Have you ever given up on trying to find your passion?
I have.
Once, I almost gave up on workyouenjoy.com and the hope of coaching others.
One night I decided I was going to throw in the towel.
I had my blog up for about a year at that point and no one had contacted me to ask about my coaching services.
So I decided I was going to quit and try something else.
I got on my computer and saw I had received an email.
This email was a heart breaking cry for help to get out of a work situation that was sucking the life out of the person.
They wanted to hire me as their coach!
What? I was just going to….
That’s where this all started and I knew at that moment I couldn’t’ quit.
Even if I only helped this one person, it was all worth it.
Since then I’ve had the privilege to serve many others and help them find their passion and do work they love.
Often we try so hard to find our passion and when we don’t find what we’re looking for we give up.
Yet we find ourselves in a worse situation because now we’re a little bitter.
Previously there was hope.
Now it’s resignation to the status quo.
But here’s the problem in all this.
We want a formula.
Do this, talk to this person, read this book, go to this conference.
However, whether it’s finding your passion or finding success in your passion, formulas don’t work.
So what should you do instead?
Sometimes the best thing we can do is stop trying so hard.
Henry Ford once said he didn’t want executives who had to work all the time.
He believed those who were always focused on activity were not the most productive.
He wanted people who would clear their desks, prop their feet up, and dream up new creative ideas.
He believed only those who had the luxury of time could come up with fresh new ways of thinking.
Can you imagine your boss coming to you and asking you to stop “working” and start just thinking.
When was the last time you just did nothing?
Turned off the TV, radio, podcasts, Twitter or Facebook, and the various other noise in your life?
What impact might that have on your ability to find your passion?
The next time you start to get frustrated that you haven’t found your passion yet try just taking a solitary walk around your block.
Get up earlier than everyone else and just process your thoughts, write or pray.
Take a different route to work, paint a picture, sit next to a stranger at the park and ask them about their life and their work.
Do something outside of your normal routine.
Use this uncertain time to enjoy other parts of your life you’ve been ignoring and enjoy the process of uncovering what you feel passionate about.
Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t received that email.
The person who sent me the email thought I was the one helping them but in reality they were the one who gave me the greater gift.
All I had to do was nothing.
Question: What else can you do if you want to give up on finding your passion?
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10 Responses to “How To Find Your Passion When You Want To Give Up”
Enjoyed the post. I understand about almost giving up on your dream. I started by website last year and did not get the response I anticipated so I gave it up for 5 months. I negated the momentum I was building. I was encouraged by a friend to not give up on my dream. So this year I started my blog again. I am building strong momentum and some other things are coming in place. It takes commitment, consistency and courage to stay in the fight.
I love that Bernard. The 3 C’s – commitment, consistency, and courage. You can achieve a lot of things with those three principles. I’m glad you’re still working toward your goals.
Hi Adam,
I’m glad you kept going. I’ve really enjoyed reading this article. I almost gave up my blog, and then I had someone do something similar. I’m still at it 3 years later and enjoying what I do.
My current dreams (I’ve already been successful in several of them.) are still ahead of me. I’m patiently writing and growing to achieve them. Thanks so much for sharing this article. Sally
Thanks Sally, I’m glad you didn’t give up on your blog either. That’s such a great way to approach life to believe that your best days are still ahead. I always believe that and it really makes life exciting. I love hearing about people achieving their dreams so thanks for sharing that with us.
I know what it feels to want to give up – and it seems like I always find just enough encouragement to keep me going at those times. Thanks for sharing this…very helpful.
It’s funny how that works Tom. The encouragement we need for the important things in life seems to arrive just when we need it. Thanks for your comment.
Great article, Adam. And an important point. David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, makes that point that the things we have on our mind all drain some of our psychic energy. Bouncing from task to task and worrying about everything left undone stop us from having any energy with which to be creative.
Andy Stanley did a sermon series recently on the importance of margin. Without margin, we’re one bad event away from failure. If we’ve already allocated all of our time, all of our energy, or all of our finances, there’s no wiggle room. As a result, our quality of life suffers. One of the best things we can do is to build margin back into our lives in every area.
Once we do that, we gain the ability to pause, reflect, and consider doing something truly new.
Thanks Dave, yes that is such a great point. When we have too many things we’re jugging it can sap us of our most creative abilities.
Margin is such a key component in our lives yet we often don’t make it a priority. I’ve found the second most difficult piece to creating margin is maintaining margin.
Someone always has a plan for your time if you’re not intentional about how you want to use your time.
Thanks for sharing part of your story, Adam. I’m really needing a second wind myself to continue to work towards my goals. Have a good weekend!
Yes, we all need a second wind from time to time Drew. Be sure to inhale so you can exhale. I hope you have a good weekend too!