the passion recipe

"follow your passion" is the worst career advice ever given. not because passion doesn't matter, but because most people have no idea what theirs actually is. they sit around waiting for lightning to strike, and it never does.

passion isn't found. it's built. and here's the recipe.

the curiosity inventory

grab a notebook and write down 50 things you're curious about. not 5, not 10 -- fifty. this is supposed to be hard. the first 15 will come easy. the next 20 will require digging. the last 15 will surprise you.

be specific. don't write "music." write "how hip-hop producers sample obscure 70s soul records." don't write "psychology." write "why some people thrive under pressure while others collapse."

the specificity matters because your passion lives in the details, not the categories.

find the intersections

now look at your list and find the patterns. where do topics overlap? what themes keep appearing? maybe you wrote about storytelling, persuasion, and behavioral psychology -- that's a cluster. maybe fitness, nutrition science, and habit formation keep showing up -- that's another one.

your passion isn't usually a single topic. it's the intersection of multiple curiosities. the person fascinated by both technology and education might build learning platforms. the person drawn to psychology and fitness might become a performance coach.

why this works

passion shows up after engagement, not before. you become passionate about things you spend time exploring. the curiosity inventory kickstarts that process by showing you where your natural attention already gravitates.

stop waiting for a sign. start following the trail your curiosity has already been leaving.

do this today

write the list of 50. it'll take about 30 minutes. circle the clusters. that's your starting map. now go deeper into one of those intersections and see if it pulls you forward.

if this resonated, share it with someone who needs to hear it.