Haven't and can't find my "thing"/passion

Community Blog
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Since i was young i was the tech person in my family. You family and neighbours would come to me about tech related problems they where having and i would fix it.
I started making websites when i was 14 and learning "programming", just to make some money because i didn't want to have a paperroute. I just learned the basic webdev languages like HTML and CSS and a little bit of Javascript and PHP. I was not very good at any language really. Or in anything for that matter.

I was always just kind of avegare at everything, and still am.

In the past 2 years or so i tried a range of different things. I tried playing games like WoW because i heard about people that just love the game and the lore and everything and that that really was theyr passion. Or i tried programming in C#. Was kinda fun but i would not stay up untill the sun rises above the trees just programming away. I just didn't feel 'it'.
I switched to Linux for a while and found out that altough the conmmands of the Bash Shell and programming for the shell where not that hard and where kind of cool i didn't like the hassle, and stuff just didn't work and i was too bussy to troubleshoot it and fix it.

I tried (almost) everything. From blogging/writing to restoring my motorcycle to hardware to anime. Even astronomy and music. And all the things in between.

I am currently in college to get an network administrator degree and to be honest, i don't really like it. The only reason i am getting that degree is because this is the one i don't like the least.

My friends all have things they love. The one really loves anime and can talk about it for hours on end and the other really is in to machines and another one loves fishing and playing piano. The list go's on and on. And i am just there like yeah.. I kinda like playing Rocket League...

You hear about people finding their passion very early in live and loving it ever since. That always makes me jealous. I want to find my passing, my thing, too. But no matter what i try, i can't.

For the "Just Do It" challenge i tried writing short stories with inspiration from /r/writingprompts but i didn't like my stories and i was afraid of putting them online. They where not any good, really.

Maybe you will say something along the lines of "just stick too it and keep working on it and you will begin to like it". I've tried doing that. But after 6 months and you still don't like it, it means you really do not like it. Right?

So.. I don't know. I don't know what i want to do for a living and build a career out off, i don't know if i am even going to finish getting my degree, i don't know what else i could try and maybe find that to be my "thing".

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I guess you can try getting a break, just try wandering any random place , don't plan anything just wander to some place, thays worth a shot maybe.

You can also try your " not having a passion thing " into your main ability, for example, I'm the recent Bio hacking RFID video, the guy who actually did it wasn't like this was his idea from an early stage, he was also kinda average at everything, but had this idea and worked on it.
I domt know if you should stick to your degree or not, but try making something cool or a thing that just solves a problem you have using you skill in all things.

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Sorry for the bad English :p

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A passion is not something you can forcibly acquire, so I would recommend that you stop thinking about it and relax it may just come up on its on. The other approaches are to ether find a problem that you want to solve or something to create (the best problems are from everyday life)... or find something to passionately hate.

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I find myself a lot of times in your text. I am also the tech person in my family, started programming as a child, went from webdev, over databases, networking and a lot of other stuff to where I currently am - C and assembly on Linux. Just take a look at my profile to see a small fraction of the stuff I know. For me the solution is simply a combination of multiple things. I like to build/repair computers, build/fix/maintain networks or websites once in a while, like to talk to customers once in a while, write software once in a while etc. - the list goes on and on and on. I also went to college, dropped out - the college was really bad, went to a university which I don't really like since a lot of stuff they teach is a bit old/unhelpful.

My current setup, which works for me and makes me feel great every day, is simply the combination of a lot of things I like to do. I do some sports almost daily - I don't have a strict plan, I do what I like to do. I take care of my food, so that I stay healthy but again don't limit myself to a plan. I try to work on my open source projects on a daily basis - at least a tiny bit per day, even if there is not so much time - this works. I have some customers who want me to set up/fix/maintain some computers, smartphones, networks, servers etc. once in a while - doing it from time to time is really fun but if I would need to do it every day it would cause me a huge headache and I would start to hate it. In my free time, I take long walks with my dog, listen to music, watch some videos etc. Sometimes I work a bit in the garden, try to get some exercise in drawing. I also carry some vocabulary cards with me since I want to learn Polish - I live in Germany right at the border to Poland in a house with many friendly Polish people.

I mostly lose my passion for things when I try to force myself to do them regularly or to improve my skills very fast. Then I get mad, feel bad, don't want to do things at all and want to do something else. Not putting to much pressure on myself and doing various things really helps me to maintain happiness and to be fully focused on the stuff I do.

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I have a number of hobbies/passions (guitar, mechanics (both car and bike), computers, and building model cars). I never forced these things to become my "thing" it was just something that happened. Actually the reason I started building model cars was because I found I was bored most of the time (my problem) so i decided to go into a store and i saw a huge display of them... the rest is history.

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The sentiments you've expressed here will resonate with more people than you might realise. Lots of people don't ever find their 'passion'. Even if someone does feel like they've found it, sometimes it will still feel like a drag.

In your case it may be worthwhile to just keep trying new things. It's great that you've already tried a variety of things because now you know the things that don't get you fired up. Now it's easier to narrow down the things that you still have left to try :)

Maybe you could try occasionally volunteering for something (if you have time). Someone out there could use your skills. I've just applied to volunteer at a local library. No idea if I'll like it and it's OK if I don't; I can try something else. Your 'passion' might be something that you would never consider doing right now.

As for your degree - if you really detest it then dropping it might not be the end of the world. You don't want to end up doing something that you hate because it'll just drive you insane. I took a break from my degree during my final year because it was seriously affecting my mental health - it's not the end of the world. That said, it's not a decision you should take lightly. Taking a break from my degree was actually a hassle, so you have to be absolutely sure it's what you want. If it's just "meh" and you feel like you could finish it, then you should probably keep going.

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Here's a hint -- you say you are a tech person, yeah? Focus on that, and ask yourself what is it about the tech that appeals most to you -- the electricals, the physics of electricity, logic boards, the theories behind logic (board), engineering, or just the epistemology of the science? If you had a choice, which level would you revolutionize?

If the answer is "none", then of course, tech is not your passion, not really.

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Just because your good at something doesn't mean thats what you gotta do with your life, i am really good at mathematics and programming low level languages yet i don't like it, try different fields like cooking, sculpting, diy projects, wielding, drawling for me i choose cooking i love making delicous food and seeing the happiness it gives people. If technology is really what you wanna do maybe your lacking motivation? For me reading news articles and reading up new projects really motivates me :-) another thing is if you seem bored or don't want to work on a project try working on something else usually it gets your creative juices flowing and your more willing to do it. I hope you find your "thing" as it is important and defines who you are :) who knows maybe you'll do great things man 👍

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This definitely resonates with me.

My passion 10 years ago, and since school, was to work on race cars. Or so I thought. It became just a job, along with chasing customers for payment and all that rubbish.
I'm an auto electrician, moved into race car wiring when the opportunity arose.
I've similarly been ok at nearly anything I try. I tend to get enthused (passionate I guess) about things, then once I consider I know "enough" about a topic I get bored of it.

Often when I'm bored of something I tend to undervalue it skill in it, when it turns out I'm quite good at it.

If I were you I'd stick to the networking if it's bearable, you sound like you'd be good at it and could make a living fine. And it's not what you have to do forever.
Then work out how you want to spend your spare time.

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Very few people get to have a job that is their passion - or even a job that they really like doing. Try to think of it more as working 5 days a week to fund 2 days of awesome on the weekend. Also as @RedDwarfer said - dont look at everything as being potentially a passion. Trust me - you will know for sure when you find yours.

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you gotta find it man! keep trying different activities untill it comes to you.

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i spent the whole first year out of high school going to community college and in my spare time trying things out i went from Auto Cad and engineering to finance to finally computer repair/tier 2 technical support

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When I was young I wanted to travel. After 8 years at sea I had my fill. Thank the Lord I live in US. Earth sucks.
I tried ASM C and Qbasic while also learning to drive an 18 wheeler. One day I asked myself if I want to spend the next 20 years in front of a monitor writing code. There are passions and hobbies and things we love to do. I get to do what I love.
Rush Limbaugh's Dad was a lawyer. Rush LOVED radio. When he dropped out of collage to pursue a radio career he Dad thought he had failed as a father and his son would end up being a failure. Rush once said "if you find a way to get paid for what you love you will never work a day in your life".
Then there are the 99 percent who spend their lives doing something they hate to feed those they love. And many are happy, once you fall in love with someone who loves you every thing changes.

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"A true artist hates his work and listens to opinion". Try writing again and put it up here. We won't be to hard on you ;3

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i had that problem my entire life, ever since i was a little kid ive been around computers and video games and when i got to college i immediately signed up for computer programming, i ended up dropping out because i got bored and didnt feel like it was as cool as i originally thought it was but i was 19 and stupid and drank a lot so i said okay, im gonna try i bunch of other courses related to computers since there has to be something that i should love. After 6 years of bouncing around and getting a useless business diploma in between i finally realized i didnt want to work in an office for the rest of my life in front of computers, i loved using computers, not so much working on them. So at the time being in video game development i took some time to think about where it is i really want to be, took a few months of talking to people in the work place, talked to a bunch of professors about school courses and life in general. Had a coffee with some random people and got them to chime in with their opinion. In the end you know what i ended up going for? Private security studies and now im on the way to becoming a bodyguard aiming to work in South Africa. Who knew that working out at the gym and guns would end up being a passion for someone playing with technology and computers their whole life.
Computers might be your thing in the end but just because someone has been around them their entire life doesnt necessarily mean that its what they were meant to do in life :D know what i mean? you could have a totally different thing that triggers "your passion" but you just need to spend some time searching for it if nothing is really getting you fired up.
Don't settle for mediocrity, you can do damn near anything you want in life as long as you want it bad enough and you will be successful with that kind of drive.
Took me 26 years to figure out my passion,but good things take time, don't rush :D

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I couldn't agree more. There are numerous times where I'll write a piece to a song and think "oh this is just crap" then someone will hear it and tell me otherwise. That has been the most helpful part of my learning to better my musicianship.

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Don't worry about finding your passion or 'purpose' so early. The guy who started WhatsApp started the company in his 40s (after being rejected by Facebook, who bought WhatsApp for US$15-fucking-billion!). Ray Kroc, the man who made McDonald's a household name only got involved with the company when he was 52. This idea that you need to have what you want to do with your live figured out by some arbitrary age is complete bullshit.

As for what you should do now, well, I would get the hell out of that Network Admin course. Just from the title it sounds rather narrow. A more general science or engineering degree (maybe with a comp sci or comp systems major if you want to) would allow you to experience more subjects and maybe get a better idea of what you want to do. It may in fact be a combination of subjects rather than just one that inspires you. The trick then is to find some way to combined them.

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Yeah dude I think a lot of people on this forum can relate. Don't think you're the only one, just cause you have peers that appear to have found their 'passions' before you.

In my experience, do what you like, even if you don't think you're good at it. Sounds to me like that could be part of you problem, hinting at the 'average' skill level you may have. For all you know, you are good at the things you like, but don't regard it that way. I used to have this problem with building PCs and such, but turns out the bar is set pretty low regarding PC businesses in my area. Turns out I'm not so bad.

One of the things I'll never forget when I was younger, someone told me :

'Everyone has to start somewhere, we all sucked at this when we started'
in regards to my first couple sessions snowboarding/skateboarding. Basically, the best of the best only got there by sticking with it, cause its what they wanted to do. Don't jump into networking if you don't like it so much. Maybe finish the degree, and use it for something else. Plenty of jobs will take you with the basic knowledge you just listed.

So, do what you like, and don't sell yourself short.

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When i can, i will indeed take a break and maybe gain another perspective on the whole situation. But unfortunately that that is not possible because where i live, if you do not have at least an 'average' degree in something, it is illegal to not go to school. And as for me, i do not have a degree other than my high-school degree.