Discovering Your Dream

Ever notice how some people are so passionate about their dreams that it’s inspiring just to be around them? Then there are those people, the majority of us, who flounder through life without a true sense of direction. For some people, it seems their purpose is written in the stars and their passions are revealed to them at a very early age – think Mozart and yesterday’s post on guitar legend, Les Paul. For others, the revelation comes later in life as an epiphany or the result of a major life change. Sometimes it feels like that revelation is never going to come. So what do you do if your passion hasn’t been revealed to you yet? How do you discover your dream?

Here are 7 techniques:

1. Try to remember how you responded to the question What do you want to be when you grow up? when you were a child. What was your answer and why? Many times our passions are revealed at an early age but we become so distracted by our obligations and responsibilities as we grow older that we forget about the things that were once so important to us.
2. Ask yourself the question: If money weren’t an issue, what would I do with my life? So often, people let financial fears curb their true passions. By taking money out of the equation, you will have a clearer understanding of what your heart truly desires.
3. Write down how you see your life in five years. Include all the details: What’s your job, schedule, income? How do you look and feel about yourself? Where are you living? Who is in your life? What kind of car do you drive? By writing down a clear vision of your future self, you are taking an important step towards making these things materialize. Keep your vision handy and revisit it from time to time to help it become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
4. Identify the things you love to do and brainstorm ways you could start a business or change careers to include them in your life.
5. List your inherent strengths. Are you a leader? Good at math? Love talking to people? Be sure to seek the opinions of your friends and family too because we are often too self-critical to see ourselves clearly. Once you have your list of strengths, identify career paths that are in line with the traits you naturally possess. Chances are, you’ve already got the attributes you need to follow your dream.
6. Experiment. If you’re the kind of person who has a long list of things you’ve always wanted to do – skydiving, traveling, learning a different language – get to it already! It takes very little time, effort or money to, say, sign up for a non-credit beginner language course. Always been interested in helping people? Volunteer as a mentor. Like home projects? Lend a hand at your local Habitat for Humanity. Love cars? Join a car club. Indulging and nurturing your passions is important because it can introduce you to other like-minded people and present opportunties that you can’t even fathom today.
7. Gain perspective. Try some things that you don’t necessarily like or are outside of your comfort zone. Surprise yourself. By changing your life’s view, you will discover new things about yourself and get a clearer understanding of what’s important to you.

What else can you do to discover your passion?