When I first started carving out my career — jumping from consulting to product management to coaching — I expected passion to feel…easy.

You know, the classic advice:
"Find what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life."

Spoiler alert: It’s not true.
Even when you love something deeply, it can still be exhausting, frustrating, and downright overwhelming.

The truth is, passion doesn’t eliminate hard work — it demands it.
And knowing this difference can be the thing that keeps you from giving up right before the magic happens.

Why Even Passion Feels Like a Grind Sometimes (and That's Normal)

Western psychology backs this up.
The concept of "Grit," studied by Angela Duckworth, shows that passion alone isn’t enough — perseverance over the long haul is what separates those who succeed from those who flame out.

From an Eastern lens, the Bhagavad Gita teaches that action rooted in purpose (dharma) requires detachment from immediate comfort — because staying on your path often involves sacrifice and discomfort.

Translation:
Passion isn’t constant dopamine. Passion is devotion.

It’s choosing to keep moving forward, even when the fun fades into discipline.

My Story: When I Wanted to Quit (But Didn't)

When I first started coaching, I loved helping people redesign their careers.
But...marketing myself? Networking?
Writing blogs when no one was reading them?
It felt like dragging a boulder uphill.

Many times I sat staring at my laptop, asking:
"Maybe I don’t love this after all?"
"Maybe I’m just not cut out for this?"

What I learned (through many near-quit moments) was simple:
I wasn’t bad at it.
I wasn’t broken.
I was just in the messy middle — the part where passion meets perseverance.

How to Know if You're Truly Passionate (Even in the Hard Parts)

✏️ Reflection Exercise: Diagnose Your True Passions

Here are four tests I use now — every time I feel doubt creeping in:

1. What Can't You Stop Thinking About?

What keeps showing up in your mind — even when you’re not "working"?
What podcasts pull you in?
What articles do you save "for later" but secretly binge at midnight?

✨ Personal Example:
Even when I was deep into corporate life, I couldn’t stop reading about coaching psychology, career pivots, and Eastern healing practices.
It didn’t matter how busy I was — somehow I always found myself back there.

🧠 Insight:
Where your mind wanders without permission often points toward your calling.

2. What Physical "Pings" Are You Getting?

Passion isn’t just a mental obsession — it’s felt in the body.
Sometimes it’s a spark of excitement.
Other times, it’s restlessness, frustration, or even sadness when you’re not doing the thing.

✨ Personal Example:
When I go too long without writing, I feel like a pressure cooker about to explode.
I wake up at 5 a.m. with ideas — not because I’m stressed, but because my soul wants airtime.

In Taoism, this is described as “wu wei” — the effortless action that arises when your true nature is aligned with what you’re doing.

🧘‍♀️ Question:
What tasks, if left undone, make you feel "constipated" emotionally?

3. Do You Self-Sabotage Right Before Completion?

Self-doubt is a sneaky enemy.
It often shows up right before you're about to launch something important.

You delay finishing the article.
You "forgot" to send the proposal.
You nitpick your work into oblivion.

✨ Personal Example:
The first time I tried launching a new career workshop, I almost talked myself out of it the night before.
My mind whispered: "What if nobody signs up?"
"What if this sucks?"
I hit "Publish" anyway. 10 people signed up. It turned into one of my favorite projects.

🧠 Insight:
Doubt doesn't mean you're on the wrong path. It usually means you're on the edge of growth.

4. What Do You Want to Share With Your People?

Passion has a funny way of wanting to be shared.
You want your family involved.
You fantasize about starting side projects with your friends.
You daydream about collaborations.

✨ Personal Example:
When I got serious about career coaching, I couldn’t stop imagining retreats, workshops, community events — places where people could gather and grow together.

🧘‍♀️ Question:
What passions are you itching to bring into your closest relationships?

Remember: Passion Doesn't Guarantee Ease. It Guarantees Meaning.

Even the things you love will sometimes exhaust you.
Especially the things you love.

But if you keep choosing them — day after day, decision after decision —
They will build a life that's so much bigger than comfort.
A life that feels alive.

"The obstacle is the path." — Zen Proverb

Quick Summary: How to Check Your Passion

✨ Exercise Recap:

1. Write down what you can’t stop thinking about.

2. Notice where your body pulls you — restlessness, excitement, creative energy.

3. Watch where you self-sabotage and gently move through it.

4. Track what passions you want to involve your friends, family, or community in.

Final Thought: Passion Is a Practice, Not a Lightning Strike

Building a life based on passion isn't about waiting for a lightning bolt of inspiration.
It's about practicing the art of noticing — then choosing — joy and meaning even when it's hard.

Some days you'll sprint.
Some days you'll crawl.

But either way, if you keep showing up, passion will meet you halfway.