“Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.” -Wayne Dyer, American self-help author and motivational speaker

Deciding what you want to do for a living is one of the most important decisions you’ll be making throughout your life. And I say “throughout your life” because “finding your passion” or “discovering your true calling or purpose” is more of an ongoing journey rather than a destination.

Here are 4 questions to ask yourself to get started on that journey.

1. If you knew you couldn’t fail and if money was not a deciding factor, what would you do? What activities make you smile? What feels right? What kind of environments do you love to be in? What makes you happy? Take some time answering these questions. It’s extremely important for you to look deep inside of yourself, without the influence of what others perceive to be important, worthwhile, pleasurable or fun, and examine what YOU love to do, see, feel, and hear.

2. What comes natural to you? What is very easy for you but may be difficult for others? Studies show that passion stems from actively doing things that tap into your natural inclinations and abilities. When you tap into these natural abilities, you can expand on them and become an expert in a very small niche.

3. What interests and goals pull you forward? Positive Psychology states that we are more often drawn by the future than driven by the past. When you take the time to get to know yourself, you may find interests that pull you forward and goals that inspire you to take inspired action and by all means, follow them!

4. What do you love to do that makes time fly? You usually know you are on the right track when you begin to experience what psychologists refer to as “flow”, or what’s known as being “in the zone”. Experiencing pure joy while you are performing a task is a key indicator that you are moving in the right direction. What do you do for fun and makes time just slip away?

And please, don’t be discouraged if you are beginning your journey with a job that you have no interest in. What you do in order to pay the bills as you get on your feet does not define who you are and these types of jobs teach us a lot about ourselves. They help us uncover our true strengths, values, and even personal boundaries that we otherwise wouldn’t be aware of.

Sometimes we don’t know what we really want in life until we actually experience what we don’t want. (On a side note, this stands true for the people we meet as well.)

Don’t stress if time goes by and you still don’t know what to do.

Finding yourself and your life’s mission or passion is going to be an ongoing endeavor and you will likely go through many jobs, many different careers, have many different interests, and interact with many different people who will show you all kinds of other opportunities and interests.

Here is one main tip to help you face in the right direction during your journey…

Keep moving forward toward goals and interests that feel right and good to you.

Finding your calling and passion in life is found easier by having the self-awareness in order to honor what you like and what you don’t like throughout the whole process.

That’s what makes a real happy life.

About the Author: Michelle C. Ustaszeski-Hutchinson is the Founder and Executive Editor of The Teen Mentor, LLC, based in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. She is a Personal Development Expert and The Faciliator of Wisdom. As co-author of 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Michelle teamed with some of the top motivational gurus such as Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, Jim Rohn, Denis Waitley, and Joe Vitale in order to offer a compilation of self-improvement teachings. She has been quoted as a “Master of Success” among some of the worlds most famous thinkers and published in numerous books and on thousands of websites around the world. Read More…