How to discover your passion: Learning and applying

When I first started my career, I never thought I would become a psychologist and researcher. I started my career as a speaker just wanting to share my happiness and experience in health and self-confidence to help youths feel better about themselves.  

Later, when I was taking an introductory psychology course to learn about human motivation, I discovered the field of health psychology, which caught my interest. Therefore, I decided to pursue my master's degree in health psychology. During my master's degree, I discovered that I was more drawn to the mental health field, focusing on self-confidence, self-esteem, and the connection between the body and mind. So, I made the adjustment to learn and share more about mental health with the youth. 

Also, during my master's program, I discovered the field of humanistic psychology, which immediately captivated me. Thereafter, I decided to pursue my PhD in humanistic psychology. I did not know that I wanted to become a behavioral scientist until the end of my research phase during my PhD program. It was also at the end of my PhD program that I realized that humanistic psychology, helping individuals experience meaning and purpose in life, is closer to my core passion.  

As you can see, I discovered more about myself and my passion through the process of learning and applying, as it did not come to me at the beginning or at once. As I continue to learn and apply, I will discover new things about myself to help me get closer to my core passion. And that is human development and evolution.  

Always keep in mind that you do not need to know your core passion to start taking action and creating meaning and purpose. Meaning and purpose manifest in taking actions in what you believe in the moment about yourself and what you believe will help others. Whatever you discover in the future, you can adjust and move forward from there. And that is the meaning and purpose journey.