I happened upon a post by Daniel Pink today that I found very interesting.  I’m a fan on Mr. Pink’s; indeed as a right brained person, I’m especially enamored of A Whole New Mind:  Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future…(yea, I’m totally down with that;)).

Anyways, in today’s post, Pink talks about how he dislikes when coaches ask clients “What’s your passion?”  He suggests that you simply ask “What do you do?”  Hmmmm…seems almost too simple, eh?  And yes, I am guilty as charged of asking that very question (the passion one) many times.

BUT…

This has been nagging me all day, and here’s my take on this whole passion thing.  Passion is, of course, a wonderful thing.  It fires the imagination, provides motivation and inspiration; it’s also, in my opinion, not something to hang your career hat on the rest of your life.

Choosing “what to do” is like having a good marriage.  The passion will come and go throughout the course of a good marriage, but the love, commitment, devotion, and liking each other is what gives the marriage staying power.  And so it is with choosing to “do what you love”.  Pink alludes to this analogy as well and I think it’s perfect.

Pink goes on to say that he came to this conclusion from Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project.  She simply noticed what she was doing while she was practicing law.  She was also writing and realized that writing could be more than a hobby…it could be what she did.

And as Pink so brilliantly points out, this is how we find our way.  It’s in the doing, the actions, the noticing (which is a strategy I teach my clients), becoming more self aware of what it is you’re doing…and bam!  that sweet spot starts to appear.

I would not only ask “what do you do?” but I would take that a step further and ask “what do you want to do?”

Here are some questions to consider as you’re sloshing about in your own passion pit:

• What do you do?
• What do you want to do?
• How close are the first 2 questions?
• What do you spend you free time doing?
• What is a “piece of cake” for you (and that you enjoy!)
• What do people often compliment you on?

So go on and start doing that thing you do 🙂