Summary

A 31-year-old individual embarks on a journey of self-discovery through writing, initially struggling with finding a passion and overcoming fear of specialization, and eventually finding solace and enjoyment in writing and sharing thoughts.

Abstract

The author of the article, who has reached the age of 31, confesses to a struggle with identifying a true passion despite a successful corporate career. The fear of committing to a single specialization and the high opportunity costs associated with it have been significant barriers. After witnessing peers achieving life milestones, the author sets out on a year-long trip to Southeast Asia, hoping to uncover a passion. Despite an initial lack of progress, a chance encounter at a coworking event in Bali with someone who found clarity through writing inspires the author to try the same. Overcoming initial doubts and impostor syndrome, the author begins to write, finding the process beneficial for structuring thoughts and reducing anxiety. Although the search for a definitive passion continues, writing has emerged as an enjoyable and reflective practice, with a goal set to write 100 articles as a milestone for re-evaluation.

Opinions

The author envies those who discover their passion early in life and feels uncertainty about their own direction.
There is a fear of specialization and concern about the opportunity costs of dedicating life to a single pursuit.
The author values happiness as the ultimate achievement in life and feels a disconnect between their successful exterior and internal dissatisfaction.
The quote from Mark Twain resonates with the author's desire to find enjoyable work, but it also highlights the challenge when one cannot identify such work.
The author quickly identifies what they dislike but struggles to pinpoint their likes and passions.
Traveling is pursued as a means to find passion, but it initially leads to scattered knowledge and no clear direction.
A significant turning point occurs when the author meets someone who uses writing as a tool for self-reflection and clarity.
The author initially doubts their writing ability and whether their experiences are worthy of sharing, indicative of impostor syndrome.
Writing is seen as a way to force structuring of knowledge and enable objective self-reflection.
Despite the first article being subpar, the act of writing brings enjoyment and a decrease in anxiety.
The author acknowledges that writing has not yet led to discovering a definitive passion but appreciates the process and the potential to inspire or help others.
The goal to write 100 articles on Medium is set as a way to stay consistent and reassess the pursuit of passion.

How to Find Your True Passion?

My journey of self-discovery through writing

I envy people who found their passion early in life.

I have no idea what I am passionate about and never really knew what I wanted to do with my life. I have tried many things that I enjoyed, but never something that would make me want to explore deeper.

If I am honest with you, I am afraid of specialization. I love to be a generalist, learning about new things, but I never stuck with one so long to become an expert. It is scary to think that I must dedicate my life to one thing alone and put all the others aside. Opportunity costs are simply too high.

This year, I turned 31 and experienced a minor existential crisis.

Everybody around me seemed like they had everything figured out. They were enjoying their jobs, moving in with their significant others, and starting families. I, on the other hand, was still spending most of my time worrying about my future. On the surface, I was successful with my great corporate job and enough money to afford anything I needed (and didn’t need a lot), but deep down, I knew I was unhappy. And happiness for me is the ultimate thing I can achieve in life.

“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life” — Mark Twain

The quote above summarizes this nicely, but what if you can’t find it?

The problem is that I quickly know what I dislike, but I have yet to figure out what I do.

In pursuit of my passion, I packed my bags and embarked on a one-year traveling journey around Southeast Asia. I have read many stories about people finding their passion traveling and I was secretly hoping to become one of them.

After three months on the road, my goal seemed as far away as ever. I felt I was growing but had no way of measuring it. I have built a great deal of new knowledge, yet it was scattered all over my brain.

That all changed when I visited a coworking event in Bali. There, I met a guy on a similar path to mine. He was traveling for three years and was still lost. Recently, however, he started to put his thoughts into writing, which, according to him, helped him to self-reflect and think more clearly.

The first thought that entered my mind was: “Wow, that is precisely what I need.” Then my negative mindset took over: “But I suck at writing. And who the hell would want to listen to my thoughts anyway? There are so many people with more exciting stories that can offer much more.”

Thankfully, my new friend quickly reassured me that everybody has something to offer. After all, I spent the last five years working for a prestigious company in management consulting, which is the dream of many highly ambitious people. On top of that the company invested a great deal into both my personal and professional development.

He also reassured me that dealing with impostor syndrome is totally normal and I should fight it by simply writing one article.

Alright I thought to myself, how hard can it be?

Since nothing worked up to this point, I decided to test his proposal.

The reasoning behind this decision was two folded:

Force me to structure the knowledge in my brains
Observe my thoughts objectively and self-reflect

The first article I wrote was terrible, and publishing it felt scary. Still, I immediately knew that writing was something I enjoyed doing. So, despite my fears, I pressed publish and have not looked back since.

After writing several articles, I am still far from figuring out what I am genuinely passionate about. Yet, writing helped me realize one thing — I enjoy putting my thoughts down on paper and sharing them with others. I hope my life lessons can either inspire or help others who are on a similar life path.

Writing also decreases my anxiety, and I am starting to learn how to enjoy the process more than the outcome (whatever that outcome might be).

My goal is to stay consistent and write 100 articles on Medium. After that, I plan to sit down and re-evaluate whether I am any closer to finding my passion.

Until then, I plan to just show up every day and enjoy the ride.

Inspired by my story? Follow and join me on my journey from writing zero to a writing hero :)