Finding Your Passion with the SMA Formula

Stan T.

What you need to takeaway from this

If you can only take only 4 things away from this video, it would be this…

Step 1: What are you interested in

The first step is to find something that you’re interested in. It’s that simple but it is not easy. The reason why it’s not easy is because you might be interested in 100 different things. Which one do you focus on? That’s the tricky part. Another reason why you need to be interested is because you have to be motivated and driven to learn to become good at something. If you’re not driven or you have no interest in it, would you take the initiative to learn it? Probably not. If you’re not learning and practicing your craft, you’re not going to be good at it. Notice that I use the word “interest” or “interested” here. I didn’t use the word “passion” or “passionate” because passion doesn’t start from passion. It starts from interests.

Step 2: Be good at what you do

Here’s what you need to know here: Interest creates Action -> Action creates Reward -> Reward creates Passion -> Passion.
  • Interest. We covered this in step 1. It all starts with interest.
  • Action. When you’re interested, you will be driven and motivated to take action.
  • Reward. When you’re consistently doing what you’re doing, you’re going to be good at it. That is where the reward comes in.
  • Passion. When you’re rewarded by your actions, that interest in step 1 slowly starts turning into a passion.
You need to have the skills to do what you do. Without the skills, you won’t get rewarded. Without reward, you slowly lose energy on your journey to finding your passion. Without energy, you give up. That’s the passion cycle. You won’t get any reward from what you are doing if you don’t have any skills in what you are doing. In other words, you have to be good at something to get rewarded. That reward is what will continue to push you to be better.

Step 3: Get rewarded

You need those wins to keep you going to be good at what you do. Without those small wins along the way to building your skills, you will slowly lose your interests and give up along the way to finding your passion. Here’s a common quote: “Failure leads to success”. BUT how many failures can you take before giving up?
  • You failed and lost $100.
  • You failed and lost $10,000.
  • You failed and lost your car.
  • You failed and lost your house.
  • You failed and lost your job.
  • You failed and lost your wife or husband.
  • You failed and live on the street.
  • You failed and you have to beg for food.
The goal here is to be REALLY GOOD at what you do and GET REWARDED for it ASAP. The quote on “Failure leads to success” should be “How many times are you willing to fail?”. There is a limit to how many times someone will fail before they give up. Tip: Break everything down into small bits and pieces where you will get rewarded along the way.

Step 4: You are the driver in your life not your parents, your boss or the economy

Be the boss of your own life. You are the only one responsible for finding your own passion. Don’t rely on your boss, friends or family to find your passion. There is no magic fairy or fairy godmother. No one is going to give you your passion when you don’t do anything about it. It’s all about you. What’s your next step?
  • Watch Game of Thrones?
  • Scroll through Facebook?
  • Go shopping?
  • Find out what you’re interested in?