Ask HN: How did you find your passion?

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.

If you want different passions, try different things for an hour a day for a week or two. Try hiking, photography, reading, writing, etc. If you enjoy the act itself and such with it, it's a passion of yours.

IMO, there is no shortcut, you have to try different things until they click.

Learning to build discipline will keep you moving forward until you find interesting opportunities in most any problem.

The world isn't responsible to entertain, fulfill or inspire us. We have to learn to see that for ourselves, until we do, we have to put in the work until we uncover things about ourselves we like doing. Try new things regularly to cultivate a truly open mind. Passion can't exist where logic alone is.

Passion doesn't matter as much as you think. If you can through saying yes to solving problems uncover a universal passion (learning, helping others, making tech work for people) you will find it can be applied anywhere.

This helps to separate the industry from the improvement and making a difference. Sometimes we have the same lessons to learn no matter the path we pick. Choice can be an illusion when we are still learning to become well rounded and would probably learn the same skills from a few equally positioned opportunities.

If that doesn't make sense, for me the idea/area doesn't have to be as sexy as much as building the entire system around it, and effecting change with it.

I have worked in some dry industries, but I had plenty to learn independent of industry which was thanks to good people. I picked up a lot of transferable skills that I applied when those opportunities that I felt passion for came up.

PG is right, solve problems, build stuff that people want. Make tech work for people, not just the digitally inclined.

You don't find/choose your passions. Your passions choose you. As early as 6 and as late as 13 - as far as I know. If you ask such a question, you don't have any passion in particular and my suggestion is "you might want to keep going the career/job route". A passion is a calling, you don't "find" callings.

After the world fell apart around me.

Little dramatic, but here’s my shitty life story as fast as possible. My girlfriend of just a few days shy of 6 years left me, day before my birthday. For another graphic designer that was mildly...successful? Whatever, I failed as a designer. We just moved to the west coast. Zero family or friends. I couldn’t find a job. Was a truck driver for a while. Quit that. Lost my apartment. Luckily I made friends with a guy that let me crash at his place a month prior to eviction. Broke, shit work, student debt, freshly single, no real home, no old friends, family broke ties with me a while back for other reasons I won’t get into, thus I literally watched buses go and tried to find the best road where they maintained high speed with easy access for me to walk into.

My literally only friend now got some IPAs and I drank myself silly. The next day, hung the fuck over and sitting outside, I realized I didn’t want to even attempt a better “old life”, which is the default setting to getting your life together.

Round about way to saying “freedom” is my passion. Started some businesses with that buddy. Taught myself to program in 2 weeks (yes, I’m that asshole programmer you all hate, but I’m far better now than those days). Taught myself sales skills and worked commission only at Frys to build up those skills. Got contracts and never had an employer since. I walk away from anything I want to with zero fucks to give. Each of my contracts have a clause I sneak in that I can drop the project whenever I want with no repercussions. No lawyer has ever caught it in the past 6 years. I do what I want without a single concern for permission or qualifications. Especially since a majority of college edu lawyers are that retarded. I learn different programming skills and do them. We wanted to setup a retail shop that competes with a local law enforcement supply store, we did that. Worked on wind farms. Did a few power plant jobs for various things. Worked security surveillance contracts. I’ve been asked by a police chief to run some classes he holds for the state. Did one so far, it was fun. I write as well and get paid for most of it. 3D modeling for fun, sell that too. I’m finding a muscle car beater I can project repair and learn some mechanic skills. Wood working on the weekends. No permission. No asking. Just do what I want, nearly exactly to when I want (within reason obviously).

Or I could have been a graphic designer. Just the one thing.

I think the one passion thing is horseshit mostly. That's why people feel "lost", like I did. Diversify, just like in everything else. Like all the things and have fun. Even the high class mathematicians and physicists of history have multiple and many passions. They're normally considered "hyper focused" by pop culture idiots. Read a book on them. They weren't. Every single one was ADHD as fuck.

Just do shit and ride that wave. Farther from "normal", the better. Random cool things are bound to happen. Just roll with them. I always loved surfer mentality.

Figured doing this on my phone would force me to keep it short... fail. Excuse errors.