“Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~Howard Thurman
For the past three years, I’ve been in the throes of a quarter-life crisis.
Just a few months into my first cubicle-bound job, I had the life-altering realization that most everyone comes to eventually: I’m going to work a job every day for the next forty-plus of my life. If I want to make that enjoyable, I need to be living my purpose and engaging my passions.
Knowing that life is short and the best time to change is now, I dove headfirst into reading and implementing advice on how I could discover and live my passion.
In the three-year search, I registered for hobbies that interested me. I researched and pursued various careers. I talked to my friends about what I was good at. I encouraged my husband to find his passions so that we were both supported in this dream. I waited patiently and openly for inspiration.
Soon enough, some of my passions bubbled up to the surface in easily identifiable ways.
I loved writing, interacting with people one on one, business, yoga, rescue animals, chocolate, coffee houses, and digital newspapers.
To see what ideas “stuck,” I started businesses, changed careers, wrote freelance, initiated a local yoga community, volunteered, and truly “discovered” myself.
But these attempts at finding a passion that could become my career always happened the same way—I’d start out with massive bursts of energy, produce great results, and then hear the small voice in my heart whisper, “This isn’t it…there’s something else out there for you.”
After a couple of years of trying and failing at finding the passion that would stick, I decided to just stop looking for a while.
In the meantime, I would work hard at my job and come to terms with the fact that the most people never have careers that engage their passions—and maybe that’s okay. After all, I could still have passions outside my work.
But the drive to create a career around my passion never went away.
My turning point came one night as I was sitting at home with my husband watching The Legend of Baggar Vance—a movie about a down-on-his-luck golfer who enlists the help of an inspirational golf caddy (Baggar Vance) to perfect his game.
In one of the scenes, Baggar says to the golfer:
“Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing. Something we were born with. Something that’s ours and ours alone. Something that can’t be taught to you or learned. Something that got to be remembered.”
And I sat stunned for a second. Although the movie went on, my mind was stuck on this idea: your passion—your one true authentic gift—has to be remembered.
For so long, I had been searching, trying new things, exploring jobs, careers, and “attractive” passions outside of myself—without ever trying to remember what passions have been with me all along.
In an instant of clarity, I remembered that for my whole life, I have been in love with business and personal finance. My father and grandmother had always been very determined to teach me about the flow of money and how starting a business could ensure my freedom.
From these constant little lessons growing up, I picked up an interest in business that had permeated my life in ways that I just didn’t really recognize.
I remembered back to the time I was nine years old and told my grandma I’d love to be a financial planner to help people with their business and money, the way she’d helped me develop those skills.
I remembered too how I sat enthralled reading business magazines on airplanes. I remembered how what I really wanted out of my career was to run my own business one day. I realized that this was a deep, steady current that connected many phases of my life.
But how could my passion be so… plain? Aren’t passions supposed to be artistic, exotic, or inspirational? Aren’t passions supposed to wow people?
Perhaps not. Perhaps my passion for the mundane things could be a way to bring life to an otherwise mundane topic—the way your crazy history teacher started talking really fast and excitedly about the Civil Rights movement, making you excited about it too.
Since this realization, I’ve started pursuing a business in financial coaching, and I am so happy. The small voice in my heart is whispering, “You’re on the right track!” for the first time. I haven’t been distracted by what other things I could be doing. Even better, I am engaging my other passions too.
If you’re struggling to find your passion, even after trying what feels like doing everything, I encourage you to do this: sit down, open your journal, pour a cup of tea, and try to remember your passions.
Think back on your life, and remember things you wanted to be, the habits you developed naturally, the games you played, the books you read, and see how they may apply to your life and career today. You might be surprised by the connection points that have been right under your nose all along.
About Leah Manderson
Leah Manderson is a personal finance coach who has been featured in Forbes, LearnVest, and The Daily Muse. In her blog and newsletter, she publishes weekly tips and tricks that help people afford the life of their dreams. Join her free 7-day Money Made Easy mini-program to learn 10 money mindsets that pay you for life, and how to create ease and clarity around your monthly money to-do’s.
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine. 
I think a number of people struggle with finding their passion. I know I have struggled with it for years. Not so much because I thought it needed to be exotic or sexy, but because of that same voice in my head saying, “this isn’t it…” Passion is tricky business. If you are like me then you likely have many interests. Problem is that only a few of those interests rise to the level of passion. Good job on finding yours. Thanks for the tips!
I think it is possible to have many passions and pursue them all. It becomes not about finding your passion but doing things that make you feel joyful!
It would seem your life was changed by a great man, ‘The legend of Baggavance’ was written by Steven Pressfiled, his book ‘The War Of Art’ is literally the most important book about finding motivation and passion your likely to read. I never comment on these but was bowled over that you’d found your inspiration in his fiction !
Thanks for sharing! I completely relate to your story, and have been doing the same thing you were doing, going from new thing to new thing hoping I eventually find inspiration gold. I hope this works for me.
Wow Leah, life answered and you heard it. Unfortunately life answers all the time, but we’re not conscious enough to listen. I love the theory of remembering your passion vs trying to find it. Lately I’ve been hearing/reading a lot about transitioning from “seeking” to “finding” and this is yet another! It’s so true though, if we seek we will never find because we’re “seekers”, but if we FIND we’ll find all the time! Great article Leah!
Thank you for this Leah! 🙂 Congrats on remembering your passion!
Hey Jeffrey…Very interesting concept. What are you reading or where might one find out more about the seeking vs. finding topic? I’d love to read more about it myself. Thanks for the note.
I think the most important thing that you did was give your passion an attempt. IT’s great to remember, but more importantly to try and achieve your passions. I see many people sit and think about what they want to do, but hardly ever give it an attempt. On top of that, the happiest people I’ve noticed in my life are those that don’t really care about what the ‘norms’ of life are…like social status. For example, I teach abroad and meet many people doing many other things outside of teaching. Many of these people are living a good life (travel, food and fun) but more importantly don’t worry about what everyone else thinks. They find success with what makes them happy.
Hi Simone,
I read it in the book “The Power of Now” by Ekhart Tolle
I also heard someone talk about it on a podcast, but I can’t remember which one 🙁
I also wrote a bit about it here: http://www.smallstepsbigchanges.com/guru/
It’s such a simple mind shift, yet so incredibly profound of a transformation. Everything becomes so simple and the strain fades away.
I think we all have a lot of ‘true passions’ we can develop at the expert levels. To say that there is only one drive for us to submerge ourselves in might be a bit shortsighted.
I think the biggest mistake we make is planning or trying to find something. We know at a basic level is, and all we need to do is commit to these interests and amazing things will flourish from the experiences. Stop thinking our way through a solution and disciplining our actions each day. Results will evolve regardless of the field or passion we get involved in
Really appreciate this. I think though that it may be possible to have more than one passion. There may be people who have only one passion, but is it also possible that some have more than one? I feel for instance that I have more than one passion, and I intend to explore all of them to the best of my ability before I die.
Great! Thanks Jeffrey.
What a beautiful article, Leah! I related very much. I also had a few “stepping stones” after leaving a job that I had once loved, but grew out of. It was startling to hear the little voice that said, “This isn’t it. This is not your landing place.” I did find my landing place from reconnecting with my passions. Love the Bagger Vance reference! If you haven’t already, do read the book by Stephen Pressman. You will have even more revelations! So good!
I spent years searching for a passion, all the while writing short stories and novels for fun. I never even considered that was my passion until a friend gave me a short story I wrote for her 3 years prior and it was like a light bulb went off, accompanied with the word “duh!”. haha
Wow, this works. I made four columns from the above remembering topics and I realized that I always loved working one on one with people!
Leah
I also believe that the authentic gift has to be remember. I believe
everyone is born to do everything in life such as being a doctor, lawyer, etc…just those people that do become that, remember. We’re born with all the knowledge in the world.
Leah
I also believe that the authentic gift has to be remember. I believe
everyone is born to do everything in life such as being a doctor, lawyer, etc…just those people that do become that, remember. We’re born with all the knowledge in the world.
Thank you for remembering me the most important thing – to help people achieving their goals, as you said “I’d love to be a financial planner to help people with their business and money” 🙂
I think we often get confused with what we want from our lives or I should put it this way,the expectations of others often bend us down.And really each oe of us has a passion the only difference is some people find it earlier and easily than others.The key point is follow what your heart tells you and everything else is secondary.
I so have needed this lately. Thanks for uplifting me like you wouldn’t believe.
I’m really, REALLY struggling with this and of the many things I’ve read on the subject of finding your passion, doing what you love, becoming the authentic you, etc…, most advise trying to identify “what you love”. Trouble is, when I ask myself that question, the answer is, “I don’t know”. Am I over thinking it? Maybe I”m trying to identify what I love whole-heartedly and extremely, maybe I need to be looking at the things I enjoy and that bring me pleasure? I think I’ll take Leah’s advice and start signing up for everything until “it” finds me!
Thank you for this truly wonderful article.. It’s exactly what I needed this evening as I continue to ‘find’.
I m going through now.. My heart and my mind is not in sync with my new job.. my mind says this job is great and lots of opportunity but my heart doesnt agree with it. I tend to say i like and love my job but my heart dislikes… How am i to find my passion.. i been reading , writing what i like and dislike, meeting my frens anf sharing but cant find..
Tina can i have your email ID…i have few queries to ask you
I’m in this weird place where I used to be VERY driven at what I did (music and writing) and it encompassed everything about me. Then, I had my first child and suddenly stopped both. I had and still have zero interest in writing/performing music and little interest in writing. It was alarming for a while, and some people in my life are still sad for me over it. But, I’m at peace with this. The problem is, I’ve stayed adrift for the last 4 years and now I have no idea what to do with myself, yet I have a strong drive to do something. I’ve been home with my kids for 4 years, but part of me lusts to have something to work hard for (as if raising kids isn’t hard in itself). But, I have no desire to go back to my old passions. Sometimes I feel like I don’t even know what I like anymore, and I was o.k. with this for a while, but the itch is getting strong to do something. This is interesting, this article. I may think hard about what I loved as a kid (although music and writing was very much on that list). Maybe there is something there that I’ve forgotten, that is totally different and more fitting for me now.
Hello Renel, I know you wrote this 4 months ago but I wanted to know whether you came up with a passion. I have the same struggle as you. I read all these articles and blogs about passion and take all these quizzes but none of them resonate. It actually makes me sad that there is nothing i really have a passion for. Nothing to be “remembered” either as a child. I feel like the days pass me and there is nothing that motivates me. None of the book on inspiration or stories on how revolutionary peoples live have become…nothing. Your comment was the only one I could relate to so i was thinking whether you could give insight on what helped you
I feel the same exactly. If either of you is willing, perhaps we could set up a correspondence to explore the issue together? I think it may help.
hi i too feel exactly the same, been kind of searching for a few years faintly but recently ive started searching allover to find something i can aim for, please let me know if you you find anything that helps my twitter is @splntrs maybe we could set something up
I’m at this time where i don’t know what i should do , and what suits me . I have so many things that i do and this makes it hard to find what i’m really passionate about and i think i struggle with this way too much for my age (16) . Recently and ongoing i have had this inkling of passion for music even though i haven’t been trained , but i think that this is a trick feeling. But every time i want to spend my time i either start to learn a language , and start designing concepts for games ( and drawing art ) and this is something i enjoy alot. Thing is since im entering college ( or high school in american terms) ill be studying things that im not so passionate about (i like them) and i might lose my way. But this new love for making my own music / songs has just popped up and is quite a strong desire. If anyone has any advice or may be able to decode these feelings i would appreciate it , but im going to let life live on and see where it takes me 😀
Hi Renel, Sandra, Kimberley & Joe, I’m really keen to hear how you are all getting on as I can totally relate to your comments, I have no idea what my passion is now or ever was, I think as a child, as a result of moving around a lot at short notice, I protected myself by ‘not’ having a passion becuase I never would know when my life would be uprooted and change again. I feel sad that I don’t know what it is that I’m truly passionate about and feel like I should. Any advice is welcome. Thank you.
And regarding your situation I think we just need to try new things and see if we like them or not, I know it’s hard when at home or in your little work bubble as I’m the same there’s loads of things I want to do but never seem to do them I just get distracted and end up on the laptop on watching TV but I’m getting really really bored of this cycle now and I’m gonna explode if I don’t do something soon. There’s answers about we just have to search for them.
I’ve been searching for my passion for many years too. I’ve tried many new things and enjoy them for a while, but after I learn the basics I grow tired. I so wish there was something I KNEW I wanted to do with my life so that I could go ahead and get on with it, or at least planning how to get to it. It’s a real struggle sometimes just working, sensing your valuable time passing, with this uneasy feeling that there is something out there for you which you are somehow missing.
in a way it feels good to know there are others in the same position, but im really growing tired of it.
Thanks for sharing. Something I can start with to find my own passion.
Thank you for this article. I’ve been working in the oilfields of Saudi Arabia since completing my under-graduation a couple of years ago. Even though the job is great experience-wise and monetarily, I’ve felt on several occasions that my work isn’t significant enough and that my calling might lie elsewhere.
I’ve been brainstorming for a while and have been unclear about what I’m truly passionate about. Through college and on the job, it isn’t what I did that excited me as much as certain aspects of my work, such as realizing that I enjoy looking at the big picture, connecting people and events to make things happen. In other words, I do enjoy running a show and derive most happiness from the gratification that comes from having executed a complicated and tedious job well, even if it’s not always intellectually stimulating.
After reading your article today, I tried to remember what I’ve always wanted and I concur – I’ve always wanted to run a big company – the books I’ve read, the habits I’ve developed and the people who I admire – it all connects.
That said, I still lack clarity on where I should start and what I should do. Being an entrepreneur is exciting, but I still haven’t figured out a field of work that I’m truly passionate about. For my skills and strengths, it could be anything honestly – I’m unsure where to begin. I don’t want to be reckless and hop around searching aimlessly. Yet I’m exasperated thinking and must get started now.
What do you suggest?
Read this words in this early morning in Korea(6am)and thought ‘where the hell did my passion go.’ My life was always the same ; nothing special and always chasing the money (waking up -work-sleep) but as I have read this, I couldnt stop thinking I NEED TO FIND WHAT I LOVE. Thank you for the great words. It realy was a turning point to me
I know this article is over a year old but I am very happy to have come across it. I am home from work sick. I seem to be taking more and more sick leave than I ever have. I don’t think it’s because I’m sick, I believe it’s because I’m not happy. The golden handcuffs are getting me down ! I earn well but I don’t feel like I’m doing a very good job because I don’t love it. Thanks for taking it back to the basics. That’s exactly what I need to do.
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hi joe – it’s been a month since you have commented..any luck? i just came across this site now and feel connected to some of these comments
Great article Leah 🙂 I can completely relate. I really like the quote about not worrying about what the world needs, because the world needs for you to come alive. So true on so many levels. I always struggled to try to find my passion. I have become a jack of all trades because I love to research and find out how to do things on my own, but the one thing that I absolutely love to do no matter what is just to help people. It feels good to be the person to help and know the answer that will ultimately help someone else in whatever they are going through. Thank you for sharing this!
What a piece of writing . Marvellous really.
Hi Kael could you please tell what was the first step you did?
Id like to start doing what makes me feel good I’m I correct?
Could you expand on which step you are asking to take?
Sorry Sandra, I sort of forgot about this forum. I wish I would get some notification about the activity on this post. Anyway…..still searching. Although I did make one bold move. I quit my job and decided to take 3 months off to regroup, find myself, heal my psyche etc…Now I’m at the end of the 3 months and at least one small step closer to figuring out what I want. Another milestone: I turned 50, which causes one to do a lot of reflection and analyzing about what is most important in life….oh, and being 50 lends itself to learn to let go of all the fears that come with youth and mid-life (beauty, sexuality, success, perfection etc.) and learning to embrace the wisdom that comes with age, the imperfections of the physical self, and releasing the self-hate. It’s a process and I’m reaching out to every source that speaks to me, and like I said in my first post, just trying on everything to see how it fits, so to speak. Next stop….new job. Will it be the perfect job? Probably not, but who knows? Gotta try. The great thing is….I’m not afraid. I can move on if it’s not the right thing. Anyway…journey on!
Sure, Kimberly, I would welcome that!
Kristen….read my reply to Sandra. I’m working on it and would welcome a forum for discussion!
Awesome writeup. I could relate to the entire article with my personal experience
O god.. I have companions in this.. so, is it that many are not so clear about their passion or what they really want… !!! i was getting quite depressed if I am the only one not knowing or not having anything that intersts my life,, inspite of performing great in the present job.
I sometimes get confused if it is really the job that is not satisfying or the people around or that i am getting bored with the same envt and same nature of work. Or is it yet another ‘other side is green’ phenomena..
I am really confused guys..