You hear a lot about finding your passion. So much in fact, it’s easy to feel like a hopeless case if you don’t have “that one thing” that you’re passionate about.
Elizabeth Gilbert really got me thinking about this. I came across a speech of hers that resonated with me. She’s the writer of Eat, Pray, Love if you aren’t familiar with her name immediately. She is someone who has lived her life driven by her passion to write, but in this talk she highlighted the case against passion. Interesting huh!?
Because as she points out, there are very few people who have that super sense of certainty about what they are passionate about. Passion is a big word and it comes with a lot of pressure.
Instead, Elizabeth Gilbert urges us to forget about passion, and instead just be willing to live a curious life. I love that!
I’m not going to lie, I am ridiculously passionate about what I do. I feel like the stars have aligned and that I am right where I am supposed to be, doing the work I am supposed to be doing. But I didn’t always feel that way. Oh my my, for the longest time I had no idea what I was passionate about. I heard ideas about “your life’s work” and was like WOAH my…I don’t know what I want my life’s work to be?! Is that what it takes to be successful? Ouch. I even read a number of books about uncovering your life’s passion, all to no avail.
So I pushed the idea of passion aside and just got on with living. In all honesty, it was too big a concept to digest so I ignored it.
Interestingly enough…ignoring it worked out like cherry pie for me. Who would have thought that pushing passion aside and pretending it didn’t exist would one day lead me to a position where I have an uncanny certainty that I am just where I am supposed to be.
All through my 20’s I was just taking the next step. There was no strategic or well thought-out progression to my career or life. I was going with the flow and literally just doing what seemed like the right thing to do next.
And now I know that is ok. In fact, that it perhaps better than ok, and exactly what we should all be doing. Rather than searching for passion we should just be willing to enjoy life and approach it with a sense of curiosity.
Some interesting twists and turns took place. I went to University adamant I was going to be a Lawyer. I liked Ally McBeal and I was good at English so it seemed like the thing to do. But I completely self-sabotaged myself and failed my second year at Law School. And my third year when they let me repeat. Yip, that tends to happen when you don’t attend class. Eeek. Perhaps in hindsight wish I’d taken that hint earlier.
With Law School being off the table, I was nudged in the direction of Psychology which I enjoyed, but thought no one really made a career out of. I think that thought came mainly from the fact that I knew it took a postgraduate degree to really do anything with it, and I had no intention of staying in University any longer than 5 years. I was also contemplating a job in the Communications field (which I also have a Major in).
Then as I was finishing my last couple of undergraduate papers in order to complete my degree I thought why not try out a couple of postgraduate psychology papers for nothing more than interests sake and to fill in the time. I had nothing to lose. I studied Industrial & Organizational Psychology – a field I knew nothing about at all – but I loved it! I took a paper on stress and well-being and was hooked. Having stumbled upon something I really enjoyed, good grades came easily. From there, I got a job in a corporate specialist consultancy and completed my Master’s before becoming a Registered Psychologist.
It was never my intention to become a Psychologist. It wasn’t the path I started on, and it was nothing more than following my curiosity and being willing to be nudged in unexpected directions that lead me to where I am today.
I was always just taking the next step that felt right at the time.
Obviously that is the super short highlight version of a short part of my 20’s, but I think it illustrates that not knowing where you are going isn’t always a bad thing.
What is interesting however, is that when I look back at everything that I have done, the twists in my life, my work experience, qualifications and even my hobbies; they have all come together to make the perfect mix of skills that have allowed me to start this business. By just following my nose and being curious I actually qualified myself for my dream job without even knowing that is what I was doing.
So if talk of passion is something that makes you want to curl up in a ball and disappear…I encourage you to take the pressure off and just try on curiosity for size instead. I think there is something graciously romantic about living a curious life. And watch Elizabeth Gilbert talk about it. It’s great.
And if you failed school too…all power to you! It has no reflection of if you are any good or not ;).
Elizabeth Gilbert: Flight of the Hummingbird – The Curiosity Driven Life
Hi. I’m Kate Snowise and Thrive.How is my business-baby. I’m a Life & Executive Coach who helps people who want the good stuff out of life, get it. I’m passionate about helping people wake-up and start living on purpose. I have an MSc in Psychology (the happy kind of psychology that concentrates on what is right with you). I offer individual coaching that specifically helps people clarify their thinking, reconnect with their spirits, grow into their potential and re-gain balance. Click here to learn more.
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