Should You Pursue "Your Passion" Or What You're Good At?
Episode 4 of the Summer Series takes us back to June 2017 and my interview with Rachel and Kristin of Clarity on Fire. If you ever look around at work and wonder why everyone looks happy but you, or if you’ve felt pressure to turn your passion into a profitable business - you need to hear what these ladies have to say.
Rachel and Kristin are life coaches who created a Passion Profile Quiz that has been taken over 300,000 times! This is clearly a topic that a lot of us feel confusion around.
We know we want to be happy, we know we need to work and we’ve been told over and over again that we should have a passion. But what if we don’t know what our passion is, or what if we confuse what we’re good at with being our passion?
It’s time to get out of this confusion and move forward with clarity.
In this episode you’ll hear the 3 steps to find your passion - and how to use this information to create a life and career you love.
The Pressure Placed On Our Passions
The ultimate answer to all of your problems. THE thing that will change everything in an instant. The way some people write and teach about finding your passion, it gets touted as the cure all that you’ve been waiting for.
You need to hear this: finding your passion will not solve everything.
In fact, it doesn’t have to be a big deal.
Doesn’t that sound like a relief? With so much pressure placed on one decision as a fix all - your decisions are forced and out of flow. Instead, lets look at insightful ways to find your passion AND how to actually create positive change in your life (instead of more pressure!)
3 Steps To Find Your Passion
1 - Understand that is is NOT an individual thing, prepackaged career job title or achievement
When you think of your passion a static thing to acquire, it limits the possibilities and your ability to grow and change as we all do.
Think of it this way…
If you decide your passion is to become a lawyer, and then put in years of study, student loan debt and hours and hours of work to finally become one. What happens if you ever decide to switch careers?
Does it mean you don’t have a passion anymore? Absolutely not.
Swap out thinking of your passion as a thing, and instead know that it is a set of desires, values, and what fascinates and lights you up inside.
These values can be present in a multitude of careers and life experiences. No matter what you do or where you work, you can return to your values.
2 - What you’re good at doesn’t equal your passion
You may have received praise and good grades for a certain subject in school. Or maybe there are skills in your life that you’re naturally good at.
Great, but that doesn’t always mean they are your passion. It’s possible those natural skills could be your passion, but it’s not a prerequisite.
The sweet spot to aim for is the overlap of interest and what you’re great at. This is where you can show up to work everyday feeling in alignment and happiness.
If you’re not a natural at what you’re interested in, don’t fear. You can always take trainings and educate yourself.
3 - Not everyone is meant to work in the same way or combine work & passion in the exact way
We too often look outside of ourselves and think we just should be happy because others around us are too.
The flaw in this way of thinking is that we are all unique - and our ideal work environments will be too!
Rachel and Kristen’s Passion Profile suggests you get clear on your beliefs around time, money and passion.
Some women take comfort and find relief in the steadiness and predictability of a 9-5 job, while others need an array of hours and work scenarios to feel fulfilled. Neither woman is right or wrong, they merely have differing values around time.
The same holds true for money. I might need a steady paycheck direct in my bank account every two weeks - where you might feel completely stifled and held back if you were able to directly influence and determine the exact amount of money you could make week to week.
When it comes to passion, there is also different beliefs that everyone has. Popular opinion may have in the past judged someone for not turning their passion into profit. However, we now see that this can be an incredibly respectful way that some protect and cherish their passions. By not putting financial pressure on them, as Liz Gilbert wrote in Big Magic.
It’s about HOW you want to be working
If you’re unhappy at your current job, it’s not what you’re doing, but how you’re doing it. You could be in a job that seemingly checks off all of the boxes, but if it goes against your values around time, money or passion, it will feel out of alignment.
When we feel out of alignment, it will only increases until we do something about it. You’re not broken, you just might be in the wrong job. When you get clear on your values you can find the right setting and system that will give you all that you dream of in your career.
We’re all meant to show up and work in different ways.
There’s no cookie cutter “right” career for anyone. Remember, your jobs can change but as long as they are aligned with your values you’ll find the peace within that we all crave.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode, two years after the original air date. Head over to The Courage & Clarity Community and share your favorite takeaway from this conversation!