Someone asked me recently how I stay motivated to pursue what I am passionate about. Answering that question required me to already know what I am passionate about. So I thought it might be helpful for me to share with you some ways that I've uncovered and identified passions of mine (other than gut instinct, which is a huge part of it). These are six of many exercises you can try. I recommend writing down your answers (without censoring yourself!): 1) What thrills you?
2) Peak Experiences: Think of three peak experiences in your life. What made them stand out? What were you doing at the time? Who was there? What distinguished them from other similar experiences?
3) Childhood dream: What's one dream you had as a kid that got swept under the rug as an adult?
4) Leisure time: What do you do for fun? What makes you happy?
5) Future Self: Picture your ideal self five years from now (thing big - don't limit yourself to what you think is possible). What have you accomplished? What are you doing? Where are you living?
6) Unlimited Resources: The classic question - if you had unlimited time and money, what would you be doing? Put another way, if you won the lottery and didn't have to work another day in your life, what would you do? Where would you live? How would you spend your time?
How do you identify what you're passionate about?