I wanted to write an article about passion this week.
So, I began researching the topic, seeing what was already out there and what gaps I could fill with my own experiences.
The top article on Google was Mark Manson’s ‘Screw Finding Your Passion’.
It’s funny, because this is the exact same article I stumbled across years ago when I first searched “how to find my passion”.
It’s well-written and comes from a credible voice, but even back then the advice didn’t quite sit right with me.
Now, years later, I think I finally understand why.
When ‘Follow Your Passion’ Doesn’t Help
“Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.”
Warren Buffett
Passion is energy.
Yin and yang type sh*t.
The two are symbiotic – that’s why one without the other creates such a huge gap in our lives.
I felt this myself quite a while ago, and that’s what initially led me to Manson’s article.
It’s full of advice that would work for a lot of people, but my issue lies in one very big assumption: that every person has a bunch of things that already excites them in life.
Manson argues that people already know what they’re passionate about, but they’re just ignoring it because it doesn’t seem practical, profitable, or socially acceptable.
“If you have to look for what you’re passionate about, then you’re probably not passionate about it at all,” he says.
Again, I agree that this would be the case for a lot of people, but I remember reading this article and feeling guilty.
I didn’t know what I was passionate about – and I damn well knew I wasn’t ignoring it.
If you’re anything like I was, you’re searching for your passion because nothing excites you.
You’re searching for something – anything – that’s worth chasing.
So when you read or hear that you’re already supposed to have things that excite you, it just makes things worse.
This is depressing, but this is reality.
Here’s the hard truth, though: if you’re anything like me, you’ve probably done this to yourself.
Why You Can’t Find Your Passion
If nothing excites you, then I can almost guarantee it’s because your dopamine receptors are fried.
Your day probably feels dull and joyless because your brain has been overstimulated to the point where only instant rewards feel satisfying.
You don’t allow yourself to sit still.
You don’t allow yourself to get bored.
And you don’t spend enough time alone with your own thoughts to let anything meaningful surface.
Yes – the scrolling, the short-form videos, the gaming – all utterly destructive.
“You already found your passion, you’re just ignoring it. Seriously, you’re awake 16 hours a day, what the f*ck do you do with your time,” Manson says.
The answer – waste it.
Finding things you’re passionate about is basically impossible when you’re constantly smashing your brain with cheap dopamine, just trying to get through another day.
These artificial spikes in dopamine create a feedback loop that overstimulate and completely destroy your brain’s reward system.
Over time, your dopamine receptors become less sensitive – meaning it takes more stimulation to feel the same sense of pleasure or excitement (yes, literally like a drug).
As a result, slower, more meaningful activities – like reading, learning a new skill, or building something from scratch – start to feel boring or flat (and that’s if you even have the motivation to start them in the first place).
It’s not because they are boring, it’s because you’ve wired your brain to seek only fast, frictionless rewards.
So no, you’re not just ignoring the things you’re passionate about – you’re completely drowning them out to the point where you don’t even know they exist.
How To Find Things You’re Passionate About
If there are things in your life that you’re excited or passionate about, you already know what to do… chase the bloody things!!
But for those of you who were like me, and find it difficult to pinpoint something that’s both meaningful and exciting, then these tips may help:
1. Do not tie passion to monetary gain
I’m putting this first because it’s the most important.
The moment you start viewing every interest through the lens of income, it becomes another task, another job, another performance.
Trust me, this will suck all the fun right out of it.
My blog has been the sole source of my creative pursuits for about 16 months now – guess how much money I’ve made from it?
A grand total of $0.
Passion doesn’t thrive under pressure, it needs breathing room.
Realise that your passion may not pay your bills for a long, long time, and that it’ll most likely be detrimental to your enjoyment of said passion if you put the pressure on it to do so.
Do not tie passion to monetary gain.
2. Don’t wait for things to feel magical
You’re probably not going to have an epiphany one day.
Finding something you’re passionate about will likely be a slow, drawn-out process – especially if you’re trying to fix your dopamine levels along the way.
Passions are simply things you enjoy, so don’t expect magic.
3. Take note of your energy levels
Is something making you excited to get out of bed in the morning?
Do your energy levels start to peak around the time of doing a specific task or hobby?
If so, great.
Take note of that.
I started getting excited to get out of bed on Saturday morning to write my weekly blog post.
This wasn’t an epiphany, just something I slowly noticed over time.
4. Pay attention to envy
“Damn, he has such a cool job.”
Why do you think it’s cool?
And if you think it’s so cool, why don’t you see what it takes to get there?
Used in the right way, envy and jealousy can make your life better.
5. Look at the problems you care about
If nothing excites you, then go the opposite way.
What pisses you off?
Is there a cause you can commit yourself to that would add some passion into your life?
Fight for it.
6. Notice what you lose time doing
The flow state is a wonderful indicator of passion.
When you find an activity that makes you lose track of time, that’s a bloody brilliant sign.
Passion Won’t Solve Your Problems, It’ll Just Make Them Easier
Passion will give you more energy and make your life better, but it’s not magic.
Manson makes an excellent point about this in his article:
“There’s no such thing as some passionate activity that you will never get tired of, never get stressed over, never complain about. It doesn’t exist.”
Passion won’t help you avoid the monotonous, the difficult, the boring – but it’ll certainly help you push through when those times arise.
None of this will happen if you don’t slow down and give your mind the space to figure out what it actually enjoys doing, far away from cheap pleasures.
‘Screw finding your passion’ is bullsh*t though, because it’s damn well worth finding.
If the choice isn’t so obvious to you as others make it seem, then you’ll just have to work a bit harder to find it.
For me, it wasn’t about adding more to my life, it was about stripping things away.
Useless, mind-numbing, time-wasting things.
Give your mind some space, and you’ll be surprised to see what passions arise.
