Have you sorted out what your purpose in life is? Are you there yet? Have you found out what you enjoy doing? Have you discovered the things you are passionate about?
Passion and purpose are the two terminologies that define and impact our life the most. Purpose makes you decide what path you will take; it makes you disciplined, self-assured, and fearless.
Passion makes you feel excited about your life when you wake up each morning. However, many of us endlessly search for our passion and purpose in life because they do not seem to reveal themselves to us quickly. On the other hand, sometimes they tend to be right in front of our eyes, but we cannot see them.
How do we discover our life’s purpose and find what we are passionate about? A wise solution to this is books; yes, good old books. Likewise, they are knowledgeable friends who always know what we need to hear and give us the right advice.
There was a time when I, like many others, was clueless about what to do with my life. It was when I dug deep into the Passion & Purpose section at the library. In this writing, I have mentioned 8 of the best books I could find on discovering your true purpose and passion in life. Reading one or more of the following books can greatly help you.
Top Books to Read to Find Passion and Purpose in Life
1. The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering what you were meant to do: Jeff Goins
Being passionate about something does not mean we should turn it into a career. For instance, I am passionate about dancing but not quite good at performing killer moves. Could I learn it? Yes. Am I ready to spare the time, energy, and, most importantly, money required to acquire this skill? If the answer is no, then it simply isn’t worth pursuing. Passion might be an important part of the puzzle.
However, it is not the whole story. You will find your true calling at the intersection between your skills, passion, and values. It should not only be fun but fulfilling as well. This book will prove to be of great value as it will help you set apart your passions from your real calling.
2. Side Hustle: Chris Guillebeau
We will find several examples of successful people from the last couple of centuries that had a backup source of income, a solid base, and explored their passions side by side to their work until it bloomed enough to replace their full-time work. This book helps you explore the various aspects of how you can do that as well.
You must give it an open mind instead of reading it with an extremist mindset and accepting these principles as the Gospel. There is another school of thought opposite to that of this book, based on the philosophy that one should not have a plan B since that would distract them from plan A.
This philosophy, however, is a more high-stakes, high-commitment philosophy that worked for some people such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and other millionaires. You will find some other books by Guillebeau equally useful for discovering your purpose and passion in life. One such book is The Happiness of Pursuit.
3. The Happiness of Pursuit: Chris Guillebeau
Do you enjoy what you do but still feel as if your life has come to a standstill? Your life probably lacks adventure. This book motivates you to pursue your passions and dreams by embarking on a quest.
The author himself has a passion for traveling. He visited around 193 countries before he turned 35. If you are fond of inspiring stories and travel, this book is the right choice. The author also interviews several other adventurous people like him in this book.
4. The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing: Bronnie Ware
Do you wish to look back at your life with adoration or disappointment? As Oprah Winfrey says: “A life well-lived is a life with few regrets.” This book will make you realize the importance of living a life in which you were true to yourself and not controlled by other people’s approval.
Although both are important aspects of our lives, leaning too much to getting what your friends and family want from you while neglecting your own needs is bound to leave you with many regrets on your deathbed.
5. Find Your Passion by Henri Junttila
The author presents the audience with 25 questions that they should ask themselves to find their purpose and passion. This book gets straight to the root of your troubles by eradicating all sorts of confusions or fears that you might have. It will greatly help you gain a clear understanding of the answers to the posed questions.
When you finish reading, you are likely to have all the answers you need, thus knowing exactly how and when to take the next step toward the life of your dreams.
6. Getting There: Zoe Gillian Segal
Want a quick coffee shop book that profiles dozens of the world’s most successful CEOs, musicians, artists, scientists, reporters, film producers, and more? People like Warren Buffett, Anderson Cooper, Hans Zimmer, Sara Blakely, and more are talking people.
This book will inspire you beyond anything else since you get three or four pages of details on someone’s life and their advice. Some stories surprised me because I discovered that it’s normal to go through different jobs or to create your own “life resume” and portfolio when no one will give you a job
7. So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Cal Newport
The good thing about the book is that it brings up different points to consider while discovering your purpose and passion that you might not have considered. Also, these points are backed up with real-life stories, statistics, and psychological facts. Whether or not you agree with the writer’s ideology sure does bring up a good discussion. For instance, this is not necessary to enjoy your work.
Maybe all you have to do is focus on a job that generates a conventional income. That’s because in this way you would learn to love what you are good at. In addition, the chances of securing your ideal job as a gamer or an artist are around one million to one.
8. The Renaissance Soul: Margaret Lobenstine
This book is a bit unique as it focuses on people who like to do a wide variety of things instead of pursuing just one major goal. Their passion is to evolve, constantly learn, and achieve success in multiple avenues of life. Lobenstine has named this personality type “The Renaissance Soul”.
She has written this book to help such individuals live fulfilling lives while pursuing various goals simultaneously.
I hope you enjoyed the list of passion books and may have found one which you can start immediately. For more such articles, please visit the visionselfhelp blog.