I grew up watching Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, and for 30 years, he would always walk out from behind a curtain and stand in one place. How did he know where to stand? There was a star on the ground.
When you tell someone to follow their passion, it not only implies but clearly states that they have a passion. It’s their star on the floor, the pathway of their life. If they can only get on that star, all good things will follow.
But your passion is not a star; it’s a Milky Way. That difference is what we fail to understand. The advice should be to follow your passions while acknowledging that your passions will change over time.
The essence of a meaning audit is to help people stitch their meaning together. It’s a series of questions to ask yourself to try to figure out what you want to do now — not six months ago but today — and then look forward. The simplest way to think about it is to pick three questions: one from the past, one from the present, and one from the future.
So, let’s just take one question from the past: Who was your role model as a child, and what did you admire about them? Now, what matters isn’t who they are; it’s what you value about them. What are the values you’ll learn from your role models as a child?
Now, let’s go to the present. A great question for the present is, “I’m in a moment in my life when ____.” Then fill in the blank. I’m in a moment in my life when I need to make money to pay off student loans. I need to prepare my two children for college. I spent the last five years caring for an aging relative and want to do something for myself now. I need more self-expression. I want to give back. I want to run for office. Whatever it might be.
Finally, I think my favorite question for the future is, “The best advice I have for myself right now is ____.” Ask yourself: What’s the best advice?