How long have you been looking for your passion?

I was told, as you likely were as well, that when you follow your passion, you’ll never work a day in your life.

I’d been looking in areas that intrigued me but I’d never found anything that was my passion.

You may have wondered or still do wonder if you’ll ever actually find it.

You start with something that sparks an interest and you think, “Ah ha! This is it!”

And then later realize it’s only a passing fancy.

Or you trudge along in your day-to-day drudgery with hope and anticipation for that magical moment where trumpets sound and a chorus of sopranos sings in beautiful harmony, “This is your PAAAAAASIIIIIIIIOOOOON!”

As a culture we can spend a lot of time searching far and wide for our passion when it could be right there in front of us.

It reminds me of Acres of Diamonds, the story of a wealthy man who sold his prosperous farm to hunt for diamonds.

He travelled the world, ever searching.

He found no diamonds and died broke and alone.

Not long after, someone found the biggest diamond haul ever discovered.

Where was it?

On the land the farmer had left behind.

Last week I shared a quote by Margaret Case, a woman I have interviewed about life purpose, about putting your stake in the ground.

She turned my assumption—that when I found my passion, my career would follow—on its head:

“Make [your career] your all. Make it your new hobby. Turn it into your passion and it will fuel itself and all of a sudden it’s what you’re looking for.”

See the full interview here.

Isn’t our search for passion just like that man’s quest for diamonds?

Instead, let’s plow the land under our feet and strike it richer than we dreamed possible.