Let yourself be silently drawn by the strong pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.
How well do you know yourself and what makes you happy? Can you articulate your passions in detail?
Passions are the factors that motivate people both in and outside the workplace. Knowing what inspires you and effectively unleashing this potential is the cornerstone of our methodology and the key to you finding and following work you love. At Three Giant Leaps, we break down passions into four categories to help you develop this principle and to help you know what lights you up and motivates you in a deeper way:
1. Interests are those ideas or topics that stimulate you. As you identify those topics, consider things that you know about as well as those you would like to learn more about. Long-term career satisfaction is dependent upon how well and to what extent an area of interest can hold your attention. Interests include things like technology, social justice, and art.
2. Talents are skills that give you energy when you engage in them. Talents are skills but not all skills are talents. I define talents as those skills that you long for when you are not engaging in them. One way to discern the difference is to consider this: if you had a choice, you would not delegate a talent to someone else. Talents include things like using your hands to fix things, writing, speaking and leading.
3. Style defines how you are at work when you are being your most authentic. How you would behave at work if you could really express yourself freely might offer clues to your soul work. Your personal style includes those attributes that you bring to an organization or industry, beyond your talents or skills. Style includes things like a sense of humor, empathy and vision.
4. Environment defines what you need at your workplace. Understanding what you need at work will help you find the right cultural fit. Even if all the other factors are in place, the wrong environment can make even inspired work seem miserable. Think about the optimal environmental qualities that would make up your perfect work culture, whether you plan to create it yourself, or find it at an organization. Environmental attributes include a style of design, access to nature and levels of competitiveness.
1. Make a list of 5-10 of your own passions in each of the 4 categories above. Consider personal interests as well as professional ones.
2. Use your imagination and the internet to come up with 2-5 NEW ideas you may want to explore in the future for each category. Add things here that you may not have experience with but peak your curiosity.