They will be equally interested in (or perhaps more likely, equally disinterested in), many/all things.

Navigating this world we live in, which is structured around finding ONE thing to do well, for a long time, upon which you must base not only your survival but your sense of self-worth, becomes very difficult for these apassionate few.

My advice to you is to jettison all externally-derived definitions of career, worth, and purpose, along with the tried-and-tested recipes for manifesting such things. They will not help you. Your job is to get a hold of your schizophrenic, omni-pointing, seemingly-confused (but not really) internal compass: only do what it directs you to do, from one moment to the next. Whether that's sleeping or listening to music or starting your Nth business WITH THE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE that you will abandon it shortly thereafter. Your primary job is to understand how you tick, and that means listening DEEPLY to yourself.

Once you understand yourself, and WHY your internal compass has never settled upon a "True North", you can chart a unique way forward for yourself. Do not expect this new "way forward" to be an I'mpassioned journey. It will simply be a journey that makes sense to take, at a pace that suits you.

In this way, you will arrive at a destination pleasing to yourself. The key is your internal compass. It is built differently, so you must leverage it differently from there way others leverage theirs.

Good luck.
doppleganger
Here's an unpopular opinion.

Finding your passion is pretty much bullshit if you confuse hobbies and pastimes with passion. Making your hobby a business is a great way to be saddled with something you've invested in and then can't get out of. I know this because I did it and lost $250k.

The exception is if you have a passion and are part of a community. Then you know very well what problem or need that members of that community have and will pay to solve. So, in that case, a passion is a proxy for customer discovery.

Every successful entrepreneur is passionate about solving a problem that a section of the community has. That section of the community is their target market. Have a look back at your past work experiences.

Did you notice a problem with their existing solution that's a major frustration and/or happens often? Be passionate about finding out more about that. Then if it's feasible and viable, be passionate about creating the solution so well that they will switch to your solution.

That's your business
Move
Passion isn't your problem, it's discipline. You've already outlined why you've failed in the first paragraph.

Pick something and stick with it. Entrepreneurship is really a game of attrition. Keep grinding on something while you continuously learn and get better at it until it either works out or it dies and you move on.

AnApe
Since this is on r/Entrepreneur I feel like I should say: your business is about delivering value to others and to the marketplace, and earning cash in return. Your passions are your passions.

In most cases you cannot get paid a dream salary for "following your passions". And when you can, it oftentimes becomes "forced upon you" to the point where you begin to hate it (or at least resent it). I know a rockstar, videographer / filmmaker, and others who have made a business out of their skills. The art itself isn't the problem, the everything else makes it challenging.

This is okay, it's part of what gives it value.

To leave you with something useful, I'd say stop trying to "find a passion" and instead notice some tendencies you have.

Love to be around people? Do work which puts you around people.

Love analysis? Do work which puts you around that.

You should be trying to figure out what makes you smile in your chest, and try to find useful work which puts you around that as frequently as it can realistically do. Oftentimes there is a "chewing glass" period which can be a half decade or more where you're going to have to suck it up for the sake of the enterprise and focus on work you don't like, which is your responsibility as the entrepreneur. But hopefully in the end you can circle back into a place where you do work you like. Good luck.

SpoonFed
I was in the same space as you.

I have been a business owner all of my life.

But I am going to go against the flow on this one.

People have many hobbies that they are passionate about but I would not recommend turning all of those into businesses. Having a passion for what you do sometimes is not enough.

You must be able to do that thing effortlessly. I believe that is the key difference.

For example, you can have passion for computer programming but let's say that even though you like it, it takes a lot out of you. Well, then you definitely do not want to open a startup dealing with programming. You do not want the stress of the customer on top of that. Stress of that level will cause you to hate this thing you have a passion for and it will burn you out. This exact situation causes people to "lack the resilience to push through" You might like or love what you do but it takes too much out of you… burning you out at the end.

Stop and take a moment to deeply think of the things that you can do EFFORTLESSLY.

Now which one of those things could you open up a business where all you do it that one thing. Maybe open a consulting firm that does just that one thing you do effortlessly.

Find that out… and you will stay motivated all the way through.

Good Luck

Plato
It's better to do what you are good at instead of "following your passion".

If you do what you are good at, it will be a self fulfilling flywheel that will achieve success exponentially. The more you do what you are good at, the better you will become and the more success you will presumably have. Ideally this will make you better or the best when compared to others who are doing the same thing, but lack your talent or drive.

Passions are important, but very few are lucky to combine passion with financial freedom or entrepreneurship. The trap would be starting a business you are passionate about but the business failing because their is no market or demand. Then you burn out and/or lose your passion and your money.

Start with understanding what you are good at (perhaps better than most) and try combining that with something you enjoy. Hope this helps.
MiamiHeat
It's a common trend for beginner entrepreneurs to confuse personal passion with business ideas.

I think because personalities like Gary Vee push this agenda, but I don't agree with it.

Entrepreneurs that are successful long term see problems worth solving that the market values and go after offering those solutions.

The passion is found in the independence entrepreneurship gives you, being useful in the world, proving for your family and employees families.

Entrepreneurship can become boring, especially when you find what works.

The idea is to remove variability in the product or solution once you find what it is, not reinevent the wheel every year.

If you want passion as in "fun", have a hobby
Otingocni
Step 1. Find the cross-section between something that is in demand, and something you are really interested in. Usually that's a compromise of practicalities that ends up with "something you can live with".

Step 2. Find a realist end goal as the benchmark for success. It has to be measurable and specific. Such as, in five years I want to have $10k in the bank and a monthly profit of revenue of $3,000. Or some such that is a reasonable expectation for the line of work. After which you are off the hook and can sell it, close shop, continue to grow, what ever, but what ever it is, right now commit to this time frame.

The only way out is through success, mental/emotional exhaustion, or nearing bankruptcy.

Write it down because it's a contract with yourself, and sign it. Pick a start date and commit. After that there is no turning back or changing course.

True entrepreneurship is not running around chasing what ever interesting flights of fancy take you until you get bored or trip over the first hurdle. That's fantasy and if it were possible to do that, everyone would be doing it and nobody would be a garbageman, or a dishwasher, or any other job that is required to bring money in and keep the gears of commerce turning.

It's delivering a service or product that's in demand and sticking with long enough to be profitable. It's not some unknown invention, great intellect, radiant creativity, or 'passion' (though those are all fantastic qualities to have) but rather the ability to stay on track and focused on your goals.
franzcar
I have a very similar story. I've had too many ideas and just jumped between them, never committed.

I've always wanted to do a tech start up, but I'm actually launching a skincare company. Go figure.

Few things I changed. I realised I was risk averse. I have enough to lose some, so I invest and if I lose it, at least i'm trying.

Find like minded people and have 2-4 founders minimum. You need the various skills and energies to get through all the crap you have to put up with.

Take it easy on yourself. Don't be disappointed when the app isn't built in 3 months.

Good luck to you.
Hot-Ticket
Tough one, I think no matter what anyone says it won't move the needle for you. Yes, everyone has the same issue not just you. The main questions in my experience are, why does your "job" need to fulfill that need? Did figure out the money part so that you can pursue passion without struggling? You seem like you're in a different level than the average person. If you make a conscious decision that you want the business to work, and you're acting on your passion using the business as leverage then you'll have no excuses and you'll figure it out. business will do business and business = leverage = better more fulfilling passionate experiences. Also, try to find a partner to go along with you and help, hard but I think it would work. Good luck
JFBizz
Often people expect their passion to hit them in the face, this generally doesn't happen. You can ask yourself a series of questions to help you get started:

If you had 3 extra hours this weekend, what would you do? (E.g. cook a nice meal, read about programming, etc)

• What do other people struggle with that comes naturally to you? (E.g. getting a good workout in 30 minutes, writing great cover letters, etc.)

• What skills have you developed? (Good at interviewing, public speaking, etc.)

• What knowledge have you acquired? (Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), editing videos)

• What are the biggest challenges you've overcome? (Losing lots of weight, learning to make friends, overcoming dating anxiety)

• What problems do friends ask you for help with? (Setting up computers, planning vacations, etc)

Next, go through the list, mark each one on if you have the ability to provide value for others in that field, and if you have the willingness (maybe you could teach people to use Excel, BUT you might have no desire to actually do that)

After that is completed, you now have a list of your "passions". You can use this to brainstorm preliminary business ideas, spend some real time on this, force yourself to come up with at least ten ideas, if those ten come easily, add 5 more, keep doing that until the last 5 were really hard to come up with (forcing creativity).

Final step, map these ideas out into 4 different categories:

• Big market, low customer willingness to pay

• Small market, low willingness to pay (these ideas are going to be excluded)

• Small market, high willingness to pay

• Large market, high willingness to pay (the golden goose)

Now you have a strong list of your passions, possible business ideas, and a rough idea of what to expect from those businesses. The only category you really need to stay away from is small market combined with low willingness to pay, that will never be viable.

You may find a lot of these initial ideas are services (e.g. teaching musicians how to make high quality demo tapes), but there may be the opportunity to pivot those as well
lcyupingkun

"My issue is I have trouble committing. I feel like I'm romanticizing entrepreneurship for the adventure but in reality, the struggle isn't action-packed, it's a slow burn with a lot of monotony."

I grew up with this person. He is my dad. He's in his 60s now but still like this, a serial entrepreneur with no long-term business set up for himself.

He has a steady flow of income from the one thing that he's been doing successfully since his 30s (supplying a major brand here where I live with merchandising materials).

He has lost more fortunes than I can count just by doing what it is you're doing right now, flipping from business to business, investing in enterprises he did not do proper due diligence in.

His best long-term success story so far was setting up a business with me because I've been sticking to this since < year >.

"How did you find your passion?"

I did not build a business out of my passion, but I found passion through building a business.

You're absolutely right: it's slow-burning, monotonous, and it gets mind-numbingly boring on some days.

If I'm being honest right now, it's not the risk-taking that got me thinking about quitting the business several times over the past decade. I wanted to quit everything and start over. It's the boredom and monotony.

I'm glad I didn't quit though… otherwise I don't know what the hell it is I'd be doing with my life right now.

The idea of being totally consumed by something is incredibly appealing to me and I really want something to dedicate my life to.

You yourself said it, you've already attained some measure of success in several fields. If you take a closer look at your ventures, I'm sure one (or two) of them stand out as being the most feasible. I'd look into investing most of my time and money into building those ventures.

Good luck buddy.
r0ck0
Maybe being pedantic… but I think if people take "passion" too literally, then it kinda moves a little bit away from pragmatistic into idealism.

You certainly want to be doing something that you like rather than dislike. But you also need to account for the more practical concerns too, like:

• Can the rest of my life be balanced outside work/business? How much this matters is obviously highly subjective too, especially if you've got family to take care of.

• Is the income reliable?

• If I don't like the exact initial business, can it pivot to something semi-related?

• How much competition is there now? Or potentially in the future?

• Do I want to innovate? Or take a fairly mainstream path in a well established/stable industry?

• Will I need to employ others to help? Do I want to do that? And can they be contractors, or is it somewhere where they're typically fulltime employees?

…and stuff like that. Not saying any of these are more or less important than the passion part… all depends on the individual of course. But for many, the "one" thing that they're "truly passionate" about might not fare as well on the more practical concerns.
Opertivo
Personal anecdote:

My first company failed because I confused wanting to be the cool guy at the party with a startup with passion.

My second company was hugely successful, but I hated waking up every day. I found my target audience, but I wasn't passionate about the problem I (in hindsight arbitrarily chose to solve).

My third (and current company) is about to launch and I've never worked so hard in my life! Between launching and my 9-5 I work well over 90+ hours a week and I am also the most fulfilled I've ever been. I have no idea if this idea will work, but I am truly passionate about the problem I'm currently trying to solve and it doesn't help that it was also my own problem.

The distinction is that I am passionate about solving a problem that is close to me. I am also passionate about laying on my couch and binging crime shows, I'm passionate about baking cookies with weird ingredients like black pepper and other spices but I am not going to start a cookie company. I hope this helps 🙂
daddy
It sounds like you're looking for your Ikigai.

When creating my Ikigai, I prioritize finding or creating sections of Ikigai in descending order of what is most difficult to change, to what is easiest to change:

• What the world needs

• What you love doing

• What people are willing to pay for

• What you're good at

This order is because

• You can't change what the world needs, and you won't feel fulfilled long-term if what you're doing isn't contributing to it

• It's difficult to change what you love, but it is possible to learn to love new things

• Everyone has a price for anything, no matter how ridiculous it seems to you, or any one person, because most of what people pay for is one of two things:

• Time that they don't have to spend on what you're providing, because you're doing it for them

• An experience they enjoy that's worth it for them (which is what most people who value [a] are spending their extra time on anyway)

• You have a brain, and that brain learns new things, gets better at them, and masters them with consistent research, trial-and-error, and adjustments

By finding or creating the parts of your Ikigai in this order, you prevent needing to "start all over again" if you find 2, 3, and 4, but not what the world needs, and instead you find 1, then 2, and from there, you have incredible freedom to shape 3 and 4 to whatever you want.

A lot of people who go through a "mid-life crisis" or "quarter-life crisis" are likely people who have decided on doing something that fulfills 3 and 4 (good at it, and it makes money), but not 2 (what they enjoy) or 1 (what the world needs), and a lot of them recognize something is missing, but they don't always know what.

Ikigai.

Thinking about this (and it might take you a few days/weeks to create it), what's your Ikigai
hellonaroof
I've got Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and so chasing novelty is a huge issue I have to manage in my business.

I don't think you need to find your passion, as others have mentioned. Passions can be incredibly short lived and random if you're not the sort of person to live that "arrow trajectory" life.

And the people who just immediately say "you're not suited to this" sound line seriously jaded gatekeepers. Consistency is important, but it can come through understanding yourself and it sounds like you're trying to do that. Sod 'em.

You might just need to find something you can do consistently that offers – within itself – a sense of novelty, joy or curiosity.

Because once you know that novelty – seeking is a potential pitfall, you can build a business with supporting structures around that.

For example, I do brand and pitch strategy for small startups, which I landed on after a lot of false starts and soul searching. It works for me because:

The work is all in the same basic world, so I can have a fairly consistent process behind it all.

There is always something new I can learn about if I want to build a new skill or develop an existing one.

Each new client offers a big dose of curiosity, because I get to dive into their struggles, business goals, expertise, audience and competitor research, etc etc.

I am in various modes of work throughout – creative, analytical, organisational, social – which adds to the variety.

I can also choose the kinds of clients I want to work with.

So there is a consistent structure to it all, but the days and projects can be very different.

And if you know yourself, you can be better at identifying the right opportunities as well. I don't want to run an agency, because I know I don't enjoy managing projects for larger clients that require multiple creatives. So I avoid that path.

But I'm hearing a consistent need for a tool to manage brand strategy consistently (beyond just graphics) for small businesses without a marketing dept. And I do like managing development projects and would like to add a more product-based revenue stream. So I added validating the need as a strand to my business plans.

I'd add that you might need to create failsafes too. I have a pretty comprehensive setup in Notion that allows me to capture ideas and set review dates for them without acting on them. Stops me chasing squirrels – most of the time…

Hope that's a useful example. Good luck!
hamoodsmood
I've found that it's more important to get into an industry you can grasp well rather than a passion.

My example: I was thrust into contracting out of college. I hated it. With time I got good at it but I hated it. I didn't enjoy schmoozing people, I couldn't intuit things like costing early on and all that although with time I got good at it anyway. Didn't like it.

A year ago I started a business in the food industry but with more complex operations as we are more like a factory. I can completely understand how to do better for our customers, how to improve and how to measure things. Just made more sense to me. I have been doing better than I did in contracting because I can intuit how to compete better.

Change passion with something that you "get" and that will make your life much easier. I no longer envy those who are great at contracting and can schmooze their way into contracts. They're good at that and I'm not. That skill is useless to a retail seller like myself where I have to work a different angle so it's better for me.

Your experience is good it Should tell you more about what you can intuit better. Also grass is always greener. Odds of getting everything right are low. Be in for the long haul and stick to it don't just quit. If you need to hire your position and guide instead of needing drive to go in daily.

I was able to take a month off and business was fine without me. So my motivation is no longer a bottleneck too but it took a year to get there.
zorndyuke
Well, I have a question to chew about for you.

Why do you even want to become an entrepreneur?

What would change in your life, what would happen?

What would happen if you don't become an entrepreneur?

If you take your previous jobs: Why did you choose to do these exact things? What was your motivation to do A, B, C, D, ..?

A lot of people have the wrong motivations in front of their eyes like for instance: Money.

Money is good and important but that's not an actual goal.

Lets take "I want to be rich".

What exactly means "rich"?

"Well, I want to be a millionair".

Well, how many millions do you want to have?

"Well, as much as possible.."

Wrong answer. That is not a goal. A goal always has a set finish line. When do you say "Ok, now since I have XXXX$ I consider myself as rich and now I feel better"? We need an exact number.

"Hmm I don't know.. let's say 10 millions?"

Why so? What would happen if you end up with just 9 mil? What exactly do you want to archive with this 9 mil? Do you just want to "have" it? Whats wrong with having 100k? Or 10k? or 1k?

___

You see, a lot of people want to do things and give up on the "how", without even find a very good reason for the "why?".

If you should fight a lion for applaus, you probably not gonna do it.

If you should fight a lion because your daughter is in danger, you probably would rip off the fur of the lion with your own hands.

Motivation. Motiv. Whats your motiv to do things?

The more quality your "why?" has, the more energy, love and motivation you will have AND the most important: Clarity.

To find your passion, you need clarity.

What makes you happy? What makes you sad? What are your values in life? What are your standards? What things you do not tolerate?

For me, I *DEEPLY LOVE* to help other people and share them my experience.

This is the reason I *allow myself* to ask 5-6 figures "just to help them". Because this I am able to help much better AND I can help much more people. If I help more people, I feel much better (everything we human do is for ourselves. It's fine doing things for yourself, just don't sell your soul for it, it WILL backfire. Karmic law)

I *HATE* injustice. I *HATE* seeing people suffer. I *HATE* to see/witness sad, crying people who gave up on themself. So it was my *DEEPEST* desire to search for any solutions that I can help them.

This way, step by step, I got more and more clarity, tested out a few things and came closer to what I am doing todays.

So it's important for you to become self-aware, which ultimately leads to clarity. Once you have full insights about your *Inner World*, you will be able to see crystal clear while before your sighs was foggy and you struggled to even see your legs.

THIS btw. is what "Spirituality" actually means. Yes, okay, there is also the wishy washy part, but that's a few levels later. The first initial meaning of spirituality is to search AND find any answer of life INSIDE of you instead of something in the "outer" world like alcohol, drugs, distractions like Netflix/Prime/p0rn or Smartphone/Console/Games or Parties/Social interactions/Sex or buying a lambo, rolex, gucci or having money, fame, attention etc. which all of these things are just running away from the hard true facts of your life.

What helped me a lot in finding my true passion is to replace my mindset from "What can I do, to get what I want?" to "How can I serve others, to give them what they want?".

And this is the part, once you actually tried it out for yourself AND experienced it on your own, you will understand that the Karmic law is not just a wishy washy BS thing but actually something that seems to exist. Especially the moments where you know that whatever just happened is SO unbelievable random lucky, that even winning the lottory 10 times in row is way more likely than the thing that happened. This moment you know, this wasn't just luck but just Karma, which came back around to you because you earlier put "karma points" into your "karma account".

I know this part may be confusing. Ignore the second part with Karma and focus on "how you can serve others, to give them what they want" and experience the results on your own.

Btw. don't do these things with a mindset like "Ok, I did it.. where rich?". Learn to do these things *unconditionally*.

From all your past experiences.. do you have any memory where you really felt grateful and happy doing it?

For me.. I nearly cried when this happened.. it was when my very first student told me "I wanted to thank you so much! From all therapists, doctors and pychosogist I ever met and never get any results.. you are the first one who actually helped and changed my life. I don't want to die anymore,.. I found joy in life and I want to become like you!"

Don't get me wrong. This is not to brag about.

I want you to understand that no amount of money will ever reach the same feeling you will get as something like this. Just "thinking" about makes my eyes get joyful tears and makes me smile like the "high dog meme" and also gives me a deeeeep feel of gratitude.

Is there anything you did in your past which gave you feelings like this? Goosebubumps or anything similar where you felt really proud off and enjoyed life like no one else
LeadDiscovery
Find your passion and make it your career – I hear this all the time. This is an interesting subject with many viewpoints.

I do feel you have to enjoy what you're working at, however I don't think it has to be your biggest passion in life. Many people will work at what they are very good at, earns good money, that they enjoy somewhat and use that money to pursue their life's true passion.

Some passions don't earn any money at all.

I love to golf and travel – But I won't be making the PGA tour anytime soon. So the money I earn can be used to take lessons, travel to cool locations and play golf with my spouse and enjoy that passion as much as I can. For me, this makes me happy and can help fuel my energy towards my daily work life.

I do enjoy what I do, but I would not define it as "my life's passion".

When you are very young, I would say that you can take the risk of working at your passion. If I found golf as a very young man, I may have given it a run. So timing in your life's journey is also a key point to evaluate.
Valiant
This is a common problem in our "industry,"and I think the right answer is actually more complicated than we think.

For example, I would come up with cool ideas. I'd even do a few (4 apps, 1 website, 1 FBA product, 1 merch flipping, 1 dropshipping site, etc). But I would end up abandoning them pretty quickly after I discovered other issues, like:

• I may be passionate about the peripheral subject, but nobody else was.

• A lot of people might be passionate about it, but they're not willing to pay to fix it or enhance it.

• People might be willing to pay for it, and I may like the project, but the scale necessary to make it succeed was astronomical and would not work well with my unfocused brain.

• People will pay for it, I like the subject, and I don't need a lot of scale to feel like I'm progressing, but there is zero creativity required. It just needs to exist to make money, and that doesn't work for me. I want to invent something disruptive.

Here are some very specific things that I did to eventually find my passion projects:

• Write down all of your ideas, then write down all of you criteria that an idea would have to meet for it to be something you would pursue relentlessly. Then score each product in each category. Highest score wins. Do this multiple times till you are sure about your criteria (you don't even have to create a business, this is just a really good mental practice)

• Dramatically increase time spent with friends and family doing things that you love to do. If you're paying attention, ideas for amazing products and solutions in areas you enjoy will come to you.

• Get off of your computer and your devices. Read books about retraining your brain to endure boredom and to focus, or biographies on business ideation and development. Indestractable by Nir Eyal or Atomic Habits by James Clear. Shoe Dog, etc. You will desperately need these tips once you find your big idea.

• Vision board or Big Idea Vignette exercises (basically what everyone else suggests). Write down topics that are guaranteed to keep you talking for hours. A really great way to do this- write down your favorite fantasy book genres, video game topics, television show themes, favorite sports, business models and structures. Then think of business ideas around these.

• Go find entrepreneurs doing cool stuff and ask them about it. Sometimes the social pressure to succeed around a specific business idea is enough to keep you more focused (Amazon FBA, affiliate marketing, Airbnb all enjoy this type of pressure).

• Think about what people praise you for. Build a business around that. For example, I got a lot of praise for my expertise in Airbnb, so I started an Airbnb brand for beginners as one of my first business projects. Slam dunk. I love doing it, I love teaching it, I can do it for hours, people are looking for and paying for it, I can put my own disruptive twist on it, and it doesn't take a lot of scale to feel like I'm progressing (my criteria).

Hope these help!
AReason
I've noticed I'm pretty much the same way, I love starting new ventures but when it gets going I get bored and lose momentum. I don't think turning your passion into a business would be the best option.

What I, myself, have been wondering is how I can leverage that tendency rather than see it as a weakness. I'm still very early into my entrepreneurship path, but maybe starting and just automating businesses would be an option? You get the excitement from starting the business, you have the experience to make it work, and once you start feeling the monotony start building a team to keep it going. And either structure it to where you have little involvement or just sell it and start over in something new.

Or maybe even get involved in private equity or become an angel investor? Become hands on in building/growing a business but only temporarily until you move on to the next project