A spark. It’s a small thing, but it has big consequences. If we talk about making a fire, it requires action and effort to generate enough friction for a flame to catch. The same thing applies when we talk about igniting our confidence and finding our passions.
Rarely in life does anything just happen. Passion and good fortune aren’t going to fall into our lap. It takes time, trial and error, learning and a lot of patience and practice to find something that we enjoy and want to do over and over again. When we’re at work, it can be easy to become complacent, stagnant and disengaged.
What if we haven’t found our spark yet? Or we lost it and want to get it back? Here are 4 ways to find your spark.
- Be Curious
If you haven’t tried learning a new skill, you won’t know if you’ll like it or not. Therefore, if you’re in a rut, look for opportunities to learn a new skill, educate yourself on a new topic, learn from a colleague or friend. Whatever it is, if you have any curiosity or draw to it, follow that instinct.
- Be Creative
What did you enjoy as a child? Was there a particular game, toy, show you liked? What made it fun and enjoyable? Do you still find it enjoyable, if so, plan time to be creative and allow for fun.
Now maybe playing with toys or dressing up isn’t the most age appropriate thing for an adult to do, but that’s not the only way you can be creative. You can create your own recipe, write and illustrate your own graphic novel, solve a problem or puzzle that requires out of the box thinking, write a new sales pitch. There is no one right way to be creative. Whatever way speaks to you is best.
- Build Connections
Building a support system and creating relationships with people are a great way to help people find their spark. Your friends and family know you best and can offer advice and guidance to help you on your path to self-discovery. Find mentors and network with individuals in your field. Learn from their experience and wisdom.
It’s easy to get bogged down in the mundane and everyday tasks of life from our personal and professional to-do lists. It’s important that when we make connections and build relationships we do so with intentionality. Be present in the moment and make the most of our time and energy with the people we want to associate with.
- Make Contributions
Look for ways where you can contribute to someone else’s life. As humans we’re not only wired to receive generosity, but we’re wired to give. It’s in our giving that we can also receive joy as we offer service to other people. It also helps strengthen our relationships and connections with each other. This can be helping another salesperson on closing a deal, training a new employee, or doing a friend’s dishes. As we offer our time and talents to help others, we’ll feel good.
Throughout our day there are many opportunities for sparks to ignite our joys and passions. Take time to look and you’ll be surprised at what you’ll find.