From the day we start preschool, we are driven to find our passion. For real estate agents, it could be as simple as an internal drive to help people.
However, that passion is something that too many of us are searching for and Terri Trespicio says we all should end the search for something that may not be the answer to all of our questions.
Terri Trespicio is a New York–based speaker, writer, and brand strategist whose TEDx talk, “Stop Searching for Your Passion,” has been viewed more than 1.8 million times.
In her TEDx presentation, she points out that a cultural drive to find our passion may just be misplaced.
For nearly a decade, she served as a senior editor and radio host at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Then, one day, her world changed when she was laid off from her job.
“I had no idea what I was going to do and, quite frankly, nobody was looking for me,” she said.
Trespicio knew that she enjoyed life in New York City and, due to the cost associated with living in the Big Apple, she new she had to seek a job.
“The questions started to form,” she said. “What to do next? What to pursue.”
Life in New York City made it necessary for her to seek a job and everyone would ask her what her passion was.
“At the heart of our drive for success is a drive to find our passion,” she said. “Your job is to find it and pursue it at the exclusion of all else. If you do that, everything will fall into place. If you don’t, you have failed.”
And the drive to pursue our passions often endures throughout our life.
“It is like picking a major for life,” Trespicio said, noting that she had a hard time doing that in college, let alone for life.
Moreover, she pointed out that passion isn’t a plan, it is a feeling.
“Feelings change,” she said. “You can be passionate about a person or job one day, and not the next.”
Throughout life, people often ask us what we are passionate about. Whether it is in a social setting or even a job interview, the conversation invariably drifts back to our passion.
Trespicio maintains that this focus on finding our passion can be the foundation for a deep-seated feat that we will pick the wrong job that is out of line with our pursuit of passion.
“I bet if you talk to a window washer, he isn’t passionate about clean glass,” she said.
For many of us, the drive to make money exceeds our drive to pursue our passion.
To that end, finding something you are good at and can make a living at might lead to a starting discovery. Some efforts can plant a seed that will endure, so Trespicio says never be afraid to try something new.
“The pursuit of passion could lead us to miss something that might be perfect for us,” she said. “You could miss opportunities that could change your life.”
And the most fulfilling relationships and careers are the ones that still have the power to surprise.
“Don’t wait,” she urged. “Spend time and attention solving your favorite problems. Look for problems that need solving.”
