“Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.”
[“Traveler, there is no path; the path is made by walking”]
— Antonio Machado
I see it so often. Brilliant coaches, trainers, consultants, and independent service professionals frozen in business inaction because they haven’t “found” their calling, purpose, or passion yet.
They are waiting for a lightning bolt of clarity. They tell themselves, “I can’t commit to anything in my business because I’m not 100% sure this is my ‘true’ passion”.
NOTE – I came across Santiago Bilinkis’ YouTube video, where he was talking about careers and vocation and I thought some of his ideas would be helpful for people like us. [You’ll find the link to his video in the resource section with all my gratitude for his great work].
If you feel like everyone else received a map to their “purpose” and you’re the only one standing at the trailhead with a blank piece of paper, I have a secret for you…
The map is a myth.
The Vocation Trap
Here’s something that might surprise you…
Research from Stanford shows that 80% of young people don’t know what they want to devote themselves to. And among adults? The number is remarkably similar — 70% are still searching.
You are not alone.
You are not broken.
You are not the exception.
The real problem isn’t that you haven’t found your passion yet.
The problem is the myth of the “calling” itself — this idea that we’re all born with a factory-installed passion and our only job is to go on an elaborate scavenger hunt to find it.
But here’s what the research actually shows…
The obsession with finding your passion is more likely to stop you than help you.
Another Stanford study revealed something fascinating. When people believe their vocation “comes from the factory,” they tend to abandon their path much faster when obstacles appear. And in business, obstacles always appear.
The people who succeed?
They’re the ones who understand that passion isn’t found — it’s developed.
The Myth of the One True Passion
There’s another assumption hidden inside the vocation myth.
The idea that each of us has one true passion waiting to be discovered.
But does that actually match human experience?
We come into the world with an extraordinary capacity to love almost anything.
Have you ever noticed that when you give a baby an expensive gift, they often end up playing with the box?
A cardboard box.
A spoon.
A leaf.
A puddle.
Children don’t begin life fascinated by one thing.
They are fascinated by everything.
They explore.
They experiment.
They engage.
The capacity to become interested, absorbed, and delighted seems to be our natural state.
Which means that being interested in many things is not evidence that something is wrong.
It’s evidence that you’re human.
In fact, many brilliant coaches, trainers, consultants, and independent professionals are naturally multi-passionate. They love ideas. They love learning. They love solving different kinds of problems.
The challenge isn’t having too many interests.
The challenge is choosing where to focus your attention long enough to create results.
Because choosing one path today doesn’t require abandoning all the others forever.
From Finding to Developing
Instead of searching for a passion before you start a business, you can develop your interests and your mastery until they become your purpose.
The direction isn’t found through endless thinking.
It’s found through doing.
This flips everything we’ve been taught on its head…
We don’t need to wait for passion to strike like lightning. We can actually create it, step by step, through engagement and progress.
Let me give you some practical keys to finding your “Business Thing” when you don’t have a clear calling yet.
Ask a Different Question
Instead of torturing yourself with “What am I passionate about?”, try this…
“What am I naturally good at?”
I don’t mean you have to be the best in the world.
I mean what comes to you with more ease than it seems to come to others.
What feels like play to you but looks like work to everyone else?
Here’s the secret most people miss…
We don’t always do something well because we’re passionate about it. Often, we become passionate about it because we do it well.
Progress generates momentum.
Momentum creates enthusiasm.
Think about it…
When you see yourself growing, advancing, achieving something that matters — that feels good. That’s what the ancient Greeks called eudaimonic happiness: the joy that comes from overcoming obstacles and learning in the process.
You feel fulfilled not because it was easy, but because it required effort and it was worth it.
So, if you focus on something you do well — even if at first it doesn’t make your heart sing — there’s a good chance you’ll end up loving it. Because getting better at something feels good. And that, too, could be a compass.
Choose a Direction, Any Direction
Here’s something I’ve learned…
Having some direction, even if it’s not perfect, is infinitely better than staying frozen waiting for the ideal option.
Not deciding is also a decision.
When you choose a north — any north — the world reorganizes itself. Things start to divide into what brings you closer and what takes you further away.
And suddenly, all those smaller daily decisions become easier.
What if you committed to a “Business Thing” for just the next 90 days?
Not forever.
Just 90 days.
Notice what happens when you stop debating in your own head and start moving.
Don’t Chase Novelty Constantly
Once you start concentrating your energy on something and doing it consistently, any change can start to look attractive simply because it’s new.
But processes require time.
Constancy is part of the path.
Don’t stay stuck in something that’s clearly not working for you.
But also, don’t spend your life jumping from one thing to another every time something gets difficult or repetitive.
There’s a difference between pivoting with wisdom and running from discomfort.
Recalculating Is Part of the Journey
And here’s something else…
Even after you think you’ve figured it out, you might need to recalibrate.
After all the searching and effort, there comes a moment when you finally feel in control. You know who you are, what you want, what you do. And then the next day… you have no idea anymore.
Nothing dramatic happened.
But something inside shifted.
The answers you found don’t last forever. What served as your north for years might suddenly feel empty. And you don’t understand why.
This isn’t failure.
This is growth.
Replanning your life isn’t a sign you got it wrong the first time. It’s a sign you’re evolving.
If you feel off-course, maybe it’s not you. Maybe it’s that the GPS of success was mis-calibrated all along, and it’s time to recalculate.
It’s Never Too Late
We live in a culture that worships youth and the perfect beginning.
The young genius.
The 20-something entrepreneur who raises millions.
But here’s what the data actually shows…
A Harvard study analyzed thousands of successful ventures in the United States. The average age of their founders wasn’t 25.
It was 45.
And there’s more…
Someone at 50 has double the chance of creating a successful company than someone under 30.
If you’re over 30, 40, 50 and wondering if you’ve missed your window — you haven’t. In fact, you might just be hitting your stride.
Yes, certain cognitive capacities peak in your twenties — fluid intelligence, quick thinking, raw memory.
But many other capacities keep growing with the years.
With time, you don’t just accumulate experience. You gain perspective, prioritization, strategic vision. That’s what’s called crystallized intelligence. And it doesn’t peak and decline — it keeps developing.
Studies show that older people are more emotionally stable, recover faster from life’s setbacks, have more self-control in the face of temptation. Not because they repress their emotions, but because they’re clearer about what matters and what doesn’t.
In real life, we’re rarely running speed races. We’re running marathons of judgment.
My Story – A Decision as The First Step
I remember having a very hard time deciding what to study at university. I was “passionate” about everything! I felt that choosing one thing meant losing everything else.
Looking back, I can see that being interested in many things wasn’t a problem. The real challenge was believing I had to make a perfect decision that would define the rest of my life.
Finally, I made a decision: Foreign Languages and Communication. By the way, typical decision for someone who loves everything and wants to keep their options open.
That decision put me on the right path in a beautifully serendipitous way. As soon as I graduated at the top of my class, I started my business. And then… I got the shock of my life.
I realized I was completely unprepared for the actual business side of being an expert.
That frustration led me to learn everything I could, implementing strategies in my own business and eventually designing my own framework that would work for businesses like ours — for coaches, trainers, consultants and independent professionals.
Soon, colleagues and friends started asking how I was doing it.
I started showing them.
I was hooked.
I had found my camino in the least suspected place.
I didn’t find it by looking inward at my “passions” for months on end. (By the way, the only option I confidently discarded when I was choosing what to study was… You guessed it… Business.)
I found it by moving forward, by doing, by looking outward at a problem I could solve. (In fact, I chose the problem that I really wanted to solve. I wanted to make my first business work so I threw myself with all my heart into finding a beautiful solution.)
Permission to Be Well-Paid for What You Love
Here’s something else worth saying out loud…
You don’t need anyone’s permission to create a business doing what you love and get well-paid for it.
Somewhere along the way, we absorbed this strange belief that it’s “noble” to be well-paid for a job we hate, but somehow “greedy” or “unrealistic” to be well-paid for something that brings us joy.
Let’s drop that weight right now.
Your joy and your natural gifts are not separate from your contribution to the world. They’re often the source of your greatest contribution.
And…
The money always comes from the place you can make the biggest difference.
Success On Your Own Terms
The real challenge isn’t finding the perfect passion.
It’s learning to measure your success with your own criteria — not with the algorithm’s criteria, not with the market’s expectations, not with other people’s standards.
Business Thought Experiment
“Vocation is the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”
— Frederick Buechner
Now, let’s try a small experiment.
Dare to let it be simple for just a moment.
If you’ve been waiting in the “waiting room of purpose,” frozen because you haven’t found your perfect passion yet, look in the direction of these reflections:
What if passion were not the starting point?
What if you could start with curiosity, or with a problem you see, or with something you’re simply good at — and let passion develop along the way?
Where could you be confusing “passion” with “ease”?
Have you been waiting for something that feels effortless before you commit? What if the things worth doing always have some resistance, and passion grows through engagement, not before it?
What have you fallen in love with by getting good at it?
Look back at your life. Where have you seen yourself develop passion for something not because you were “born” passionate about it, but because you got good at it and saw the impact?
What if you gave yourself 90 days?
If you had to pick one “Business Thing” for just the next 90 days — not forever, just 90 days — what would it be? What opens up when you stop debating and start moving?
What if recalibrating weren’t failure?
If you’ve already built something but feel that pull to shift or evolve, what if that’s not a sign you got it wrong, but a sign you’re growing?
What are you measuring success by?
Are you using your own criteria, or someone else’s?
One last secret worth considering…
Some of us learned somewhere along the way that we cannot love our business or what we do.
Some of us learned that loving many things means we’re unfocused, inconsistent, or confused.
What if those were just thoughts?
What if they weren’t even ours?
What if your ability to become fascinated, engaged, and devoted were one of your greatest gifts?
What if passion were not something you had to find, but something you could develop?
What if your camino revealed itself the same way every path reveals itself…
One step at a time?
Till next time, remember… Your brilliance is portable. You can take it with you anywhere and everywhere.
With all my love,
Ana
Resources
Business Thought Experiments
A Business Thought Experiment – # 1 – Imagination In Action
A Business Thought Experiment – # 2 – Create, Don’t Compete
A Business Growth Thought Experiment – #3 – Clean Slate
A Business Thought Experiment – #4 – Is The Coaching Market Saturated?
A Business Thought Experiment – #4 – Is The Coaching Market Saturated?
Business Thought Experiment # 5 – Buenos Aires And the Value Your Perfect Clients Can See
Business Thought Experiment # 5 – Buenos Aires And the Value Your Perfect Clients Can See
Business Thought Experiment #6 – What Impact Remains When AI Can Do Almost Everything
Business Thought Experiment #6 – What Impact Remains When AI Can Do Almost Everything
Business Thought Experiment #7 – Confidence in Business, Impact and the Next Obvious Step
Business Thought Experiment #7 – Confidence in Business, Impact and the Next Obvious Step
Santiago Bilinkis Finding Your Vocation
I came across Santiago’s video about finding your vocation and although it’s geared toward career paths, something about it sparked this thought experiment. I kept thinking: what if we adapted these ideas specifically for coaches, trainers, consultants, and independent service professionals who are stuck in the “waiting room” looking for their business calling? The core insights translated beautifully, and I hope they serve you as much as they served me in thinking about this differently.
Photos – Thank you to dear German engineer husband for the pictures of the Zugspitze – the highest mountain in the German Alps. His love for skiing and my preference to stay on stable ground is the perfect example that human beings can love anything.
Fearless – The simple spiritual shift from the game of fear to the game of freedom, brilliance and confidence to create what you really, really, really want in business
What if you could create in business and in life without fear? Not with more “courage”, not with “techniques”, not with “feel the fear and do it anyway”, but fearless.
For more on uncovering your brilliance, wisdom, and the natural confidence to make decisions without the “mental noise,” you can find Fearless –
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