Let’s cut through the fluff and get to the point. If you want to discover your passion, you have to dive headfirst into the chaos of your own life. Stop waiting for some magical moment of clarity to slap you across the face. Passion isn’t going to stroll up and camp out on your front porch. No, passion is often more like a wild beast that you have to hunt down, wrestle to the ground, and claim as your own. Here are a few steps to track down your passion.

Get Real

First, quit lying to yourself. Stop pretending things are great if in reality you feel like life is sucking your soul dry. If you’re more excited about your coffee breaks than your actual work, it’s time to wake up. Be brutally honest. What makes your heart race? What lights a fire in your belly? Dig deep and face the uncomfortable truths about what you really want. This isn’t the time to be nice; it’s time to be raw and unfiltered.

Get Uncomfortable

Your comfort zone is your enemy. It’s a cozy prison that keeps you from exploring your true potential. Smash through those walls. Try new things, even if they scare the heck out of you. Take risks. Sign up for that salsa class, join a hiking club, or start that side hustle. The point is to push yourself into unknown territory. Growth doesn’t happen in the safe, predictable zones. It happens when you’re on the edge, teetering on the brink of something new and terrifying. You need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable if you’re going to live out your passion.

Embrace Failure

Get ready to fail. Seriously, failure is your best friend in this journey. Every failure is a lesson wrapped in grit and discomfort. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough. It’s been said that Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times before he invented the lightbulb. And WD-40 is actually the 40th try! Let that sink in. Success and passion are often found on the other side of failure. So, stumble, fall flat on your face, and get back up. Each failure is a stepping stone towards discovering what truly ignites your passion.

Listen To Your Inner Jiminy Cricket

You know the conscience in the Disney classic Pinocchio. Let your conscience be your guide. Well it’s time to cut through the noise of other people’s opinions. Everyone and their grandma will have an opinion on what you should do with your life. Sometimes you need to simply block them out. Tune into your inner voice, that gut feeling that tells you what excites you. It’s not always going to make sense to others, and that’s okay. This is your journey, not theirs. Trust your gut. You know more than you think.

Move Already!

Dreaming without action is just a waste of time. You can sit around fantasizing about your passion all day long, but if you don’t take steps toward it, you’re just blowing smoke. Start small if you have to. Read a book about something that interests you. Attend a workshop. Network with people who are already living your dream. Every little action builds momentum. Before you know it, you’re not just dreaming; you’re doing. Sitting around won’t move you toward your passions unless your passion is sitting on the couch? There’s no couch sitting games in the olympics so get up and get moving toward your goals! They won’t accomplish themselves.

Assess and Adjust

Regularly take a step back and reflect. What have you tried? What worked? What didn’t? Adjust your course accordingly. This isn’t a straight path; it’s a winding road with detours and roadblocks. Stay flexible and adapt. Passion evolves, and so should your approach. Keep refining your direction based on your experiences and insights. Regularly slowing down to see where you’ve been and what you’ve tried will help hone your approach for the next steps toward being who and what you are called to be.

Know Your Surroundings

Energy is contagious. Surround yourself with people who are passionate about their lives. Their enthusiasm will rub off on you. Seek out mentors, join communities, and engage with people who inspire you. Ditch the naysayers and energy vampires who drag you down. It’s been said that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, so choose wisely.

This is why people struggling with addiction will surround themselves with others who are farther ahead on the journey than they are. This is why people who want to get fit generally start in a gym. Being around people with similar passions is super helpful! But being around people any passion that causes them to get excited is contagious! Be careful you just might become and excited person yourself.

Never Settle

Finally, never settle for mediocrity. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins says that the greatest enemy of great is good. Don’t settle for good enough when great is within your grasp.

Life is too short to live someone else’s dream or to half— your way through it. Demand more from yourself. Strive for excellence in everything you do. Push yourself to go beyond where you were yesterday. This isn’t a competition with the world around you. It’s a competition with the complacency within you. When you settle, you betray your own potential. Keep pushing, keep striving, and never, ever give up.

Discovering your passion isn’t a one-time event. It’s a relentless pursuit. It’s a journey that requires guts, grit, and an unwavering commitment to living life on your own terms. So get out there and unleash the beast within you. The world is waiting and it needs your passion.