Find Your Passion: 25 Questions You Must Ask Yourself Paperback – October 19, 2013

I was looking for a fairly simple and accessible book to use in a class that I teach (volunteer) at a local prison. This small book fits the need. Juntilla's book will win no awards for its literary genius or its philosophical depth. Much of it can seem repetitive and simplistic. However, that is exactly what this kind of book needs, a multi-faceted approach that builds on different variations and perspectives aiming at a very difficult goal - defining a life's passion, vision, mission. Juntilla's use of questions to engage the reader/participant at every step seeks to sharpen the focus and cull the valuable from the examination of one's life experience and highest aspiration.I will be utilizing the book with inmates who have decided to do something different with their lives, whose sentences may mean only a few months until release to those with life sentences. To get their lives on a positive, productive path, they need to anchor themselves in a vision for what their lives can become, setting aside and moving away from whatever their lives had been. For those who may be spending the rest of their lives inside prison (or for a decade or more), they pose a particular challenge. Without direction in their lives, they will mark time and do little, wasting the promise of their future, limited as it is by incarceration.The book does a great job of developing the pieces that need to come together to attain the vision, to identify the passion, exploring positives and examining negatives. It has a constant goal of reaching beyond the treadmill of daily life, of marking time whether inside or outside prison, to something personally meaningful and fulfilling. I think this will be very helpful in my work with the men.

This is a very good book.Henri speaks directly to you about the topic, his experience of it and what your experience might be. There aren't many stories to illustrate points he makes.What is it? It is 25 questions for you to write about (Henri recommends paper and pen rather than on computer). They are all designed to explore what your passion is and how you can take the first step of living it. Each question is explained, along with roadblocks that might keep your from exploring; and then prompts that put the question a little differently if you find the first way it was put hard to answer. I never found the way the question was put hard to answer. I did find that some of the prompts lead me to explore different aspects of the question, so they were useful in this way.Henri's writing is clear and direct - it is always clear what he wants to say.Henri's approach is to start small. However tiny the step, the step is better than not taking it. And usually there is one tiny step we can take (I think Henri would say that there always is, if you start small enough; perhaps he is right.).If you have read a lot of self development some of the questions will be familiar to you. Exploring them once again is still valuable though - sitting with your reactions to: What would I do if I knew I couldn't fail? can be very useful to do again. I was certainly surprised in a good way by some of the stuff that turned up for me.It is fairly brief. You could probably work your way through it in a day. It may be better to do one chapter a day, to let the question sink in. Answering without feeling won't be as useful and quick answers tend to be heady.Why not five stars? It may be unfair but a book has to be a whole new ballgame and blow me away to get far stars out of me (I'm a hard marker I suppose).What this book is, is a very useful, accessible and clear guide to finding your passion. It will help you be clear what your passion is and how to take that first step, however small, in living your passionate life. Highly recommended.

I was working at a financial institution the last 5 years and didnt realize how miserable I was and how much I hated being stuck in a cubicle staring at numbers all day. I did some research and decided to try this book. It took me about a month, going to starbucks every saturday and spending a good 2 hours each session to thoroughly answer each question the book posed in a thoughtful and thorough way. I had tried these types of books before but only half heartedly.The book really uncovered some of my hidden passions that had been locked away for many years due to negative thought patterns and a really strong fear of failure.This book helped me reconnect with those passions and also helped me to become much braver, less inclined to worry about what other people think and to have a more positive outlook on life.Since finishing the book 2 weeks ago, I quit my job in finance, and have devoted all my energy into becoming a private investigator which is what I have secretly always wanted to do. I have already received a job offer and have a interview coming up for a position as a Private Investigator for which I am feeling very confident about.I have also wanted to do a thru hike for many years and guess what? I just received my permit to hike the John Muir Trail starting in Yosemite on July 28th.I am so excited right now about the future and my Girlfriend can't believe the change she has seen in me over the last month.I finally have that feeling of wanting to jump out of bed each morning because I want to make the most of every day researching my upcoming hike and networking with local Private Investigators.Every time I have a negative thought now about how difficult the logistics of my hike might be, or what if I dont get this PI job i immediately remember what i have learned from "finding your passion" and i no longer feel stressed or anxious.It is honestly a real game changer if you put in the time and answer the questions honestly and with intent. You will not be disappointed. I would love to meet the author now just to thank them in person, I'm sure my girlfriend does too!