年轻时找不到自己的热情所在，怎么办？

How A Person With No Passion In His Career Pursued And Found His Passion

在我的职业生涯中，我曾过对自己所做之事毫无热情，也曾拥有过极大热情。相信我，这就像是过着两种完全截然不同的生活。

In my career, I’ve had no passion and a lot of passion for what I do. Believe me, it’s like living two completely different lives.

我拥有机械工程的学位。之所以学这个专业，主要原因有二：我父亲是个工程师，我擅长数学和科学。但这并不是因为我日后想成为优秀的工程师。

I have a mechanical engineering degree. Two main reasons. One, my dad is an engineer. And two, I’m good at math and science. But not because I wanted to be a great engineer someday.

我的第一份工作与研发有关，专为世界头号玩具公司Mattel设计玩具。优秀的行业，优秀的公司，优秀的上司与同事，同时这也是份有趣的工作。但在我眼里，大多数的工作日都十分漫长，每天要盯着手表数日子。我的工作做得不错，但对此我提不起热情。工程师这份工作就是不适合我。因此，五年后，我决定探索自己可能会抱有热情的事情。

My first job was in R&D, designing toys for the world’s #1 toy company, Mattel. Great industry, great company, great boss, great colleagues, and interesting work. But most days were very long. I watched the clock. I did my job well, but I had no passion for it. Engineering work just didn’t suit me. So after five years, I decided to search for what I might feel passionate about doing.

(我作为玩具工程师的第一份工作)

如今，我身处人才行业。在运转自己的猎头与人才培养公司的二十余年里，我有过很大的起起伏伏，但经历这些之后，我依然热爱这一行，对此依然热情满满。因此，只要有人愿意去追寻自己的热情所在，我总会无条件地支持他们。要做到这一点并不容易，它需要勇气，但一切都是值得的。所以，如果你希望充分利用自己的才能与潜力，做对自己有意义的事，以下我有几条建议，希望能助你追寻到自己的热情所在。

Today, I’m in the talent industry. In my 20+ years running my recruitment and talent development company, I’ve had big highs and lows. But through it all, I remain dedicated and passionate about what I do. That’s why I’m such a big supporter of anyone who pursues their passion. It isn’t easy. It takes courage. But it’s worth it. So if you aspire to fully utilize your talent and potential, and do something that’s meaningful to you, here’s how to pursue and find your passion.

1)  没有热情，就大胆离开——在职业生涯早期，你很难弄清楚自己对什么事有热情。坦白说，与其相比，弄清楚自己不喜欢什么事，对什么事提不起热情要简单得多。

当初，我只知道自己对工程师这份工作提不起热情。虽然这是份不错的职业，但它不符合我的个性和兴趣，我也不想在这条路上有多大作为。至于自己究竟对哪些事感兴趣，当时的我一点概念都没有。

1)  Leave what you have no passion for – Early in your career, it’s hard to know what your passion is. Because frankly, it’s much easier to find what you don’t enjoy or have a passion for doing than it is to find what you do.

For me, I only knew that I had no passion for being an engineer. It’s a great profession, but it just didn’t fit my personality, interests, and what I wanted to become successful at. As to what would, I didn’t have a clue.

我做了什么？——为了寻找到热情所在，我清楚地知道，第一件事就是要告别当下的工作。因此，我离开了稳定却毫无斗志的工程师工作，跳入了一个截然不同的环境，它可能会告诉我自己究竟喜欢做什么。当时我能想到的，能实现这一点的最佳环境是商学院。

What I did – To find my passion, I knew the first step was to leave my current situation. So I walked away from my stable, but uninspiring engineering job and jumped into a completely different situation where I might discover what I might really enjoy doing. The best environment I could think of to do this was business school.

2) 将自己导向正确方向——对大多数人来说，寻找热情的过程是一段曲折的旅程。它需要时间。我就花了八年，才找到自己的热情所在。

问题在于，在这条曲折的道路上，你只有到了下一个转角，才能看到之后的路。你无法看到自己的终点，也不知道究竟何时才能到达终点。关键是要在最开始的时候挑好合适的道路与方向。

2)  Point yourself in the right direction - For most, finding your passion will take you on a winding road. It’ll take time. For me, it took about eight years.

Now, the thing about winding roads is that you can only see further down them by rounding the next corner. You also can’t see where you’ll end up or when you’ll get there. At the beginning, the key is to pick a good road and direction to travel.

(我曲折的职业发展旅途)

我做了什么？——为此，我考虑了对我而言最为重要的“三大要素”。我思考了好几个月，但弄清这三大要素能使我更明白自己究竟想做什么。

这三大要素是：1）商务，2）帮助他人，3）中国。与机械工程或制造业相比，商界更能引起我的兴趣。我不喜欢整天对着电脑，更喜欢与人打交道。帮助他人使我充满动力，能让我发挥出最好的一面。然后就是中国，我希望能在中国做一番事情。

在这些年我做的每个工作变动和职业决策中，你都能看到这三大要素。你呢？你希望从事的职业又有哪三大要素？

What I did – To do this, I thought about “3 elements”, or factors that were most important to me. It took me a couple months, but identifying them gave me a clearer sense of what I wanted to pursue.

My three elements were 1) business, 2) helping people, and 3) China. I was much more interested in the business world than engineering/manufacturing world. And rather than look at a computer all day, I wanted to interact with people. Helping others energized and brought out the best in me. And then China, the place I wanted to have an impact.

Over the years, you can see these three elements in every job move and career decision I’ve made. What about you? What three elements do you hope can be part of what you pursue in your career?

3) 与尽可能多的人交流——接下来，我要拓宽对商界与不同职业的认识。要想做到这一点，我觉得最快的方法是与人交流，尤其是与在我感兴趣的领域已有所作为的人物交流。

我做了什么？——我开始参加各种商务活动。我在UCLA读了MBA项目，这为我提供了很好的机会。市场营销专业人士、咨询师、企业家、律师，所有在我想了解领域的佼佼者都成了我的交流对象。我询问他们的工作内容，对自己的工作有哪些满意和不满意的地方，要想做好这份工作，需要付出哪些努力。我就是这样开始了解不同职业和行业的。

3) Talk to as many people as you can – My next move was to broaden my understanding of the business world and different careers. The quickest way I could think of doing this was to talk to people, especially those were successful at something that looked interesting to me.

What I did – I started joining different business events and activities. My MBA program At UCLA was a great place to do this. I talked to marketing professionals, consultants, entrepreneurs, lawyers, basically, anyone who did something that I wanted to learn more about. I asked people about what they did, what they liked and didn’t like about their job, and what it took to do it well. That’s how I began to understand what different professions and industries are really about.

(在UCLA学习 MBA的日子)

我也与受我尊敬的，在他们那行表现出众的人们交流，比如我的母亲、叔叔伯伯们，还有Wang Computers的上司，希望能得到职业指导与职业灵感。我问他们是如何寻找到热情所在的，是如何在这一行做到如此优秀的，以及能给我哪些建议。这几番谈话给了我许多想法与小贴士，帮助我进一步追寻自己喜爱的职业。

For career guidance and inspiration, I also talked to people I looked up to with successful careers, like my mom, my uncles, and boss at Wang Computers. I’d ask about how they found their passion. About how did they become so good at what they did, and what advice they had for me? These talks gave me many insights and tips for pursuing my own career.

4)克服恐惧——我需要逼自己踏出舒适区，但也害怕新挑战，害怕失败。但为了更快地学习与成长，我必须克服这些常常涌现出来的恐惧与害怕。

在追寻热情的路上，我遭遇的最大困难是克服对于尝试新事物的恐惧。“要是这样怎么办？要是那样怎么办？”这些念头常常浮现在我的脑海。我常常会想出不下十个可能出现的失败原因。

4)  Overcoming “the fear”– While I needed to push myself outside of my comfort zone, I was also afraid of facing new challenges and failing. To learn and grow faster though, I had to overcome this constant fear I had.

Overcoming my fear to do and try new things was the toughest step for me to pursue my passion. “What if this, what if that,” constantly went through my mind. I’d think of 10 reasons why I might fail at something.

(早期进军商业届的冒险)

光坐着拍脑袋是无法找到热情所在的。我得尝试、体验新事物，才能知道自己究竟喜不喜欢某件事。但把自己放入不熟悉的环境说起来简单，做起来却并不容易。

I wasn’t going to find my passion by sitting around and thinking about it. I needed to try and experience new things to find out how much I might really like doing something. But putting yourself into unfamiliar situations is easier said than done.

我做了什么？——在这种情况下，你需要对自己的情形与选择拥有基本的理解，然后清楚地做出决定。我会思考我更为害怕的情形。一是去做一件没做过，但更好的事情，可恶事也许会失败，二是停滞在当下，没有任何改观的盼头，这两种情况，哪种更好？

What I did – In situations like this, you need to reach a basic understanding of your situation and choices. Then, make a clear decision for yourself. I thought about what I was afraid of more. Was it pursuing something different and better, and possibly failing? Or remaining in my current situation, with no hope of anything improving?

这样一想，我发现，与尝试过后可能失败相比，自己更害怕在没有热情的生活里停滞不前。去试了，至少我还有改观的机会，但如果不去试，就一点机会都没有了。最后，我对自己说，至少失败了我还能做回那浑浑噩噩的工程师工作。

When put this way, I realized I was much more afraid of settling for a life without passion, than I was of trying to pursue my passion and failing. If I tried, there was at least a chance my situation could improve. But if I didn’t try, there was no chance. Ultimately, I told myself that if I wasn’t successful, I could always go back to my passionless engineering career.

并且，为了不让自己想太多，只要有新情况出现，我都会直接参与其中。一有新机会，我就上。

例如，在读MBA时，有人让我去竞选“亚洲管理学学生社团（Asian Management Students Association）”的主席，一般我会避免担任领导职务，因为我没有自信。但现在，领导技能对我来说十分重要，而这是我培养领导力的绝佳机会。

In addition, to not give myself time to overthink things, whenever a new situation came up, I’d just join it. If a new opportunity appeared, I’d just go for it.  

For instance, I was asked to run for president of AMSA (Asian Management Students Association) in my MBA program. Usually, I avoided leadership roles. I didn’t have the confidence. But leadership skills were important to me now, and this was a great opportunity for me to build them.

所以我一口答应了。我要去竞选。对于该做哪些事，我一点想法都没有，也没有什么计划，但一旦决定投入其中，有趣的事情就发生了——我开始慢慢体会到自己需要做什么。各种想法一点点浮现在脑海。原来只要逼自己去做，自己对于领导还是有些概念的。

So I just said, yes. I’ll run. I didn’t have a plan or any idea what I should do. But once I committed myself to the situation, something interesting happened. I began figuring out what I needed to do. Thoughts and ideas started coming to mind. Once I knew I had to do it, it turns out I actually had some sense for how to lead.

5）享受旅程！——在不断体验新事物，发现自己热情所在的道路上，你会碰到许多沮丧、失落以及不如人意的情况。不是一切都能成功，但你要从中吸取经验教训。在追逐重要之事的道路上，大多数时间都是用在实现目标的过程中，所以，要享受旅程。

5) Enjoy the journey!– As you experience new things and discover what you may have a passion for doing, there will be disappointments, frustrations, and less-than-ideal situations. Not everything you do will be successful. But you need to look for the lessons you’re supposed to learn. And actually, when pursuing something significant, you spend most of your time on the road to your objective. So you need to enjoy the journey.

(开了我自己的公司)

我做了什么？——有许多次，我都对所处情形感到失望；有许多次，我都对手头的事情产生质疑。这时，我就会提醒自己，要拥抱一切。我会对自己说：“哇，你也太差劲了吧”，或者“看来我没想象的那么聪明！”然后一笑了之，继续努力。

What I did – There have been many occasions where I’ve felt frustrated about my situation. Many times, I’ve questioned what I’m doing. This is when I’d remind myself to embrace everything that was happening to me. I’d just tell myself, “Wow, you really suck!” Or, “I guess I’m not as brilliant as I thought!” And then laugh about it and move on.

归根结底，你的一切经历都能提高自己，帮你更好地认识自己。就算失败和错误也能助你成长，使你接近目的地。然后，你就会成为别人眼中励志故事中的主人公。

In the end, everything you go through helps you improve and know yourself better. Even your failures and mistakes help you grow and get you closer to where you want to go. And later on, they become your entertaining, inspiring stories to others.

当我在接受新的和机会来追寻自己的热情所在时，我常常怀疑自己，不确定自己能不能做好。刚开始时我会缺乏自信。但是我知道我要关注在自己需要做的事情上。我要给自己学习，甚至犯错的空间。

While pursuing new challenges and situations to find my passion, I was constantly unsure if I could perform in them well. I usually lacked the capabilities and confidence at the beginning. But I knew I had to just focus on doing what I needed to do. I had to give myself room to learn, and even make mistakes.

所以我会告诉自己，也许我不是最聪明，最有能力的，但我相信自己也不差。只要有需要，我都愿意努力工作，110%投入，以达成优异成果。虽然这些不能保证我能成功，但它们使我更注重自己能做什么，而不是不能做什么。不管你面对的是什么处境，相信自己和自己的目标是很重要的。

So I’d tell myself that I may not be the smartest, most capable one to do it well, but I believed I was smart and capable enough. I was also willing to work as hard as needed, and 110% committed to delivering a great result. All this still didn’t guarantee my success, but it helped me focus on what I could offer, rather than what I couldn’t yet. No matter what you face, it’s important to believe in yourself and in your purpose.

1994年，我成立了自己的猎头公司“王李亚洲资源”。今年早些时候，我推出“职商网”，希望这个网站能成为中国职场人“您首选的职业发展网站” （Your Go-To Website For Career Guidance And Inspiration）。我致力于帮助其他人追求成功，无论他们定义的成功是什么。这就是我希望做的事情。之前我做过的一切都仿佛在将我引向如今的自己和如今的事业。

In 1994, I founded my recruitment firm, Wang & Li Asia Resources. Earlier this year, I launched zhishangwang.com, which I hope can become Your Go-To Website For Career Guidance And Inspiration for many Chinese professionals. I am dedicated to helping others pursue and achieve their career success, whatever that may be. This is what I was meant to do. It’s as if everything I did before led me to where I am and what I’m doing today.

(仍然对我现在做的事情有着特殊的热情)

这就是我的寻找热情之旅。各人有各人的旅程，享受每一步吧，因为所有人都会试图寻找既能让你成功，又能让你开心的事。这是一段值得走上的旅程，也是一个值得探寻的目的地。

This is how I found my passion. Everyone’s journey is different. Embrace and enjoy every step of yours. Because ultimately, you’re trying to find what will make you both successful and happy. That’s a journey worth taking and destination worth pursuing.