential activities, conducting an “energy audit” of your week, imagining different appealing life paths to extract common themes, and identifying unique combinations of your existing skills that could create distinctive passion areas where you have a competitive advantage.
Finding Your Passion: The Journey Forward
Finding your passion is an ongoing journey of self-discovery. By combining strategies from this guide—tracking joy sparks, playing the “What’s Your Calling?” game, making small bets, and seeking flow experiences—you can uncover what truly fulfills you.
Remember Chris Guillebeau’s wisdom:
“Everyone’s an expert at something, and often the ‘something’ comes as a surprise.”
Start with just one strategy from this guide this week. Each step builds momentum and clarity, bringing you closer to discovering what you’re truly born to do.
For more guidance on living authentically, explore our article on Authentic Self: 22 Ways to Live Genuinely & Be Real.