How will you know when you’re living a passionate life? Once you know what your definition of passion is, it’s time to look at what your end goal is. It’s crucial that you uncover how you’ll know that you’re living a passionate life. What are the signs that will tell you that you’ve arrived? It’s rarely money, wealth, fame or any of those things. It’s something beyond that.

It was perhaps only a generation or two ago that most people thought of their jobs as just that: jobs. The work that you did was a means to an end, and you found meaning in your life through other, well, means. These days, many people are less interested in “jobs” than they are in callings, or doing what they love, or pursuing their passions. A good paycheck is no longer enough.

You might recognize Henri Junttila. Several years ago, on more than one occasion, I actually featured his blog in my What’s Up Wednesdays speedlink. His mindset, as far as I can gather, is similar to that of my own. We think a lot about what it all means and why we do what we do. In his book, Find Your Passion: 25 Questions You Must Ask Yourself, Henri Junttila challenges readers to reflect on what they really want to do with their lives.

Are you living a passionate life? And what does that even mean?

For so many of us, it can feel like we’re just going through the motions. Like running in a hamster wheel, we keep moving and we look busy, but we’re not actually getting anywhere. Many of us desire this ideal of living a “passionate life,” but so many of us don’t even know what that means. Not really. We don’t really come to appreciate what it means to do what you love,

As Henri Junttila reminds us, it’s so easy to get caught up on superficial objectives, like wealth and fame. Money is necessary, to be sure, but it’s insufficient on its own. Passion is so much more than that.

You may discover that you have unrealistic expectations of what a passionate life is. You may discover that you’re not after passion at all, but after the approval of others.

It wasn’t all that long ago that I defended the term “influencer.” In trying to figure out the “why” in my life, in trying to determine what really drives me to do what I do, it’s this desire to be seen as “the” person to ask about XYZ subject.

While this might sound like “fame” is the objective, it’s not. And maybe Junttila is right in that I seek the approval of others a bit too much. For my part, I enjoy learning… and then I enjoy sharing what I learn with the people around me. That’s part of the reason why I started the vlog. It’s a big part of the reason why this blog exists.

For instance, I learn from reading books and then I share excerpts in the Sunday Snippet series. I’m excited and enthusiastic about sharing the things I learn and experience.

The most obvious things are the things we miss. And the things we miss are the things that make us come alive.

What are your greatest strengths? So many of us overlook our strengths because we take them for granted. We assume that just because something comes easily for us that it must come easily for everyone else. However, it’s precisely because you find it easy that it’s remarkably valuable for others who don’t have it. Don’t overlook the obvious.

And while this lends itself to the professional pursuit of your passion, you don’t have to do it for a living. You do, however, have to do it. Find the time. Even if no one ever reads it, you need to write. Even if no one ever sees it, you need to paint it. Do it because you love it. Do it because it makes you come alive. Find your passion.

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