The art and science of asking questions is the source of all

knowledge. ~Thomas Berger

When I was searching for my passion, I asked myself a lot of questions.
One of the best ways to get to the root of your deepest desires is
through self-questioning doing exactly what I did by coaching
yourself.
When youre trying to find your passion, its crucial that you become
intimately familiar with yourself.
You want to learn:
What

motivates you?

What

inspires you?

What

excites you?

What

engages you?

What

scares you and holds you back?

What do you do well naturally?

What do you need to improve?
What do you pretend to like but really dont?
What

lies you are living?

As you become more familiar with yourself beyond the roles you play,
youre able to separate the wheat from the chaff. You can
determine your priorities for the limited time you have in a day, a
year, and a lifetime.
The goal is to maximize your time doing more of what you
love (your passion or passions) and less of what you dont love.
Most of us are so busy reacting to events in our lives that we dont take
the time to examine whats not working well and why. We certainly
dont take the time to ask ourselves those deeper, probing questions
that unearth our true selves and buried longings.

But without undertaking this process of self-examination, youre bound

to remain confused about what your life passion is and how to go
about finding it.
Ive made it easy for you here by coming up with the questions. Im
sharing the same coaching questions I use with my clients who are
seeking their life passions.
So I have a small challenge for you.
Will you set aside one hour today to sit down with a pen and paper
and ask yourself these questions?
Are you willing to accept my challenge?

If so, here are 50 probing questions to

help you find your passion:
As you read each question below, speak the question out
loud, as though you are your own coach. Then closes your
eyes and allow the answers to rise to the surface of your
consciousness.
Write

down your thoughts quickly, in bullet points if possible, so

you can continue to focus on the answers that are coming up for
you.
Dont

stop with the first few answers you come up with. After every

answer you write down, ask yourself, Is there more? Keep asking
this until you have nothing left to add.
Some

of your own answers may feel uncomfortable, scary, or even

contradictory to the life or work you think you should pursue. We

all have preconceived, entrenched beliefs about what we can and
cant do. We are held back by the opinions of others and the fear of

the unknown.
Try

not to allow those beliefs and fears to get in the way of your

authentic, honest answers. Be real with yourself because you cant

find your passion if youre using a broken compass to guide the
way.
If

you get stuck on a question and simply dont have an answer, just

skip it for now. Sometimes the answer will come to you when you
sit on it for a while.
Once last thing try to enjoy this exercise. This could be the
beginning of an extraordinary journey for you. Its exciting to
really get to know yourself and to give yourself permission to extricate
all of the hidden dreams and desires you may never have recognized
before.

If you are struggling to find your passion or

trying to figure out a way to make it part of
your life, then click here to check out my Life
Passion Test and find out your personal
score.
Begin with a mindset of positive expectation and curiosity to get the
most from these questions. OK, so put on your coaching hat and get
started!
1. What is working well for you in your current life and
career what do you find fulfilling, meaningful, enjoyable,
and important?
2. What isnt working well for you in your current life and career
what drains you, makes you stressed and anxious, or wastes your
time?
3. If you were financially secure and didnt need a paycheck,
how would you spend your time?

4. What are some childhood dreams or interests you were never able to
fully explore but still find intriguing?
5. If you could be remembered for three things after you die,
what would they be?
6. Who is someone in your life or in history whose life and work
inspires and excites you? Why?
7. What skills do you possess that you really enjoy and love
to do?
8. What skills do you possess that you dislike but feel you must do
anyway?
9. What specific activities have you done in a past or current
job that you really enjoy and find engaging?
10. What specific activities have you done in a past or current job that
you dislike and never want to do again?
11. How much of your time during an average week is spent
doing things you dislike or that you feel waste your time?
12. What are your top 5 most deeply held core values?
13. How does your life and work currently support or reflect
those values?
14. Which of your top values are you ignoring or not giving enough
attention?
15. How are you living outside of your integrity?
16. What lies are you telling yourself and others about who you are
and whats important to you?
17. What do you fear most when it comes to finding your
passion?

18. What limiting beliefs do you hold about yourself and your ability to
succeed at making your passion part of your life?
19. How have your fears and limiting beliefs held you back
from finding or pursuing your passion in the past?
20. What solid evidence do you have that your fears and limiting
beliefs are true?
21. If theres some small amount of evidence that your fears
or limiting beliefs might come to pass, is the risk big enough
to prevent you from going after your passion?
22. Can you tolerate some risk and uncertainty around finding your
passion? How much?
23. What trumps finding and living your passion? Your
current income? Your job? Your current lifestyle? Your home
or the city you live in? The opinion of others? How you spend
your time? Something else?
24. What is the linchpin fear keeping you from going after your
passion?
25. Specifically, what actions can you take to lessen and
manage your fear?
26. Are there any people in your life preventing you from pursuing
your passion? Who are they and how are they holding you back?
27. What could you do to communicate with this person
(people) to enlist their support or get them to step out of
your way?
28. Are you willing to disengage entirely from people undermining
your passion pursuit? If not, why?

29. Do any people close to you have legitimate concerns or

worries about your passion ideas? How can you address or
overcome these?
30. What interests or hobbies have you had in the past few years that
intrigue you and might hold the potential for a life passion?
31. Are you willing to spend time engaging with these
interests to learn more by volunteering, part-time work,
interning, finding a mentor, etc.?
32. If you think you know what your passion might be, what specific
work have you done to learn more about it and really experience it?
What are you willing to do?
33. Do you have enough savings to allow you to live for 6
months during a job transition or while you search for your
passion?
34. What can you do to create a cushion of savings if you dont have
any?
35. What is the minimal salary you can live with?
36. Would you be willing to downsize your lifestyle in order to live
your passion?
37. What is the very worst thing that could happen if you
decided to pursue your passion? Could you live with that?
38. What is the actual likelihood of this worst thing happening?
39. What would your ideal day look like? Describe it in detail
from morning until bedtime.
40. What is something (or several things) youd really like to achieve
before you die?

41. What have you done toward making those happen?

42. Would you be willing to work in a less-than-passionate job in order
to live your passion outside of work or as a part-time job?
43. If you woke up nearly every day feeling content, fulfilled,
and happy about your life and work, how would that impact
you physically, mentally, emotionally, in your relationships,
and in your self-confidence?
44. How has living a less-than-passionate life impacted you? Give
specific examples.
45. What would make you feel proud of yourself?
46. How are you living, acting, or talking that isnt really you?
47. If you could start fresh all over again with your life and
career, what would you do differently?
48. Can you go back for a re-do on any of these things? If you answer
no, are you absolutely sure?
49. If you live to age 90, how many days do you have left to
live? (90 minus your current age times 365)
50. How many of those days are you willing to live disliking your life,
your work, your relationships, or yourself?
As you work through these questions, leave space after your
answers so you can go back and revise or add to them later
on.
Youll find these questions provoke deep levels of awareness over time,
and certain answers might arise days or even weeks after you first
explore the question.
It is amazing how simply acknowledging the truth of who you are

and what you want will motivate and inspire you toward creative
ideas and forward moving action toward finding your passion.
What should you do with your answers?
Understanding the truth about what you want for your life and how
you might be holding yourself back is just the first step. But knowledge
without action is useless.
If you want to find your passion, you need to take action on what
youve learned. Without knowing your specific answers, its hard to tell
you exactly what actions to take, but I can give you some insights into
figuring it out for yourself.
Pay attention to what you enjoy.
Go back and look at the answers you gave related to what inspires you
and engages you, both now and in the past. Look for patterns and
related activities, job responsibilities, and hobbies that have
historically been positive for you.
These are clues about what your passion might involve or what it
could be. You may not see it immediately, but as you research ideas,
revisit this list of favorite activities to ensure they are part of any job
or endeavor you are considering.
One of my favorite activities when I went through my passion search
was talking with friends and helping them with their problems. I didnt
immediately see this as having potential for a life passion. But then as I
began researching the coaching profession, I saw how this favorite
activity fit perfectly with the career.
Dont toss out anything you enjoy because you assume it doesnt
have career or passion potential. Its too early in the game to assume
that yet.
What enjoyable, engaging activities have the potential for your life
passion? What research will you do to see how they might fit into a
career or as part of your lifestyle?

Pay attention to what you hate.

If youre miserable or bored with any aspect of your work or life, youll
feel unhappy with your entire life.
One really negative situation, person, or mindset can infect everything.
Finding your passion is as much about excising what you dont like
about your life as it is finding what you love. You have to make room
for your passion by getting rid of the dead weight.
What specific actions can you take to let go of work, people,
obligations, and stuff that drag you down?
Challenge your assumptions constantly.
One of the reasons we get so stuck in a passion search is that we
believe everything we think.
I cant afford to quit my job. Everyone will think Im crazy if I do
this. Ill never be able to make the money Im making now. If I make
the wrong decision, it will ruin my life.
Most of your assumptions are either completely untrue or only
partially true. Most of the challenges youll face when pursuing your
passion are figure-out-able.
Rather than beginning the process with a foundation of fear, begin
with an assumption of success. Simply say to yourself, I am
determined to find my life passion and arrange my life so that I can
live it every day.
Of course youll have to make uncomfortable decisions and life
changes. You may have to let go of something good in order to get to
something great. But if you accept that as part of the process, and keep
your eye on the prize, all of the scary parts wont feel so scary.

What specific assumptions can you challenge right now so you can
take action toward your passion?
Never contradict your core values.
This is hugely important and bears repeating. Know what your life
principles are and what you value most. Then dont make any big
decisions or life changes that contradict those values.
For example, if one of your core values is family, and youre offered an
amazing job doing something you love that requires you to travel five
days a week, youll eventually feel conflicted and unhappy.
If one of your values is personal integrity, but you know your boss has
done some questionable things, then youll feel resentful and icky.
Prioritize your values, and you cant go wrong.
What are some specific changes you can make with your life today to
realign with your core values?
Be willing to invest time and money.
Wed all just love it if our life passion showed up at the doorstep and fit
in seamlessly with our current lives. But if it were that easy, everyone
would be living passionate lives.

You may have to go back to school or get more training for your
passion.

You may have to take a side-gig for a while to earn extra money.

You might need to offer your services for free in your passion
interest to make sure you really like it.

You may need to tighten the belt to save money to start a business.

You might have to let go of prestige and power to follow your passion.
Some amount of short-term sacrifice and discomfort will more than
likely be required of you. But in the grand scheme of things, this
discomfort is nothing compared to the joy of the new life you are
creating.

Before I had children, if someone said to me, You have to feel

extremely nauseated for four months, gain 40 pounds, have swollen
ankles, get stretch marks, suffer with sciatica and insomnia, not be
able to tie your own shoes, and go through 48 hours of intense
contractions followed by pushing out a 9 pound human, I would felt
a bit reticent to take on the challenge.
Of course I knew these things before having children. And Im sure my
fears were far out-of-proportion to the reality (except for the nausea
part!). But I also knew that the end result would be amazing and lifechanging. My pain was short-lived, but my happiness with my kids
will last forever.
What do you need to do to find or live your passion that youre afraid
or worried about? What specific actions are you willing to take in spite
of your fears?
Keep in mind the brevity of life.
If you live to age 90, youll have 32,850 days on earth.
Youve already lived a good number of those. And Im sure too many of
those day you spent feeling unhappy, bored, sad, anxious, or angry. A
good number have been spent on pursuits and people that didnt serve
you well.
You may realize how little stuff matters and what a waste of time it is
to try to impress people or control them.
You may recognize that the truly important things in life are pretty
simple: work thats engaging and meaningful, family and friends who
love you, experiences that fulfill and enliven you, and a home thats
safe and comfortable.
You dont need much more than this to live a passionate life.
What specific actions can you take to make your life less complicated

so you can focus on the essentials?

Enjoy the process as much as the destination.
As you get to know more about yourself and what you want for your
life, youll feel eager to make it happen.
You may get frustrated with the time it takes or the hoops you might
have to jump through.
It might feel like life is on hold until you can finally uncover your life
passion and live it.
If you have this outlook, youre giving up yet another precious day to
dissatisfaction and unhappiness. Instead, view the journey as an
exciting adventure. Look at potential challenges as exciting
opportunities. See the obstacles as ways to strengthen your confidence
and tenacity.
Fully live and enjoy every part of your life, even the in between times
when you feel unsure and stuck. Just keep taking action toward your
dream, and youll get there eventually.
Celebrate every action you take and try not to take it all too seriously.
Life is meant to be savored, not suffered.

If youve gotten this far in the post, you are serious about finding your
life passion. Congratulations! I hope youll take my 50-question
challenge and begin the process of self-questioning today.
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