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Building Blocks for a Career You'll Love [ Note: The focus of my Passion Profile exercise is identifying your building blocks. You can see more information here.] If you're reading this article, you are probably giving at least some thought to how you can build a career that you can be more passionate about. Maybe you've been so focused on your work that you've lost track of your passion. Or maybe you know what it is, but don't feel like you can make a career out of it. Whatever the case, a good first step as you begin exploring the possibilities for a passionate career is to identify your building blocks. Take a look at the things that you have really loved doing over the course of your life and break them down into the reasons ~why~. When you say "I'm passionate about ______," or "I love doing ______," that's not really the complete picture. Whether you're conscious of it or not, what you really mean is "I love doing _____ because _____, _____, and _____." You identify your building blocks by exploring those underlying characteristics. Having an understanding of those characteristics can open up a whole new world of potential. It's like an erector set for your career. Once you have the basic pieces, you can start taking a look at all the different things they could be when they come together. Thinking about the ~what~ of the things we love doing tends to have a limiting effect. For example, I'm passionate about travel photography. OK, so what can I do with that knowledge? It seems to suggest one possible path…be a travel photographer. Exploring the ~why~, on the other hand, expands your horizons, providing the raw material to help you look further. It yields the building blocks that you can look at and ask, "what other kinds of opportunities incorporate those elements?" So instead of "I'm passionate about travel photography," I dig into the reasons why and find out that "I'm passionate about travel photography because it gives me a medium for exploration. And for discovery. It helps me constantly find new ways of seeing things. And it encourages me to connect with people in a way I otherwise wouldn't." So it's not just taking pictures in exotic locales that juices me. It's exploration and discovery. It's connecting with people. It's seeing things in new ways. Those building blocks, and a number of others, bubbled to the surface repeatedly as I explored the different things I have loved doing over the course of my life (and, not so coincidentally, they are all huge pieces of what I get out of my Passion Catalyst work). You can also use those building blocks to evaluate existing opportunities. Let's say you're in the job search, and are trying to decide whether a particular job is a good fit for you. With your list of underlying characteristics of the things you love doing, you can take a look at that job opportunity and say, "Does it have these elements?" If not, it's a pretty good bet that you won't be happy there for the long term. So how do you identify those building blocks? One of the easiest and most productive ways is to work with me to create your Passion Profile (it's a three-hour one on one whiteboarding session). "But Curt, couldn't I just do this myself?" Of course you could. You could also learn Swahili on your own, or teach yourself calculus - but having somebody with the expertise to guide you through it is going to make it much easier and enhance the end result. One of my core skills is the ability to facilitate people's self-exploration, posing questions that help them peel back the layers and discover what's underneath. I also bring an outside perspective that lets them take a different look at their world and make connections that wouldn't have been readily apparent. Your building blocks are there already. You just need to uncover them and put them to use. You may be surprised where they take you. Enjoy!