Discovering Your Passion Takes Time & Experience!
Todd Kestin (LCSW, Life Skills Mentor), posted recently in the Huntington Post – The Passion Myth: Why Teens Struggle to Find Their Purpose in Life. He lamented the current trend encouraging students to earn a degree and then find a job that suits their passion and all will be good.The problem is that it just doesn’t work that way!
Kestin shares “Studies show that passion stems from doing things that tap into your natural abilities while challenging you to deliver at the height of those powers. You can’t, as most believe, discover these things by thought alone. You must engage with the real world and unearth them as you move forward.” But unfortunately, many are simply waiting for their passion to arrive, not understanding that it will take time and effort to cultivate one’s passion.
And passion is often not discovered in one’s employment, at least not initially. As Kestin share above, one must get out and do things which will help to illuminate passions along the way. In other words, that first job out of high school or college may not provide the passionate rewards one hopes for, but it will give you opportunities to discover what you do and don’t like in a job setting.
As an employer of dozens of college students each summer, we frequently see this desire to lock onto a passion early and not let go – no matter what. That is unfortunate as it often leads to missed opportunities to tap into what the student truly has to offer, but doesn’t know it just yet. What is fortunate however is that we see them in the camp environment – an environment that encourages trying new things, digging into and discovering new interests and talents, even failing then succeeding in areas one never considered before. The transformation from narrow focus to broad vision can be remarkable!
Your passion is not something that is simply out there for you to bump into. Rather, it is something you will craft as you experience the world broadly and openly. Step by step and opportunity by opportunity! Enjoy the ride!
Have a great week everyone!
