Passion is a word that’s thrown around a lot these days. In fact, there’s now even a Lingerie Football League team called the Philadelphia Passion (who by the way, are no joke on the football field!). However, have you ever actually stopped to think about how the concept of passion fits into your own life? If you haven’t, it probably wouldn’t hurt to take a few minutes to learn from the folks below. They have all discovered their own passions in life, and are happier, more fulfilled people because of it. Life is WAY too short to just coast through on auto-pilot. If you aren’t doing SOMETHING that you love (whether for work, or play), you simply are not living.

Ask Loved Ones
Ask the people who love you what you’re doing when you’re the happiest! Sometimes, we’re so consumed by our lives that we don’t realize the things that make us happy. But our friends and family know when we’re the happiest, and can help steer us in the direction of our passion.
-Christine Pembleton: Author, Entrepreneur, Speaker & Minister

Read Widely and Often
Newspapers, books, blogs. As you read about what others are doing, at some point a piece of information will resonate and spark an internal process of you seeing yourself in that situation. Be an armchair explorer into the lives of others via their writings.
-Saverio Mancina: Marketing & Communications Director

If Money Wasn’t an Issue
I found my passion by asking myself this: “If I had a million dollars in the bank, and I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow, how would I spend my day?” The answer was that I would travel and I would write. That said, I sold the house and traveled America. I then wrote a best-selling book about motorcycle touring, and recently my National Geographic book, USA 101, was released.
-Gary McKechnie: Author, USA 101

Relax and Look Back
Think about all the different things you loved as a child and young person. Don’t edit; just think about skills, activities, work or play. This works well with a friend because you can bounce ideas off each other. Make a list; include everything. Then, move forward to adulthood and review your list. What does it say about you that is still true? Are there childhood things that can morph to adult activities? What pleasures from childhood can be adapted to your present life?
-Linda Edelstein, Ph.D.: Psychologist & Author, Writer’s Guide to Character Traits

Describe Your Perfect Day
Describe your perfect day (the answers WILL contain clues as to what you’d like to be spending your time on). Is it spending more time with your pet? Drawing? Volunteering? Gardening? All of these can help you define what you like to spend your time on, and help to be an outline for a new job, hobby or career!
-DeAnna Radaj: Bante Design LLC/3E Products

Create a Passion Board
Grab a dozen old magazines and cut out the words and phrases that jump out and connect with you. Don’t worry that you’ve never been to the Opera, if it is something you’d like to learn about, put it up on the board and take yourself to see a show at a local house or community center.
-Brenda Della Casa: Author of Cinderella Was a Liar and Walking Barefoot

Think About the Things You Enjoy
Stop. Sit. Relax. Think. Think about the things you enjoy. Of those things, which ones give you a productive feeling? And of those, which one(s) make you feel fulfilled? Finally, of this narrowed down list, which one gives you happiness day in and day out? Because it is THAT one that you can continue doing for years to come and enjoy to the nth degree.
-Logan Lindabury: Founder of Laughtub

Examine Your Free Time
Look at what you spend the majority of your free time doing – and then figure out how to get paid to do it! I love my home state of Michigan. I love to travel around it. I love to eat in its restaurants, visit its wineries, attend its festivals and events, golf its courses, paddle its rivers, cruise on its lakes. After working seven years for a regional tourism association, I launched my own marketing consulting company called PROMOTE MICHIGAN in which I get to do all the things I love on a daily basis.
-Dianna Stampfler: Promote Michigan

Ask a Friend
Have a friend toss out 25 different topics and ask you to talk (a few sentences) about each. Have your friend note when your whole face transforms–a smile appears, your eyes light up, your pace of speaking quickens. Chances are, when this happens, you are speaking about a topic you love.
-Dr. Marlene Caroselli: Speaker, Corporate Trainer & Author

Don’t Just Sit Around
Don’t sit around trying to figure out what you may or not be passionate about. Just get out there and try new things! If something catches your eye then give it a go because you never know where it may lead.
-Hannah Swales: Project Manager, Team Nomad

Listen to Your Gut
Your intuition, or inner voice, is an invaluable source of information. Start developing a keen awareness of the “dialogue” within you — even asking questions and waiting for the answers. Rarely, if ever, will your gut-level hunches lead you astray. Follow them!
-Kathy Caprino: Founder/President of Ellia Communications, Inc.

Times You Have Endless Energy
Think of times in your life when you seemingly had endless energy. We all experience times in life when we seem to have endless energy, where we feel like we could go on forever. When we are engrossed in activities that we are passionate about we tend to find sources of energy we didn’t know we had.
-Mark Black: Motivational Speaker, Author & Coach

Go Out and Experience Life
Go out and experience life, even if it’s just lunch with a friend. You never know what you might discover on the walk from the car to the restaurant. Be Alice and go down the rabbit hole to see what’s on the other side. You just might find your own spark that will lead you to a whole new world.
-Brooke Coe: Construction Artist / Interior Design

Take a New Class
I took a class to try something new. I always liked dichroic glass jewelry…in fact spent too much money on it…so I decided to take a fused glass class at a local art center. Just one class and I was hooked! About four weeks after my first class I started FOXY Fusions, started selling fused glass jewelry at craft fairs, and earned enough money to buy my very first kiln.
-Kerry Lawnsby: FOXY Fusions