I’ve just returned from a trip to Europe (which is why we haven’t had any updates, sorry). I highly recommend that you visit Trier if you happen travel around western Germany or Luxembourg in summer—the green hills just make you feel as if you had ventured right into the heart of Hobbiton; and the home of Karl Marx and Emperor Constantine offers a tranquil break from the hustle and bustle of the bigger European cities. I’m still in travel mode, but I’ll stop before this whole post turns into a crappy travel guide. Now let’s switch the topic to discovering your passion.
What we’re talking about is the discovery of an activity (such as a skill) that you have a burning desire to pursue. Not every activity should be sought for the purpose of accumulating riches, but earning a living from something that you love to do and are passionate about can grant you both time and the necessary resources to keep pursuing that passion.
If you are learning a skill right now, stop for a moment. I’d like you to take a moment to analyze what you’re doing and what you’re aiming at in the long run. It often happens that we get excited to learn a new skill but soon forget its underlying purpose. We end up asking ourselves, “Why am I learning this skill?” We lose focus. Whether or not it’s your chief purpose in life, it’s important that you’re clear about what it is that you’re trying to accomplish.
Say you’re learning Spanish—but for what specific reason are you doing it? Well, to learn how to speak Spanish, of course. Good. But if you want to maintain consistency and prevent dropping the endeavor, you need to define your goals more clearly. While learning Spanish for the sake of learning the language definitely sounds rational, as a mental stimulus it is too ambiguous and often fails to provide long-lasting motivation.
Don’t get me wrong. I do believe in achieving better results through detailed project planning. But I equally believe that if we focus too much on it, and obsess about it, it can become counter-productive. The important thing is to plan out your projects, and start working on them as soon as possible.
If you get stuck in the planning phase, you won’t be advancing any closer to your goals, because you’re only struggling to make the project plan perfect. You’re not focusing on the big picture. There’s always a constant stream of ideas that you can funnel into your project plan, but if you fail to take the steps to actually launch your project, nothing will result from the plan. Project plans can never be perfect, and trust me, they can be polished to infinity if one has the energy for it. This is why you need to take action as soon as possible.
Self-Learner is a blog about self-education and self-improvement based lifestyle design. Goal? To become the best "version" of yourself, and feel excited to jump out of your bed every morning.