Do you feel passionless — as though everything you do is a shade of dull gray?

　　感觉生活没有热情，所做的所有事都笼罩着一层暗灰色，了无生趣？

　　Is work boring or empty, or just plain awful? Do you lack adventure and fun in your life? Do you feel stuck but have no idea how to get unstuck?

　　是工作太空虚乏味？找不到生活的乐趣和刺激？你是否感到自己陷入困境却不知如何摆脱呢？

　　A life passion isn’t something that drops on you from the heavens or appears from thin air. Discovering your passion is a process of self-discovery and detective work. It requires stripping yourself bare and examining the “real you。” This is the you without limiting beliefs, old wounds, ego-based pursuits, and fear.

　　生活热情不会平白无故从天而降，抑或浮现在稀薄的空气中。它是自我发现的过程，需要你真诚面对自己，仔细审查内心的“真我”。这个“真我”没有信仰限制，没有过去的伤疤，更没有自我为中心的追求和畏惧。

　　If you want to begin today to bare your true self and reveal your own passion in life, here are 15 small actions you can take to get started:

如果你希望从今天起，展现真实的自己找回对生活的热情，以下15招教你踏上转变之旅：

　　1. Shift your thinking. If you believe, like I did, that you aren’t great at something, or you don’t feel excited about anything and therefore have no passion — then release that notion. If you believe that you are too old, reject that falsehood. Those are excuses which will keep you stuck.

　　转变思维。如果你像我曾经一样，认为自己做不好任何事或对任何事提不起劲儿而导致你失去热情，那马上摆脱这样的想法。你认为学新知识太迟？甩掉这些假话吧，它们是你让自己继续沦陷的借口罢了。

　　2. Become aware of joy. Get a small pocket notebook and keep it with you. Keep track of the times when you feel happy and fulfilled. What are you doing when you feel good? Write it down in your notebook. Pay attention to what feels good to you.

留心发现快乐。随身携带一个小笔记本，记下当你感到快乐和满足时的每一刻。当你感觉开心时你正在做什么呢？用笔记下来，并且留意那些让你感到美好的事物。　　3. Pinpoint the major drag. What’s causing you the most frustration? Your job? A relationship? Your leisure time? A general lack of purpose? Isolate the primary cause and the elements of it that bring you down.

　　查明让你停滞不前的主要原因。是什么特别使你萎靡不振？工作？感情？你的闲暇时间？没有目标？将最主要的那个原因和其他次要原因分开写出来。

　　4. What were your dreams? When you were younger, or even now, what did you dream of being, doing, achieving, discovering? Write those down in your notebook. Dredge them up and reignite those dreams.

　　你曾经的梦想是什么？当你年少时或就是现在，你想成为什么人，做什么事，获得何种成就或者发现什么？努力回忆这些内容，将它们写在本子上，重新点燃你的梦想！

5. Acknowledge your skills. Maybe you aren’t a virtuoso at something, but you have many skills. You may not recognize them as skills, but others do. Ask your friends and family what you are good at — no matter how small. Make a list of your skills, and make note of the skills you really enjoy.

　　肯定自身的才能。或许你不是一名艺术鉴赏家，但你有许多其他才能。你可能没把那些看作是自己的一技之长，但其他人却恰恰相反。问问你的朋友家人你擅长什么——不管多么微不足道，将这些才能列成清单，并将自己所青睐的几个打上记号。

6. Let go of shoulds. Many people hold themselves back from happiness because of the word “should。” I should stay in this job because I can’t find a better one. I should become a teacher because my parents want me to. I should not try something new because I’l look foolish. Dismiss this word from your vocabulary while on your passion search.

　　让“应该”的条条框框随风去。许多人由于“应该”要做什么而失去了自己的幸福感。我不可能再找到更好的工作所以我应该继续呆在原公司。我应该成为一名教师因为爸妈希望我这样。我不应该尝试新东西，那样看起来太傻了。将这个词从你的人生字典里甩掉，踏上寻找热情的旅途吧！.

　　7. Try something new. Anything. Go for a weekend trip to a new location. Take a class on bird watching or painting or dancing. Strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know well. Shake up your life a bit. Peep out past your current existence. It will broaden your perspective.

　　尝试新事物。任何新的事物。周末去陌生地点旅游，报名观鸟、绘画或舞蹈课程，和不太熟的朋友聊天等等。从点滴激发你的生活乐趣，让你的存在感慢慢显露。它将会开拓你的视野。

　　8. Be a voyeur. Investigate someone else who is living an amazing, passionate life. These are all regular people who have learned how to live passionate, adventurous lives.

　　做个生活“偷窥家”。留心观察那些对生活充满激情的人，他们都是懂得如何将生活变得生机勃勃并富有创造力的聪明人.

　　9. Unlock your past. If you have something holding you back, an old trauma or past anger, do something about it, or you will undermine your efforts at passionate living. How can you live with passion when you have a hole in your heart? Go to a counselor or other helping professional and heal the past so you can create your future.

　　对过去敞开心扉。若过去的创伤或愤怒阻止你向前，一定要采取措施面对，否则这些过往会一点点破坏你充满激情的生活。试想，当你的心有空洞时你怎能积极地生活呢？让咨询师或心理专家帮助你治愈你的过往吧，你将会创造属于自己的未来。

　　10. Define your values. What is important to you? What values define you? Your passion must be centered around your primary values so that your life reflects who you are.

　　认清你的价值。什么是你认为最重要，最有价值的？你的热情必须围绕着你最在乎的东西，从而可以通过生活发现自己究竟是谁。

　　11. Sketch out a vision. It’ two years down the road. Who are you now? What are you doing? Start sketching a vision for yourself, as though you have no limitations on who you can be or what you can do. Just pretend for now.

　　拟定一个大致目标。将目标期望实现时间定为两年。现在你是谁？正在做什么？开始为自己拟一个计划吧。你可以成为什么样的人，你可以做什么，一切都可以随意发挥。从现在开始假设。

　　12. Research. Start to create a little curiosity and interest in possibilities. Look online at other careers, or adventurous travel, or classes in basket weaving.

　　钻研。培养对可能实现的事情的兴趣和好奇心。上网找找其他可发展的事业，尝试冒险的旅行或参加竹篮编织家政课等都是不错的途径。

　　13. Consider an education boost. You don’ have to go back to get your MBA to change careers. There are many certification programs that train you to begin something brand new. If you have the time and money, then go for the MBA!

　　考虑学业进修。你不必出于事业考虑而专门重返校园拿MBA证书——除非你有足够的时间和资金。现在有许多证书培训课程就是为想改头换面的你而设置的.

　　14. Weigh your priorities. Money is often the factor that holds people back from their dreams. If I had to choose between a lot of money but living in mediocrity or living with less money but feeling happy and fulfilled — I would choose the latter. How about you? If so, decide the least amount of money you and your family could live on, and work from there. You might have to move, scale back, live lean. Is it worth it to you?

　　分清优先级。金钱总是最阻碍人们实现梦想的因素。如果要在“活得平庸却有很多钱”和“钱少点但却充实快乐”中选择，我会选择后者。你呢？如果你也是，那么就从能支撑你和你家庭最基本的钱开始努力吧！你可能会搬家，节衣缩食，深居简出，你认为那样值得吗？

　　15. Keep trying. The process of finding my passion took a couple of years. You may have to try a few and eliminate a few things before you discover what feels great. It may creep up on you rather than knocking you in the head. Have patience. Keep digging.

　　坚持不松懈。找回热情的过程花了我几年的时间。在途中你可能不得不尝试一些，又放弃一些，直到你找到真正使你满意的东西。热情只会缓慢降临在你身边而不会突然出现。你得有耐心，一直挖掘下去吧！

　　You do have a passion, but you can’t wait for it to come to you. You have to go find it. Actually, you have to uncover it because it’s already with you。

　　其实你本来拥有热情，但你不能只是坐着等待它的降临，它需要你努力去寻找。事实上，它已经在你身边了，只等着你去发现。