Original article published on Elephant Journal. Please read it here.
I’m multi-passionate, and most of my life, I didn’t understand the benefit of it.
As a child, I didn’t have an answer to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
I had so many options. As I grew up and experienced more of life, the answers multiplied.
To the outside, the non-multi-passionate world, it can look like I’m non-committal. To a girl who didn’t understand being multi-passionate, it equated to fleeting happiness.
I’d get into something new. I’d throw myself into it and then feel the pull to focus on another passion and throw myself into that too. You get the gist.
It felt like a constant pull in different directions. The pull to do, be, have, and experience many things. This pull is innate, part of who we are. There’s no changing it or denying it, and the pressure to change leads to unhappiness.
There seems to be a spoken and sometimes unspoken rule in society, implying that we should commit to something and stick it out, no matter what.
That’s great if you’re a single passion kind of person. It doesn’t work for multi-passionate people. The only way around it is finding a way to weave multiple passions into what we do and find space for the rest.
So how do we weave multiple passions into what we do?
Here’s how I did it and what I discovered along the way:
1. Stop trying to pick one.
I stopped trying to find the one special gift I could give the world. I accepted that I have many passions, and I just needed one vehicle to deliver them.
2. Get crystal clear on your strengths
I took the StrengthsFinder® test. I realized that one of my strengths was starting things at ease by jumping in. I learn by doing. This helped me understand my passions better. I love the beginning of building businesses. I’m not a procrastinator. To others, it may appear like I’m jumping around, but I do things others only dream about.
3. Accept that there’s a bigger calling.
I accepted that there was a bigger calling for my life and that my passions would serve as the drive, excitement, and motivation to deliver that call to the world.
4. List your passions and get clear on purpose.
I made a list of all the things I’m interested in and everything the world needs. I narrowed them down and married the two.
5. What breaks your heart?
I thought a lot about what broke my heart and continues to break my heart. I found my greater calling.
6. Live outside the box.
Sometimes we can take what we’re good at and put it inside a box. I’m gifted at empathetically listening to people’s struggles and knowing what they need to hear to open them up to growth and healing. With that in mind, I pursued my Masters in Counseling.
However, having the degree kept me stuck because I felt if I was not pursuing this as a career, I had failed a part of me. I came to realize that I never needed the degree to fulfill and pursue that gift. It was only a vehicle to deliver my gift.
I organized my passions, gifts, and purpose and found that I am passionate about health, fitness, travel, self-care, healing emotional pain, spirituality, intuition, entrepreneurship, writing, counseling, and nature.
I think the world needs love, care, support, trust, peace, joy, and faith in self and others.
What breaks my heart? I am heartbroken when unconditional love is withheld.
I looked at my list of passions, and I grouped ones that complemented each other. For example, writing, entrepreneurship, self-love, counseling, healing, and intuition all work well together.