It’s irritating. Frustrating. Overwhelming. They say “Follow your dreams”, “Chase your passion”.

And you would. You really would. But there’s a problem. A huge problem.

You have no idea what your “passion” or “dream” is.

Once we know our passion then we can follow it with insane tenacity. The problem isn’t that people hold back from their passion. It’s that you have no clue what your passion is.

If you have no idea what your dream is you can’t follow it.

You read blogs, books, and get advice from anyone with a pulse. The truth isn’t you lack discipline, focus or commitment.

It’s much simpler than that… But also much scarier to admit.

The truth, is you have no idea what you want to do with your life…

So, what’s the solution?

It’s simple :). Go find your passion…. Now I’m starting to sound like those “gurus” aren’t I?

But don’t worry I won’t leave you hanging. Below I list 10 very specific ways you can begin the process to discover your passion and dreams.

1. Develop a 5 year vision

Open up a word document (or take out a piece of paper and pen), and grab a stopwatch. Set the timer for 8 minutes.

Imagine all of your dreams have come true over the last 5 years of your life. You have everything you ever wanted. You are going to write in extensive detail what your life is like:

What time do you wake up? What activities do you do? Who do you hang out with? How much money do you make? How do you make money? What do you eat? How do you feel? Write down everything that comes to mind!

Set the timer at 8 minutes. Go! Go! Go!

2. Read non-fiction self-help books and implement a major action.

Reading a great self-help book is incredibly powerful. But this comes with a caveat. It’s only powerful if you are able to adopt and implement the ideas you get from the book.

Read a full book (not just the first chapter!) and focus on taking away one major idea. Not 2, 5 or 20! Focus on getting one idea and then immediately implement it in your life. If you read 12 books per year and implement one idea per book you won’t recognize yourself a year from today.

3. Volunteer in your community.

Fat, lazy, boring people don’t tend to volunteer. You know who does volunteer- interesting and motivated people who love to give back.

The more you surround yourself with positive people the more likely you are to start believing in your own capabilities. Also, you might be shocked at how much you like the activity.

4. Start that hobby you’ve been wanting to begin.

We all have that hobby that we’ve been saying for years “I’m gonna start that.” But year after year keeps passing. Make today that day! There’s a reason you are drawn to this hobby. Just go for it!

5. Read an inspiring blog then take action.

Identify a blog that you love! Not “like” but “love”! Then read 5 posts that draw you in. Then immediately take action based on what you learn. There is a reason you are drawn to this content. By taking action you will start to open a floodgate to learn amazing things about yourself.

6. Send an email “questionnaire” to loved ones.

Send an email to all the people you love in your life. These are the people that know you best. The following works perfectly: “Hi (name here). I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, but I don’t know where to start. What do you think I would be amazing at?”

I have done this numerous times. You will be shocked! People that are around you all the time see your strengths and skills but since it’s not “normal conversation” it never comes up. Just make sure you send it to supportive, positive people who love you.

7. Ask and answer the question “What do I want to do?” with no limits.

Just sit back and ask yourself “What do I want to do with my life?” and hold nothing back. Don’t accept any excuses. Most likely that one thing that you say “Well I would love to ________ but I could never do that because _____________” is your thing.

8. Do things that scare you.

Choose something that scares you and go out and do it. When we face our fears we learn immense things about our character. It’s incredibly confidence building to attempt to do things that scare us. Also, very often the reason it scares us is because it means so much to us. The reason it means so much is because deep down in our core – we want it more than anything in the world!

9. Actively seek out “awkward situations.”

Have you ever attended a “community social event” and you didn’t know anyone. The great thing about attending awkward situations is that it gives us a wonderful opportunity to learn about ourselves. Because we feel uncomfortable we are highly aware of ourselves and those around us. It basically causes forced reflection. Which is always a great thing!

10. Always focus on learning.

In every single situation, no matter what happens, always ask yourself: What can I learn from this? What does this tell me about myself?

If you learn in every single situation… Just imagine how much clarity that would bring to your life.

——–

Izzy is living, breathing proof you can pursue your dream. no matter how crazy it is. Izzy’s a former teacher who lives in Japan. He’s pursuing his childhood dream: to become a ninja. Check out The Ninja Tool Kit– resources, books and tools to inspire, encourage and educate you to follow your dreams.