Here's the ugly truth: finding your "passion" can be a messy, messy process.

Finding your calling is commonly touted as a smooth, linear process. We may be lost in the beginning, but sooner or later we all find what we want to do and everything ends well.

This couldn't be more wrong.

Finding what we want to achieve can be clouded by many factors, including external and
internal influences. This can include peer pressure, societal expectations and just pure lack of resistance to change.

What we thought we loved turns out to be a combination of these influences, along with a fear of implementation. So how do we cut through all of this?

Testing.

You're thinking, "What do you mean, 'testing'?"

There are two basic ways that people find out what they really want to do:

1. Turning an already established interest into a full-scale career.
2. Trial and error.

Let's go over each of these, beginning with the first one.