By: Dr. Gwen Smith

Do you struggle to discover what your passions are? Are you randomly following ideas about identifying things you love, or once loved, to find it, only to still come up confused? 

To start, what I’ll recommend in this article are the areas of your life to consider, when looking to discover your passions. These areas will help you clarify where to look, since we don’t all have passions in the same areas of life. 

When you look at these areas, you’ll have a more complete, comprehensive look, and may even discover other areas in which your passions could lie. 

My recommendation is to identify your top 3-5 passions and find a way to incorporate them in your day-to-day living, as often as possible. Sometimes, you could test the area by participating in an activity associated with the passion to see if it resonates. 

But if you don’t know what they are, and don’t have a system to help you discover them, you can’t even begin to test them or to enjoy their benefits. And, you could find yourself on a wild goose chase, trying to start different ventures only to discover that they don’t resonate. 

In general, the research shows that there are seven areas of life that people find purpose or well-being within. We refer to them in coaching as the Wheel of Life. 

These areas vary according to different representations, but they generally cover the same things:

1. Physical Environment
2. Career/Business
3. Finances
4. Health and Well Being
5. Relationships (Family, Friends, Intimate)
6. Spirituality or Personal Development
7. Social Life or Fun

When embarking on your passion-discovery mission, each of these areas must be considered. Think about any and everything you like to do in each category and write them down on a list as present-continuous action steps: 

Example “I am traveling …” .

Use the following questions as a guide to help with your list:

1. Is there a certain “thing,” area or task that really excites me and makes me happy when I am actually working on it or doing it? 
2. What are the things in society that make me angry? These are things you are passionate about making a difference in.
3. What are some things I loved to do as a child that I’ve now given up hope of doing or becoming?
4. What are the things in life that give me increased vitality and energize me no matter how long I’m doing them?
5. What parts of … (area under consideration) do I love?
6. Why do I do this particular work and not something else? This question will get to your motivation for doing what you do. Number your list.

When you cover a holistic approach to passion discovery, you’ll uncover areas of your life that is not just about work that will light your light up like magic. 

Once you have this list, it takes a process, connecting with your intuition to sort through the list to arrive at your Top 5. Connect and sort, then apply those passions to your life. 

If you want to find out more details about how you can do this, you can download a free guide here: