To be truly happy, you need to discover your passion. The best way to discover what you’re truly passionate about is by doing a ton of things. Entrepreneur Connor Miller a former heroin addict who got clean and was able to find his passion and get back on his feet shares his story.
Finding My Passion:
“The key for anyone to find their passion is to try a bunch of different things. There was a day a few years back where I got home from the office and was just feeling extremely burnt out. This was the time when I decided I needed to find joy in other things besides just running the business. I remember sitting there looking at my wife and telling her I was feeling depressed and unfulfilled. She looked at me and asked “well, what are you doing for fun?” my response was “I’m not really sure.” then she asked me” what do you like to do?” The crazy thing about this question was I had no idea what I liked to do. So what did I do? I started to try different things that could potentially bring me joy and fulfillment.
After trying several different things I discovered photography, and creative storytelling through visuals such as video. This has become a huge passion of mine and has allowed me to share my story of overcoming adversity and beating drug addiction in a whole new way. This has allowed me to build a platform where I can share hope, love, and strength which are three things the world needs much more of.
My greatest passion of all is to bring hope and show love to the people needing it most.”
Tips For Finding Your Passion:
“The only way you can find your passion is to start doing,” says Connor Miller
“You have to be in “do” mode. No one is going to discover your passion for you.
No one is going to hold your hand and help you find fulfillment. That’s your job. It’s up to you.
You can sit around and think about shit as much as you want, but that’s going to mean absolutely nothing until you get out there and start trying shit.”
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome And Other Mental Blocks:
Connor Miller believes that the only way to overcome imposter syndrome is to stop thinking like an imposter.
The following are Connor Miller best tips:
- Separate your feelings from facts:
Meaning, there are times where we may feel stupid, or not good enough, or like a phony. Ask yourself why you feel these things and if they are in fact indicative of your performance.
- Drop the fake it till you make it bullshit:
Fake it until you make it leads to nothing good. In fact, my belief is that fake it till you make it leads to a false sense of self and depression. Because the whole point of faking it till you make it is at the end you actually have to make it. Most people that are adopting the fake it till you make it mentality aren’t putting in the actual work to make it. They think by fronting and putting on this facade that more opportunities will come to them because of how successful they appear to be. Wrong! This is the worst possible advice anyone could ever give you. Authenticity is the real reflection of a person’s make up. Not how many models you take photos with on Instagram.
- Develop a new response and thought process around failure:
Failure is an essential part of success. You should fail early, fail often, and fail forward. Failure is an opportunity to start again with more knowledge than you had when you previously attempted. Instead of beating yourself up for being human and blowing the big project, do what professional athletes do and glean the learning value from the mistake and move on.
- Develop a new script for how you approach new opportunities:
When you start a new job or project instead of thinking, “Wait till they find out I have no idea what I’m doing,” try thinking, “Everyone who starts something new feels off-base in the beginning. I may not know all the answers but I’m smart enough to find them out.”
The most practical thing we can do to overcome imposter syndrome and self-imposed limitations is to put the past behind you. No doubt you’ve had negative experiences when it comes to taking on new challenges. Most of us tend to make irrational comparisons between past bad experience and a current situation. But painful memories don’t have to remain obstacles to change.
You Don’t Need A Mentor To Find Your Passion:
For the most part, everything I know is self-taught. There was a point in my life where I made a decision that I wasn’t going to wait around for someone to look up to or someone to teach me. While a mentor can certainly help people build meaningful careers, I don’t think you need one to be successful. I’ve never had a traditional mentor—and neither have many of the professionals I know—but we’ve still found success in our careers. Here’s why:
- The Internet:
In the age of the internet, you can find practically anything online. If you want to learn how to negotiate, find a free online course to take or read up on a few articles. There are so many resources out there to help you learn a variety of skills—you don’t always need another individual to teach you something. Self-motivation is difficult, but not impossible.
Instead of waiting on mentors, use Google. We have all the information anyone would need to be successful right in the palm of our hands-on our smartphones.