Is Seeking Passion a Dead End?

I live at the end of a cul-de-sac. There are two ways to get to the houses on my street, or at least, there used to be. A few months ago, the bridge that connected my street to a main road closed for construction. Almost every time I’m out for a walk, I’ll see an independent delivery driver, most likely a DoorDasher, make their way up to the bridge, encouraged by their GPS, only to realize it’s a dead end. If they’re close enough, I’ll give them a wave and then watch as they reroute. The thing is, I’ve never seen the same driver make that mistake twice. Once they know the bridge is closed, they choose a different route the next time. They actively avoid the dead end.

You know what else can lead to a dead end?

Passion seeking.

But unlike the delivery drivers… I have failed to reroute.

Well… thankfully, I’m now in the process of rerouting.

This article is fully inspired by How to Live a Meaningful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. They are the bestselling authors of Designing Your Life, a book I’ve praised in a prior article.

How to Live a Meaningful Life is different, though. The authors took feedback from readers and somehow simplified what it means to live a meaningful life.

They share that one of the questions they hear all the time from purpose seekers is:

How do I find my passion?

They go on to describe the kind of passion people are searching for as this all-consuming, authentic drive, or some sort of a noble mission that gives life meaning, gets you out of bed in the morning, and allows you to respect the person staring back at you in the mirror at night (p. 17).

I picked up this book because I was one of those people asking, “How do I find my passion?” So when I read this, I thought, hallelujah! Yes! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! Finally!

But...then they say something surprising: they’ve only met a handful of people who claim to have found that kind of passion. Meanwhile, they’ve had thousands of conversations with people stuck on the same passion-finding quest.

A failed quest.

Like me.

Why?

Because seeking passion… is a dead end.

They explain this by sharing that looking for “your passion” implies there is one perfect answer or one right, authentic, dependable thing you’re meant to do, and that finding it is a prerequisite for living a meaningful life.

And when we have that mindset, we start dismissing opportunities because they aren’t good enough or don’t meet the unrealistic standard of being “the one.”

That’s the dead end.

But, don't worry! There is a way to reroute.

The authors suggest flipping the question from finding your passion to living passionately.

Okay… that sounds awesome in theory, but am I the only one who finds those directions a little confusing?

Here’s how I’m interpreting it: it’s like taking the back roads. The route is windier, there aren’t as many exit signs, but it’s a lot more fun. It’s the kind of trip where you blast the radio, put the windows down, and just… drive. You may even do that thing where you put your hand out the window and let it sway in the wind… kind of like you’re catching a wave (if you know, you know).

If we shift from trying to navigate one perfect route to “find” our passion, to exploring multiple routes to live more passionately, we start to discover small pockets of purpose in our everyday lives.

Instead of asking, What is my passion?

We start asking: How can I bring more passion into what I’m doing right now?

That gives me the same freeing feeling I get when I’m driving on the back roads with the windows down.

If you’re a passion-seeker like me, it can feel like there’s endless pressure to find and figure out that one ultimate thing. But what if we just sit in the driver’s seat, look out the windshield, and enjoy the view?

This book, and this concept, is new to me, so I can’t give you my usual “I tried this and here’s what happened” testimonial, but I can tell you this: I’m excited to reroute and just drive.

Are you ready to reroute, too?

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Find one thing that brings you joy today.