The Passion Puzzle

Purpose; I am not sure how we exist without it in our lives, no matter what facet of that existence we are referring to. When I am talking to people about their careers, their work, and what works drives them, it is always fascinating to hear them tell me what they are passionate about. It may have nothing to do with what they scheduled the appointment for, but it helps frame our conversation in a few different ways. It helps me understand how well they know themselves, how clear they are in articulating their visions, and whether they're ready to influence through sharing.

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Knowing what you're passionate about means that you are aware of yourself. Passions run deeper then interests, and because of this they are things that may elicit a visceral response when we talk about them. Some self-study is required to be able to understand this. Personal notes taken in a journal, and open / vulnerable conversations with those who are close to us, can help us identify the things that make us tick.

Self-awareness is one thing, but being able to speak to it is something else entirely. I am not talking about creating "your pitch", I am talking about being able to very naturally speak to what you do that makes you happy. For me, connecting people, and seeing people succeed, are two the cornerstones of my happy place, and I will do almost anything to make those things happen.

The last piece of the passion-puzzle (having identified it and learned how to speak to it) is to put it into action. This is where the beauty of community comes into play. If you are (or want to be) in a social impact space, you have really no choice but to be engaging with other like-minded people interested in seeing communities thrive. Come to think of it, you ought to be engaging with some "unusual suspects" who may not yet be of the same mindset as you. Learning how to influence potential employers, collaborators, funders, etc. by speaking to your passions and having people understand the value you bring with respect to outcomes of mutual interest is clutch. Time and place on these conversations is important (something I will get into in a later post), but whenever you have the conversations, understand that the timing will choose you, not the other way around, so stay nimble.