Strategy number 3 in your passion-seeking quest is Know Thyself. One of the most widespread reasons for people not being able to find their passion is because they don't know who they really are. If you don't know yourself that well, how can you know what would really suit you? It puts you in the indiscriminate arena of trial and error - trying stuff and seeing what you like, and what you definitely don't.
When I see clients who don't know themselves, their CVs are pretty much a long list of jobs they never want to do again. Information is power, as they say, and in the area of finding your passion while your intuition plays a big part (as we discussed last week) you can also massively power things forward when you dive deeper and really get to know what makes you tick. Once you know that, your passion connection is just around the corner.
When we do not know ourselves well it's easy to talk ourselves into things that are wrong for us (how hard can it be / I learn fast / it's got a great career path / they are always in demand, etc) and out of things that are right for us (I've got no experience in this area / I'll never make it work / there are no entry level opportunities etc). When we are unsure of our lane we can become stuck in careers that are a desperately bad fit for us - for years, decades even, trying harder than the average just to keep up with what our colleagues manage to do effortlessly. I used to run big sales teams, which is an environment that separates those with a passion and an aptitude with great polarity. The thing with sales is, it's a numbers game. With enough tenacity and discipline, anyone can actually do it. Whether they like it, the days race by and they get good results, is another question - but basically anyone can do it if they play the numbers: a quantity measure. What that tenet ignores, though, is that making quality sales is an art. It's where someone with aptitude, skill and passion makes it look easy, day after day and the results speak for themselves. They don't have to play a numbers game because it's just innately a passion they are wired for, a game they know how to play and win.
Training, experience and mentoring will all improve and build them, but at their core they are a round peg in a round hole doing what round pegs do best and loving every circular minute of it.
If you feel like a square peg in a round hole you need to find out more about the strengths of being a square peg, then find somewhere square-peggy to shine, doing cool square peg stuff. It's so much more rewarding than trying to continually shave off your corners and squeeze yourself into somewhere you just don't fit - even if you can do the work. Personality-typing is a good place to start to arm yourself with knowledge of what kind of peg you are, and therefore what careers and environments you are best suited to. I have to say it's one of my most favourite tools to use with my clients. To see their jaws drop, realising just who they are at their core, where they fit, and why. And why some things are so effortless and natural for them, and some relationships, environments and tasks are easy and some so continually challenging.
