Don't ask yourself "what's my passion?"

This is one of the most important posts I've ever read, and I may look
back some day to find it has changed my life. I'm excerpting it here so I
don't lose it.

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2008/10/why-it-might-no.html

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I'm paraphrasing, but in part Dan Pink answered, "I never ask myself
'What's my passion?' That question is too huge. It's not helpful."

I think that's absolutely correct. One of my happiness-project resolutions
is to "Think big," but sometimes you can paralyze yourself by asking big,
unanswerable questions.

When someone asks me for career advice (and I've been known to volunteer
this advice, even unasked!), I say, "Do what you DO. What do you do
already, in your free time? Try to do that as your job." In my case,
although as a Supreme Court clerk I surely had one of the most fascinating
jobs for a lawyer, on the weekends, I was writing a book. This was a
helpful clue as to a profession I might enjoy. I have a friend who always
felt guilty in law school, because he was wasting so much time playing
video games; after graduation, he gave up a prestigious clerkship to work
for a - you guessed it - video game company.

A friend told me that she was going to try to get a job as an editor of a
women's magazine like Vogue. "Do you read those magazines?" I asked in
surprise. I'd never seen her read anything like that. "Nope," she said. I
didn't say anything, but I wondered - would she be good at helping to
create those magazines, if she never chose to spend her time reading them?

It can be hard to identify your "passion," but you can identify what you
did last Sunday afternoon. "Do what you do" is useful because it directs
you to look at your behavior, rather than to your ideas - which can be a
clearer guide to preferences. It's not possible for everyone, but to have
work that is play, and play that is work, is a very, very happy state.