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Ask HN: How did you find your passion?

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21–30 of 89 posts

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your passion?

#21
I had a family and developed hobbies with some depth to them.

Work is fine, I'm grateful for what I do as it puts me in a better position than the vast majority of people on this planet. I enjoy solving engineering problems, so I truly enjoy a portion of what I do Mon-Fri.

It's not my passion, and I'm fine with that. There was a time in my twenties when it was, but now I invest myself in other things.

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your passion?

#22

Career wise? I haven't yet. I've found a company I'm really excited about and have applied though but just playing the waiting game. Outside of career? Reading. Reading a lot. I read a ton of hard science fiction and SHTF type stuff as well as books like The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner by Daniel Ellsberg (just started it this morning, been sitting on my kindle for months) and Powering the F…

I'm same as you, but I'm actually getting tired of it. Everytime I encounter a problem, I start compulsively thinking in this direction, scaling it during the process, eventually getting frustrated about my inability to implement necessary changes.

I feel you. Food production is a big one with me right now and I've been drastically reducing the animal products in my diet and switching to less processed foods (black beans have become my staple).

I find writing can help manage it a bit, in fact I just finished a piece on food production and indoor farming https://www.ryanmercer.com/ryansthoughts/2018/7/8/tackling-t...

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your passion?

#25
post #17

All my passions are either commercially not useful or things I am not talented enough to be in front. Example: martial arts and boxing. I really loved it but I am naturally very nonathletic so I was never be able to hang with the top people which is frustrating considering the effort I put into it. Same with hiking and photography. I like doing it but somehow I lack the artistic ability to stand out. I have passion f…

I agree. It's the spot in a Venn diagram that separates happy people from those who are just surviving.

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your passion?

#26
post #17

All my passions are either commercially not useful or things I am not talented enough to be in front. Example: martial arts and boxing. I really loved it but I am naturally very nonathletic so I was never be able to hang with the top people which is frustrating considering the effort I put into it. Same with hiking and photography. I like doing it but somehow I lack the artistic ability to stand out. I have passion f…

This hits home, but most of the time I think this is an excuse we tell ourselves when we didn't try hard enough.

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your passion?

#27
I discovered Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in college and have trained 5+ times a week (barring sickness and injury) since then.

I am not very good, but it is definitely my greatest passion. I took a PE class on a whim after a professor talked about it and it has defined my life ever since.

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your passion?

#28
post #3

There are lots of self help resources on the topic (ex. https://youtube.com/watch?v=6pgaJb2Wwhs ), but IMO a passion is when you enjoy the process of something rather than looking forward to an outcome. Your life probably already demonstrates your passions. What do you actually do in your free time (not what you wish you were doing)? Go to the bar? Play video games? Go to the beach? Those are your passions right now.…

Simple advice but I needed to be reminded of that finding your passion partially means that you need to try everything.

Okay, maybe not everything, but it sure sounds fun! :)

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your passion?

#30
There's also a slight chance you might find similar answers from asking this specific question in HN.

Imagine asking this question in a literature conference, juggling competition, cup-stacking competitions, etc.

Various age groups, hobbies, interests will show that people find passion in different ways. However, it'd be intriguing to see the similarities between the "how" and "why" of people discovering their passion.

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