Wouldn’t you want a passion?
Psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth thinks a lot about how to find and nurture a passion. it’s part of her work on what she calls “grit.”
Simply defined, grit equals passion plus persistence. Passion is not something you discover, she says “it’s not like a lost set of keys!” Instead “Passions tend to be developed. Passions are about waking up week after week, month after month, year after year, wanting to think about the same thing.” It’s something fulfilling and enjoyable, but it’s not that easy.
Three steps to help identify your next passion or help with your current passion;
1. Patience
Don’t expect to fall in love straight away. “A reason why passions take time to develop is that at the very, very beginning of things, we’re all clumsy and awkward and the learning curve is very steep,” says Duckworth. “Frankly, it’s hard to be in love with something when you’re that clumsy amateur.”
Her daughter, Lucy picked the viola as her “hard thing.” But Duckworth says, “It didn’t become her passion in year one or year two. I wouldn’t say she was wildly enthusiastic, but she kept wanting to do it. Now she’s good enough that it can be enjoyable to her in a way that wasn’t possible in the beginning.”
Throughout the time of learning grit is especially important, persistence. Duckworth’s persistence in the hobby for her child allowed her child to fall in love. Make sure you give yourself a chance to be enthusiastic before moving onto another project. “I’m not saying you should stick with everything you’ve ever tried,” she says. “Use your judgment.”.
2. Remember the bigger goal in order to stay motivated
Like anything, every passion must have its less exciting moments. For playing the viola, it may be practicing for the 1000th time. For baking, it could be washing up; for teaching maths, marking papers. The secret to not letting them demotivate you is to see how everything you’re doing is to interact with your passion. no matter how small or dull, it is a step toward something bigger. Something that will contribute to enriching your life.
3. Get rid of any distractions
One reason you may not know your passion may be due to the fact you haven’t given yourself the time and space to think about and do it. Many of the distractions in our lives are non-negotiable, they come with being human.
But what about the negotiable distractions? One distraction that is negotiable is likely in your pocket. your phone. “Whether it’s watching frivolous videos or scrolling through social media, there’s enough content is existance that you could do those things forever,” says Duckworth. “But it’s time that doesn’t really add up to anything.”
She asks: “How committed are you to not doing that anymore? Reflect on how you’re using your time, and whether or not you want to be distracted by these temptations.”
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