Open YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, and you can easily find several posts from people who claim to be at a happy place in their lives by following their passions. You might have heard of or read about or easily come across many photos or videos on Social Media mentioning successful personalities that rose from the soil to the skies by simply following their passions.
Various motivational speakers with confidence oozing out of their very personas would direct you towards following your dreams, doing what you love, working for yourself, working on yourself, working to lift up your ‘self,’ living your life in the classic sense of the word by doing what you like, etc, etc. To cut it short, the first step towards success is to identify your passion and follow it ardently.
Personally, I feel that finding one’s passion can be a tricky affair since sometimes, it can be a little difficult to decide what you exactly love; a multitude of options arise in your mind that only lead to confusion which in turn results in headache. Other times, when you are able to find out what you truly love, it becomes difficult to make it your profession since many factors like sacrifices and compromises on the social, familial, and economic front come into play. This again leads to confusion which in turn results in headache. Moreover, it is very easy to go with the flow of the world, sticking to the pattern laid out by the society, and following the ‘template’ that gives you monetary comfort, non-fussy, juggle-free but mechanical, monotonous life.
Everybody loves the thrill- we all are guilty of it. The problem is that very few of us possess the guts to seek it. For most of the people, following their passions is adventurous but a difficult and risky affair since it demands compromises on the financial zone of life. But do not you worry! I am here to make things easy for you- to help you in finding out your passion and advise you to seek it in a way by which you can not only nurture your inner peace but attain economic success as well.
What is Passion and how to identify it?
Certain things that we do in our life make us more than happy, give us a dopamine rush while we pursue them which in turn lead to more excitement and impart a multitude of positive emotions in our being. The thought alone of these things or ideas rejuvenate our senses, feed our senses, make us so energetic that we lose the track of time, we lose our appetite while they take over our minds. For instance, if a person has a strong liking for body-building, he/she will not stop talking or discussing or reading about it; the thoughts of various lifting methods and techniques won’t let him/her sleep or he/she will develop a body-alarm and wake up in time, following the diet schedule, and training the brain in such a manner that it will surpass the thoughts food or rest on its own. THIS IS PASSION.
To provide the dictionary meaning of it, Passion is the strong, intense or uncontrollable emotion you have for a person, an idea, a thought or a practice. It is more than excitement; something in which you put your heart and soul, something that gives you the feeling of immense joy and happiness when you pursue it. Passion could be anything like, playing a particular sport, writing fiction, helping people, brewing beer, fixing phones, reviewing pani-puri stalls or writing Uber/Ola Pool stories on your blog. It could be anything, and anything can be converted into bread if you are dedicated enough.
Passion is both a drug that gives you a kick and an anti-depressant that keeps you going. It gives your life a purpose because when you are indulged in it, you forget about almost everything. It becomes the source of your happiness and your peace. Now, some people confuse passion with hobby but that is not so since both are two different terms. Let me explain this difference by giving you an example. Take Photography- if you click pictures once in a while because it makes you feel good, or maybe those ‘likes’ on Social Media give you happiness, then photography is just a hobby.
If you cannot sacrifice your vacations, weekend parties, social gatherings for your ‘interest’ in photography, and only click pictures in your ‘free’ time because it is a good option to pass it, then again, photography is just your hobby. However, if the thought of buying those expensive lenses to enrich this interest in photography has risen in your mind several times, if you have thought about leaving your ‘main’ job to pursue a career in it, if you are so dedicated to it that you travel places to click beautiful snaps and don’t seek anybody’s approval for make it your career, then photography is your passion.
Your passion is your ultimate dream. At times, the ultimate dream demands unimaginable sacrifices on your part. The point is that you must be willing to take the risks as they are worth the troubles.
I hope you have understood what passion means. First thing is to identify it, and I hope you will now be able to find out what it is that gives you the ultimate ‘kick.’ The next thing that comes after knowing your passion is learning about it which we will discuss in the next article.
Leave your views in the comments below.
Meanwhile, you can join my Facebook group, “Grow Your Art” which is a community (in the making) of photographers, cinematographers, other artists belonging to the similar stream. This community aims at developing a healthy environment for the collective growth of individuals in this business. The artists here actively participate in the discussions, and help and guide each other to grow in the Indian market.
Chirag Barjatya 
Pingback: Chapter 10 – Major Threats and How to Overcome Them – Chirag Barjatya
Pingback: Conclusion – Chirag Barjatya