It’s the time of year again when everybody is buying all these healthy cookbooks, signing up for gym memberships, watching meditation how-tos online, and thinking about all their goals and plans for the year. It’s the time of new year resolutions, the time where everybody falls under the spell of the “new year, new me” mantra. It’s hard not to, after all. You’re starting a new chapter and you find yourself facing a blank page – it can be very easy to think of all the ways you want to change your life for the better this year, and all the ways you will try to be a better version of yourself.
But I think new year’s resolutions aren’t the most effective tool ( lot of cancelled gym memberships just goes to show that). Forcing yourself to suddenly become this shinier version of yourself can be hard. It’s so difficult to all of a sudden start going to the gym every other day when in the past, you could barely bring yourself to work out once a week, and it can be so difficult to all of a sudden start reading for an hour before bed when that time used to be your dedicated “catch up on all the TV shows I’ve missed” time. I’m sure this is definitely very relatable for a lot of people – myself included. Don’t get me wrong – goal setting is great and it’s something that is very important, but the whole idea of trying to change and set all these forced resolutions with the change of the calendar year isn’t the best in my mind.
So instead of getting your pen and paper out and jotting all these things you want to start doing in 2018, and the person you want to see yourself become, you need to do one thing: find a passion.
In my eyes, finding what you’re passionate about and then doing what you can to express and channel that passion is much more important. You need a passion.
Because passion is the thing that will drive you in what you do this year. It is the thing that sparks action, the thing that helps motivate you to get out of bed each and every day. Not a list of goals, not really those inspirational blog posts on productivity, and definitely not what others tell you what you should be doing this year.
The difference between a passion and new year’s resolutions is that a passion that hasn’t just been randomly been put into place this year – it’s what you, whether you know it or not, have been fostering over time through the different activities you’ve done in your life. It’s something that builds up, even if you don’t even know what your passion is.
It’s those things that you do that leave you a little jittery with all good energy, and what you smile about.
Finding your passion is really great because it lets you do a lot of exploration and self-reflection. It can definitely be hard to know exactly what your passion is the first time around, and that’s why there’s a lot of trial and error behind the process. Remember that sometimes finding stuff you’re NOT passionate about can be just as important as finding the ones you are passionate about. Some questions that can help with that are:
- What are my hobbies, including the ones I do now, and the ones I’ve given up because of lack of time, for example?
- What do I really enjoy doing?
- What makes me happy?
- What am I good at?
- What is it that you talk about that makes your eyes light up?
- What keeps you up at night?
- What do you think about when you have a moment to yourself?
- What would you do more of if you had more time?
Of course, everybody’s passion will be different. One person might have a passion for coding, while someone else’s passion could be hiking and seeing the world with a pack on her back. The amazing thing with a passion is that you don’t really feel obligated to compare it with someone else, the way you so easily do with New Year’s Resolutions. If your friend has her goal set of losing 15 pounds, it’s very easy to compare your weight loss goal of 10 pounds to hers and not feel as driven or motivated.
So what do you do now once you’ve found your passion?
Make it your goal to act on it this year. Channel your passion. Discovering what it is you’re passionate about and then doing nothing about it is just as useless.
Once you discover what your true passion is, try doing activities and jump at opportunities that align with this very passion. For example, if you’re passionate about philanthropy, join a club at school or even go on a volunteer trip this Spring Break or Summer!
The reason why you need a passion is because it’s something that gives you direction and purpose. You know what activities you should be doing now, and how you should be spending your time. You know what to make part of your personal scope. And I guarantee that once you figure it out and start doing more of what you’re passionate about and less of what you could do without, you will feel so much more fulfilled and happier.
There’s always been a really good quote that I’ve always loved: “It’s either a HELL YEAH or no”. Your passion will help you find the HELL YEAHs in your life, and that’s exactly the stuff you want to be filling your time with this 2018.
That’s how you want to be living this year.