How to turn “Passion” into Purpose
Never has a quote been so greatly misunderstood like
“Follow your Passion”
First of all, what is “Passion”?
Oxford describes it as a “Strong and barely controllable emotion.”
This is a great definition, but people tend to misunderstand how they discover this “passion” of theirs. I chose to put quotation marks on the word passion as its meaning varies from person to person. I’m here to give my insight on this whole debate.
The great debate behind the true meaning of passion lies behind a quote my dad once told me.
Are you passionate? Or are you just good at it?
What my dad said turned my perspective 180 degrees, I finally figured out that I had no clue what I was passionate about, no idea what I wanted to be in the future, and no direction on where to start.
I did a lot of soul-searching, it took me about two years to reach where I am now-, and a lot of people along the way. This is a shortcut to how I discovered what it is I’m passionate about.
To find your passion first you have to list down two metrics
- What you’re good at
- What you’re interested in
But to find your purpose? It’s a whole different story. In my books, purpose is defined as an end goal, something I am relentlessly working towards.
And for that, you need to add another metric
- What the world needs
What the world needs can be easily transferrable with a lot of things, I placed “help” because I’m still figuring it out myself.
The intersection between what I’m interested in and what I’m good at is my passion. The intersection between all three? Is my purpose.
If you read my previous article, I am currently working as a product manager, why you ask? Because it’s what I can do right now. I’m passionate about product management because it aligns with my interests and abilities. But most importantly, product management is a stepping stone to fulfilling my purpose.
Specifically, here are two points on how it aligns with my diagram.
- It’s a job that involves a lot of human interaction (People Skills)
- Many product managers go on and create their own companies (Entrepreneurship)
But my purpose? It’s creating something that benefits the world. A wonderful synergy of all three.
Understanding your “purpose” is crucial to how you work, communicate, and live in general. It sets you on a platform, a road you can stick to, everything you do is to fulfill that purpose of yours.
Purpose defines us as humans, so I advise you if you’re feeling hopeless and confused when pursuing something, take a step back and do the Venn diagram. Unravel whether what you’re pursuing is your passion or your purpose.
