How to Find Your Passion When You're Not Sure What You're Interested In

Hello Reader!

I know that two Mondays have come and went without any new post (are we really surprised?), so I am coming to you on this fine Tuesday evening, with a belated post.

Two weeks ago we talked about what to do when you lose your passion. Well this week, I'd like to talk to you about how to find your passion. Yes, that's right how to find it!

If you're anything like me, lots of things interest you, but you never follow through. And if you aren't like me, and you actually follow through, kudos to you, I am so proud of you (and honestly, a bit jealous).

How to Find Your Passion When You're Not Sure What You're Interested In

Step One

Brainstorm! Sounds simple enough, right? All you have to do is hop onto social media (literally any of them) and scroll around looking for inspiration...and you'll be flooded with it. There is no harm in checking out what other people are doing when you're looking for something to do or get involved with. Social media not your thing? That's totally fine! Just hop onto Google (or your preferred search engine) and type in a search that's similar to "[your city] + things to do". Yes, this will mostly bring up events or locations to go to, but that brings us to the next step...

Step Two

Narrow it down! If you already have an idea of what you're looking for, this shouldn't be too hard. If you don't and you found yourself on Google looking for things in your area, this is where narrowing it down really comes into play. Say you already know that you're interested in learning a new craft (scrapbooking, tumbler decorating, the sky's the limit), you can easily type something like "tumbler ideas" to help you narrow it down. If you found yourself looking at a long list of things to do in your area, review it for a generalized "bigger picture" until you find something a little more specific.

Step Three

Research, research, research! Now that you've kind of gotten an idea of something you want to try, or get involved in, research the heck out of it to make sure that it's something you're actually up for and truly believe that you'd be a good fit for. I'm part of a social club that people frequently mistake for Junior League because the name is somewhat similar. If you're serious about volunteering and bettering your community, Junior League might be the perfect fit for you! However, you wouldn't want to end up at a club meeting for an organization with a similar-ish name and waste your time, now would you? Just make sure that you thoroughly look into whatever activity it is that you're wanting to do. If you're wanting to cook, you make sure you typically make sure that you have all of the ingredients first before you just jump right on in, right?

Step Four

Try it out! Once you've narrowed down your activity and have done some serious research on it, it's time to actually try it! Once I finally decide to try something new, I try to start small. Meaning that I don't want to invest a ton of money into a new activity, because what if I don't like it? All of that money would've been wasted! Another way that I "start small" is to actually select a small project. You don't want to scare yourself away from something because you bit off more than you could chew in the beginning. For example, when I first started cross-stitching, I bought one kit. That's it, one kit that had everything I needed in it--a hoop, a pattern, the aida, the thread, and even the needle. I picked a design that I liked that I felt wasn't too complicated for a beginner, and now, about two years later, I'm designing my own patterns!

Step Five

Evaluate! After you finally try out your new activity, assess it to see if its something that you'd like to continue, after all, just because you completed it doesn't mean its something you want to stick with, and that's okay. You're going to want to ask yourself a few questions to see where you stand on your new activity, some questions that I typically ask myself are: (1) did I actually have fun with this, or was it more of a chore? (2) is this something that I can regularly incorporate into my life, time wise? Money wise? (3) was the outcome worth the effort? (4) am I happy at the end, or merely relieved that it's over? One thing that you don't want to ask yourself is "am I any good at this?" because, at this point, it's totally irrelevant. How are you going to judge your NEW skills based on one attempt? Try to focus on asking yourself unloaded, neutral questions that allow for a positive or negative answer. If the answers are majority positive, congratulations, you may have just found yourself a new hobby or pastime, and if you keep at it, it may turn into a passion! Proceed to step six. If the answers are majority negative, return to step one as this may not be the activity for you, and that is more than okay!

Step Six

Enjoy yourself, and keep at it! If you're concerned about getting better, remember the old adage "practice makes perfect" still stands. Keep working at it at the "beginner" level and work your way up. If it's volunteering that you're doing, keep volunteering for the smaller projects (or roles) before you feel ready to tackle the bigger ones.

It doesn't matter if you're looking into new crafting hobbies, or if you're wanting to get involved in your community, you should be able to apply these six steps to just about anything new that you'd like to try.

Until next time,