A couple of years ago, I read a book called The Passion Test by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood. It was a fantastic book that helped me to figure out not only what I’m passionate about, but what’s important to me and what I want to get out of my life. It describes many different techniques to help you figure this out, but my favorite was their Passion Test. What you do is list everything that you love to do including your interests and things that are important to you. Once you have completed this, you compare the first two items and decide which one is more important to you, then you take that item and compare it to the next one on the list deciding again which one is most important to you and so on until you have your #1 passion. Then, you go through and do it again to find out what is 2nd most important, and so on until you have everything listed in order. Then, you take your top 5 items and try to center your life around these passions. They recommend that you retake the test every 6 months to a year since your priorities will change.
Every once in a while, I come across my mini booklet I made with my top 5 passions, and I realize that I am actively making these goals the center of my life. They discuss in the book that once you realize what is most important to you, your life will naturally start to align with your passions, and that is exactly what happened for me!
Here were my Top 5 Passions from 2 years ago (you are supposed to list them as if they have already happened):
- I am working for myself from home (time freedom).
- I am free of debt (financial freedom).
- I am friendly, confident, calm, and peaceful.
- I am in shape and healthy.
- I am spending time with like-minded people.
I retook the Passion Test on July 28, 2012, and here are my new Top 5 Passions in order:
- I am in shape and healthy.
- I am a successful entrepreneur.
- I am debt-free.
- I am peaceful, loving, kind, joyful, and happy.
- I am living life fully/being present every day.
What are your Top 5 Passions?
I don’t exactly intend on doing that list at this moment…but a lucky guess would be that my number 1 is working from home and having that freedom as you do, my number 2 would be participating in my relationship in a healthy way, my 3 would be staying off cigarettes and being physically active, my 4 would be taking great care of my dog and getting him socialized, and my 5 would be…I don’t know..maybe learning about cooking! I do want to try this list thing, though! Great idea to put in a post!
Those all sound like great ones! I highly recommend you try out the test, it really may surprise you! Thanks for the comment
Hi, there:) I stumbled upon yo blog and Ive seen some really nice posts. I’ve been having the same problem with finding out what it is I’m passionate about. Imma take the test and hope that I finally find it.
Thank you! You should definitely read The Passion Test if you are struggling to find your passions. It is a great read with lots of help and inspiration. Good luck!
I was just discussing #5 with a friend yesterday. This is so important! And it’s not to say that you can’t be around or befriend people with different opinions, necessarily, just people with the same overall goals in life or similar mantras. Couldn’t agree more with your whole list, in fact!
Thanks! And I agree
I actually am going to do The Passion Test again this weekend and see if my priorities have shifted at all…I know that I still think all these things are important, just want to see what is MOST important now. Did you do the test? I’d love to hear what you came up with!
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