Do you lack passion in what you do? Is it hard to find the passion in what you’re doing on a daily basis?

The first passions I ever discovered of mine was writing, creating, and music. Every Time I’ve stepped out of those realms, or the realms of my other passions, my happiness has suffered. And when your happiness suffers, the very thing you’re doing becomes frustrating, too much effort, a struggle, unexciting, and nothing more than a headache.

Not everything is or should be revolved around your passions, of course. Because not everything is a passion and some things are chores that need to be done out of necessity.

When it comes to career, business, activities, skills, and your professional life, there are 4 simple reasons you lack passion in what you do:

1. You haven’t practiced enough

Think of somebody like Lil Wayne. He’s been making music from the age of 8 years old. Today he’s around 33 years old. Music is his passion. And that passion developed through relentless practice and effort. Repeated dozens and dozens and dozens of times throughout his 20+ year career.

Take a look at someone like Katy Perry. She started making music when she was 16 years old. The passion you see in her work and her voice when she sings is because of years and years of practice beforehand. No matter who you use as an example, practice is the reason their passion remains intact. Or the reason their passion grows to be so strong overtime.

The reason practice is a huge part of passion is because without practice, you won’t become better at your craft. And if you don’t become better at your craft, you won’t enjoy it very much. There’s no passion without enjoyment and no enjoyment without passion. And from personal experience, I know this to be true.

“I’ve always considered myself to be just average talent and what I have is a ridiculous insane obsessiveness for practice and preparation.” – Will Smith

2. You hate what you do

Think of someone you hate (if anybody) who’s betrayed you, hurt you, or done something terrible to you. If given the choice to be around them or NOT be around them, you’d obviously choose to avoid them, right? Because hate only creates more hate. There’s no fun in hate.

Well passion works in the exact same way. If you despise what you do and detest every minute of It, there’s no room for passion to grow, build, and develop. Because all that hatred is blocking the entrance to the door of passion.

There’s a couple of reasons you may hate what you do:

1. You’re no good at It.
2. You’re doing it out of necessity.
3. You’re doing it because society has brainwashed you into believing you HAVE to do It.

The solution is simple and obvious. But you’re smart enough to figure it out.

3. You haven’t learnt enough about it

This point is similar to the point I made about practice. If you don’t know enough about what you’re doing, how to do It, or how it works, then you’re going to end up frustrated, irritated, disappointed and uninterested.

Knowledge, if you know how to use that knowledge, makes it easier to become passionate about what you’re doing. But at the same time if you know all there is to know, and you still don’t understand It, then it’s best to abandon it.

When I first started blogging for example, I started to learn a little about website code. I dabbled with it a little, spent hours trying to figure it out and understand it, but in the end I let it go.

Trying to read code is like trying to read Chinese writing. I don’t understand it, my brain shuts down, and that’s why I dislike it and no longer waste my time with it. But on the other hand learning about blogging and websites came fairly easy to me, and now I’m really passionate about blogging.

4. It doesn’t match your skillset

This comes down to self awareness. I know I’m awful at coding, football, basketball, designing, anything beyond basic mathematics, etc. So doing anything in those fields is bound to bring misery.

But I’m good at writing, creating, listening, observing, retail, and a range of other skills. So dwelling and diving in these areas is to my own benefit.

If what you’re doing doesn’t match your natural skills or talents in the slightest, and there’s no room for potential growth, you’re just wasting your time. And when your energy suffers, passion can’t exist and won’t exist.

“A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.” – Larry Bird

Do an audit of your skills, talents, and areas where there’s potential for growth. Do an audit of the things you’re awful at doing. And be sure to shove your ego aside when you do so you can get real with yourself.

Are you lacking passion on your career? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!