Tuesday, February 21, 2012

When You Can't Pin-point Your Passion, Start With What You're Already Doing—Not What You Think Others Want To Hear By Daniel Pink


Ask people, "What is your passion?" and they often freeze. They feel as if they have to give an amazing answer, like "feeding the orphans of the world" or "writing a novel that changes the landscape of literature." Or they feel as if "I don't know" isn't an option. You might be one of those passionate people who have hearts aflame, pumping with desire. But you might have the kind of heart that's quieter, softer. It's harder for people to hear these whispers—I know, that sounds like a country and western song—but the way you tune your ear to hear them is to simply watch what you do.
"Some people don't take whispers seriously, thinking they're somehow not legitimate, because they're spoken with a softer voice."
I actually learned this myself. I went to law school and then worked in government and on Capitol Hill. I was an economic policy guy, but for 10 or 15 years, I was writing articles on the side. If someone had asked me, "What's your passion?" I never would have said, "Oh, writing about business and technology." I would have seized up and stammered. Now if someone had asked, "What do you think about when you're spacing out at work? What do you do on Friday afternoons?" The answer was clear. As a result, it's what I do now.
So, what do you do when no one's watching? What do you read in your spare time? I've noticed that if people are interested in something, they'll steer the conversation to that topic. So, where do you seem to inevitably take your conversations? Too often the question, What is your passion? leads to an answer you've come up with for other people, whereas the other questions I've mentioned will lead to an answer for yourself.

Some people don't take whispers seriously, thinking they're somehow not legitimate, because they're spoken with a softer voice. I think you have to remind yourself that this is what your heart is telling you. It may not be screaming at you, but it might be giving you something more valuable. —As told to Oprah.com's Jancee Dunn

Daniel H. Pink is the author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (Riverhead).


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