It seems to me that passion is like speed in football, either you have it or you don’t; it’s not something you can learn.

You can certainly discover passion but there is no step-by-step guide for learning it.

To me, passion is also like the Christian concept of grace. It’s not for sale and it comes when it comes, or not.

I’ve accomplished many things in my life with and without passion. I can say from experience that the accomplishments without passion have been the most exhausting endeavors I have ever undertaken. They sapped my energy. The things I’ve accomplished with passion were more easily attained and added to my energy level.

You certainly have had the experience of doing something where time disappeared and you forgot to eat. Whatever that was, it had passion behind it. You’ve also had the opposite experience where the hands of the clock seemed like they were glued in place. For me, that was school.

It seems that passion is tied to another elusive “P” word: Purpose.

By all accounts, it seems that when you find your purpose, passion naturally follows. So the shortcut to passion is to find your purpose.

Purpose can shift many times in a lifetime. For example, unless you’re an Irish family with children 25 years apart, raising children is a purpose that has past for most. Something else has to surface in the purpose department or your passion will wane and wash down the drain.

My guess is that one more “P” concept has to be put in place for you to discover purpose: Putting yourself out there.

Purpose doesn’t come-a-knocking on your cave’s door. It’s more likely to show up when you get out and explore.

You can certainly read about how the other half lives on the internet or in magazines or books, but that exposure deprives you of the thing that will lead to purpose – actual experience. Purpose has to be experienced, not dreamt about.

Exposure is the key to finding purpose. There’s infinite opportunity to find purpose but it can’t be found in the stale air of isolation.

I’m reminded of the old joke: “No man is an island but Eugene is a city.”

We have to get off our deserted island and find a more populated place to have a chance of discovering purpose. I can tell you from experience that you won’t find it by pulling the covers over your head again.

Put yourself out there and explore and stop waiting for purpose to knock on your door. Exposure leads to purpose which is something you can get passionate about.

All the best,

John