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Ask HN: How do you figure out what you're passionate about?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you figure out what you're passionate about?

#21

Post by alquinsmiles »

You could find a job coach or head hunter and they might be able to ask you helpful questions to guide your search. A job can give you meaning but not necessarily happiness. A job can give you joy/fun but not necessarily meaning. It might help to distinguish what you want. A journal might help your thinking and soul searching.

You could walk. If you have a lot of money and time, you could do some or all of the Camino de Santiago. Or you could do daily walks around your neighborhood. Movement helps the brain/spirit do their thing.

Good luck!:-)

Re: Ask HN: How do you figure out what you're passionate about?

#22

Post by dhruvkar »

this might not be the answer you're looking for, but passion isn't in the "thing". it's a state.

when I'm in it, everything's a joy. dishes, kids, day job, night job, whatever.

sure I gravitate toward certain things, but (ideally) they're an expression of my state, not a way to fill a void (temporary at best, misleading at worst).

when I'm not, finding passion in anything is a candle in a storm.

even if I get it lit it flickers out, and I think: wrong candle. need to find a better one.

from your post, you're seem to be in the second bucket. which means hobbies aren't the fix -- you'll just keep hunting candles.

got nothing but love for you, man. tough place to be.

i'm almost 40 and have felt versions of this cyclically through the years. only now seeing breakthroughs.

Re: Ask HN: How do you figure out what you're passionate about?

#24

Post by jlengrand »

Something that helped me in the past, at a period where I was lost; is to take a notebook and write every night what part of the day actually gave you energy. Can be a sub-part of work, or something outside of work, whatever.

What helped me is that there is usually a difference between what you are naturally good at, which is what you will tend to gravitate towards because you get results, vs what actually gives you energy. Over time, you can see trend and find a sport where both are true at the same time.

Oh, and also internalize that fact that those things may change over time as you grow as a person :)

-> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai

Re: Ask HN: How do you figure out what you're passionate about?

#25

Post by 0xCE0 »

Maybe thinking in terms of your "obsession(s)" will lead to more clear and long-term answer. Obsession is something you love and hate at the same time, but still continue with it and in the end don't want to quit. Obsession also protects more strongly from loss of motivation and loss of "passion", because it tend to return you back to it again and again. It's like true love, which survives all the hardships.
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