Following passion: Helpful things to know about following your passion

Just do it. Comments like that are often well-meaning advice, but sometimes they don't make any sense at all. For example, if you are good at something and you know it, like painting well or you are very good at making music. You've done this for years and have a talent for it. Only you don't dare to show it or hear it to other people. Then that advice of "just do it, stand in your power, more self-confidence" is very helpful

But far more often, they don't beat around the bush. People are also encouraged to do something when they've never done it before. To walk over hot coals (Hello Robby) or to do something with a steel tube on your throat. That you really get the feeling of: "Yes, I'm going for it!"

That's super, but what are you going to do?

Following passion is doing what you want to do

You also see more emerging now that people are encouraged to do what they want to do. That's super, you should also do above all what you want to do.

Now only most people have no idea what they want. You are truly blessed if you know what you want to do. I was lucky enough to figure out what I like to do when I was ³⁰.

Right now, I don’t even do what I used to do anymore. Now I’m more of an entrepreneur than someone who conducts one-on-one sessions. Back then, I didn’t know that I’d end up being so passionate about entrepreneurship.

This also shows that sometimes the path of what you want just unfolds.

So you can start by just doing something. Then you'll find out what you like and don't like. What you like you then start doing more of and then things unfold.

People are often so preoccupied with choosing, and that’s a real shame, because passion often just happens. You can’t usually find it. It doesn’t exist as a thing.

Passion arises when you do something

But you can certainly become passionate about something. It could be anything—like a flamingo dance. You can make money doing that —but do you want to do it for the rest of your life?

That actually brings you right to the first question about skills. What would you like to be able to do? You don’t even have to enjoy doing a lot of skills the most. Writers, for example, don’t necessarily enjoy the act of writing itself. They enjoy coming up with ideas. They enjoy the concept.

The writing is just the work. That's just tapping six hours a day and then a story unfolds. That's then very nice, but they can also dislike the writing. They then do get passionate about the story, about their idea.

Some writers find that piece does not even gel at all and yet they have a passion for writing.

That's interesting to take for yourself.

So go do some first and then see if you get passionate or not.

Most people become passionate about what they do. This is because they become competent. For example, if you set windows and you do this for 10 years, you become good at it. Then at some point you can put a window for any house, in any situation.

At first, you may not be that passionate at all. Then you won't be thrilled by such a monumental building, but when you become competent in it, you will like that challenge again.

That competence makes you passionate. Because you can do it well you become passionate.

Sometimes passion follows you

So that goes completely against the idea that you have to find your passion first. People often get depressed from that idea again or they get burnout because they don't follow their "passion."

But then again, you can do something and the passion will follow you.

Research also shows that you can find passion in two ways. On the one hand, you can try everything until you find something that clicks, and on the other hand, you can thus improve your skills and become passionate about it[1].

After all, at the end of the day, there is no one watching what you have ever done in your life. It doesn't matter what you do.

Now you may say, "Yes, it does matter what I do because I want to reach my potential."

So at least start doing something now. It doesn't even matter what. Because how do you know exactly what your potential is? How do you know?

You can search for it. Then you can look into your childhood. That's where the keys to how you are are hidden. If you look at how you were then, chances are very good that this is how you are.

That child of three or four who is very open-minded, how do we know that is the most genius accountant. "Yes, he was always nice with his abacus, money and with math," of course we don't say that.

But who knows if your father is an accountant you may see that.

What I mean to say is that it doesn't matter what you are going to do.

I spoke with my uncle, and he said he found it very difficult for children between the ages of 13 and 18 to have to make important life decisions at that time. When I asked if it was difficult for him as well, he said he chose to study to become a pastry chef. After that, he attended a hotel management school.

After six months, he realized he didn't want to do it after all. Looking back on it, he doesn't mind that he did it, and in retrospect he even worked in construction for 20 years. Even so, he doesn't think it was a waste of time.

After all, everything in life is trial and see what happens. Trial and error. People need time to figure things out for themselves. I also think that is very important.

Now a lot is beaten to death by slogans like "live your best life, find your passion" and things like that. Then we start setting goals for where we want to go.

That's great fun and we all think of that. But we then forget who you become and what competencies you need. Do you feel like doing that at all?

When you start for yourself, many people do so because of the freedom it offers, but sometimes that's not so bad (I can tell you by now). It gives you a lot of roles that you may not even want.

It's also no big deal to start it and then figure out that it's not for you after all, or is.

Looking at my own life, I was not passionate about entrepreneurship when I worked in construction. I also really enjoyed working in construction, and the better I got at it, the more passionate I became about foundations.

So you have to give business a chance to get passionate about it, too.

Some people don't get passion until they are ⁵⁰ because they have been doing something for 20 years.

Time is your friend, so give yourself time to do or experience things and then discover if it's what for you. Whether it triggers something.

Follow it and become more competent in it, find out it's what for you or something that can hook you can unfold.

It’s also important to do what you enjoy. I’ve always done what I enjoyed at work. Of course, it wasn’t always fun, but as soon as things started to get rough, I walked away.

I do understand why people keep doing jobs they don't like, but I don't get it.

Because of course it's scary and exciting to leave, but it's much harder to stay somewhere you don't belong, because then your energy extinguishes very quickly.

So do what you love and watch it unfold. Then sometimes you can end up in a place you never imagined as a goal. As a result, setting a goal can also become a constraint on your life.

Be sure to listen to this podcast as well:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/195236/2469692-het-gevaar-van-doelen-stellen-en-zelfvertrouwen?play=true

Do you find it difficult to try new things? Then hypnosis can help you figure out what's causing it. Many people have blocking beliefs that keep them doing what they don't like.

With the help of hypnotherapy, you can find out what is causing this and where your strengths do lie. For example, you can use hypnosis to create a kind of escape plan, which will allow you to have a life where you are a lot more passionate within a year anyway.

Want to know how this works? Then join the free online masterclass on hypnosis.

Or sign up for the HIN’s training programs, where you can learn the technique mentioned above.

[1] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167215596988