Losing passion for life is a real feeling. There’s just times when you feel absolutely done and feel like there’s no reason to go on. Not only that you lost the will to go on. I’ve been there before and it’s the worst feeling in the world. I can only think when that feeling will come back again.
In 2021, I was feeling pretty bad. My boss was the worst boss I’ve ever had in my entire life, my health problems were creeping up, and it was a pretty dark period of life for me. However, even though I was feeling bad, I wasn’t losing passion for life.
In fact, by the end of 2021, my life wasn’t all too bad because I got the best job offer of my life. Not only that, my net worth hit all time highs and I was ready to tackle the world in 2022. However, that all changed. Enter the bear market of 2022 that changed the entire game.
The first couple of months was tolerable. However, towards the middle and second half of the year is when I started feeling so bad. I was losing passion for life because of how much money I was losing. I estimate I lost something close to $130k. For a 27 year old, that’s an insane amount of money!
Whether I want to admit it or not, money buys happiness for me. When I see my net worth decline one day after another is when I felt depressed. One day, I just couldn’t take it anymore and I actually felt it. I was actually losing passion for life.
One you feel that feeling, it’s quite difficult to get back to normality. However, it is possible. First, you have to figure out the reasons why.
Losing Passion for Life? 3 Reasons Why
Below are the 3 reasons why you may be losing passion for life.
1) You’re Working in the Wrong Job
We shouldn’t get our enjoyment from work because we don’t live in a fairy tale world with sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns. We live in the United States of America. Studies show the majority of employees are dissatisfied with their jobs and are not engaged in their work.
That’s completely OK! I don’t know anyone who says they genuinely enjoy and like their work. However, it becomes a problem when it’s a big source of your unhappiness. When you are miserable, it really matters. I’ve been in miserable jobs before.
Not jobs that I could tolerate. But miserable jobs that I absolutely didn’t want to do for the rest of my life. I didn’t want to spend another day doing the job. That’s why you are losing passion for life. Many people tell you that you’re just complaining and manipulate you that it’s your fault.
That’s not true. You spend the majority of your life at your job. You deserve to work in a good work environment.
2) You’re Losing Passion for Life Because Your Personal Life is Not in Order
Your personal life is what makes up who you are outside of work. If you’re losing passion for life, it may be because your significant other is holding contempt for you. It’s stressful when the love of our lives have contempt for us. It’s actually one of the most reliable indicators of divorce.
You should enjoy your life outside of work because that’s your own time that you earned. You work hard throughout the week and you deserve to pursue your interests on the weekends. Companies invented those weekends to encourage employees to work on their happiness.
Your life isn’t all about producing the most results for companies and employers. Your life is about making the most of your life and designing it the way you see fit. If you’re losing passion for life, evaluate your personal life. Do you have a good relationship?
Are you actually happy in your relationships with people? if there’s toxic people in your life, it’s time to cut them out. Your mental health comes above all.
3) You Are Not Taking Care of Your Body
Health is the number one most important thing for your life. You should be taking care of your body, first and foremost, above everything else. Towards the end of 2022, I took care of my body and figured out things about myself that I didn’t know.
The number one thing that I figured out was that I lose too much electrolytes throughout the day for me to sleep well and properly. Once I replenished my electrolyte levels and meticulously took care of my diet, everything came into place. I regularly slept well every single day.
Afterwards, I felt the most amazing I’ve ever felt in my life. Even in the midst of a bear market and I was losing money hand over fist, I started feeling alive and great again. If you’re losing passion for life, you should take care of your body.
It’s normal to feel great every single day. If you don’t, then something is missing from your life. The most likely culprit would be your health.
Losing Passion for Life? 9 Ways to Revive Passion
Below then are the 9 ways to revive your passion if you’re losing passion for life! You didn’t used to feel this way. Which means there’s a way for you to get back to normal and start feeling amazing again.
1) If You’re Losing Passion for Life, Figure Out What Your Passions Are
You can’t get back to feeling passion for your life if you don’t even know what your passions are in the first place. If you’re losing passion for life write down what made you passionate before. Chances are, you felt passion before in your life.
Somewhere along the way, distractions just made you feel bad throughout the years. Until one day, you just couldn’t take it anymore and you lost happy thoughts and emotions. I personally felt happy when I started making progress towards my journey and goals.
Once I started making progress towards my goals again, I started to feel happy. Once I started going backwards on my journey is when I felt unhappiness and misery. That’s why the bear market of 2022 made me feel so bad. With my bad health, I didn’t think I could ever make progress again.
After taking care of my health, I’m more optimistic about the future than ever. The first step starts with defining what your passion is in the first place.
2) Change Jobs
This option is ONLY if you know your job is the source of your unhappiness. There’s no shame in changing jobs after 6 months. Many of my friends did that. When an employee changes jobs after 6 months – 1 year, that says more about the employer than it does the employee.
One of my 26 year old friends was clearing $250 – $300k/year. He left after 7 months because the new work environment was so bad. Money isn’t everything. If you’re losing passion for life, it may just be because of your job.
No amount of stress, mental, and physical health sacrifices are worth a job and money. Good employers ARE out there. You don’t have to withstand being a cog in the machine for an employer who’ll replace you in a second if it fits their interests.
Sometimes, changing jobs is a necessity.
3) Remain Patient
I know how bad it is right now. I’ve been there before where I had such a horrible boss that management had to remove him from being a boss after just three months in the job. However, that does NOT mean you should rush into finding new employment.
It means remaining patient for the really good opportunity that comes down the road. If I had just waited six more months, I would’ve had the opportunity of a lifetime. My former colleagues referred and poached my prior department, except me because I left the industry altogether.
Just because you are miserable and losing passion for life does not mean you jump at the first opportunity to jump ship. Where you jump ship to could be even worse than where you are right now. Take your time to actually figure out what you want out of life.
Be patient and take your time. Your back is NEVER up against a wall.
4) If You’re Losing Passion for Life, Don’t do Anything Dramatic
When you go too much one way, you end up crashing and burning. There’s no need to quit your job right away. Growth happens when we are the least comfortable but also negative growth happens when we are the least comfortable as well.
There’s no need to yell and quit your job on the spot. You still have to put food on the table. If you’re rich enough to withstand unemployment for a few more months, then great. Otherwise, dramatic risks still may not be in your best interest. I tried my hand at entrepreneurship in 2022.
I lost $100k that year. Now imagine if I didn’t even had a job in the first place to float me through the year and beyond! If you’re losing passion for life, that doesn’t mean do anything dramatic. People have an optimism bias and think everything’s going to work out.
Not everything works out all the time. There are winners AND there are losers.
5) Take Care of Your Physiological Needs
Things like eating and sleeping well really matters. When I consistently get a solid 6 – 9 hours of sleep per day, I function normally. When I don’t get the amount of sleep my body recommends, I function awfully the next day.
Your physiological needs are a necessity and a non-negotiable. Scott Minerd, the CIO of Guggenheim, died of a heart attack at the age of 63. I suspect the bear market of 2022 got to him and on top of that, he wasn’t taking care of his physiological needs.
For some reason, we taunt the ones who take care of thie bodies. We think the ones who drink heavily, take excessive risks, and smoke are “cool”. They’re not cool. If you’re losing passion for life, this is a non-negotiable that must be taken care of at all costs.
You CANNOT ignore your physiological needs if you want to improve your mood. Absolutely a non-negotiable.
6) Make More Money
Whether we like it or not, we like making money. When our employer pays us more money, we become happy. When we find out we’re getting a promotion and raise, we feel glee and happiness. If you’re losing passion for life, make more money.
People say money can’t buy happiness but I wholeheartedly disagree. Money is a great source of happiness because of what it says about our standing in the world. It improves the quality of your life and your family’s lives. How great does that sound?!
If you’re losing passion for life, make more money and see how great it feels. Even if it doesn’t cure that loss of passion, it at least improves your condition. You will be in a better place, even if it doesn’t cure the depressive feelings.
We enjoy making more money.
7) Cut Out Toxic Friends
There’s no time to waste hanging out with toxic friends. Your mental health comes above everything. Even your friends. If you’re losing passion for life, you may just have bad friends you’re hanging out with. Friends who don’t respect your boundaries aren’t your friends. Period.
There are many “friends” I cut out of my life and it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made. You don’t have to explain yourself or apologize for anything. You can just say, “we’re done” and cut off all contact with the other person.
One-sided relationships are bad. They’re just exhausting. I would’ve thought people understood that relationships are a two-way street and as a result, they won’t take advantage of the other person. Nope, that’s not the case.
There are selfish people out there. There’s nothing wrong with disassociating yourself with them.
8) If You’re Losing Passion for Life, Proactively Make Choices to Better Your Life
You are never down and out. You ALWAYS have a choice to pull yourself from the bootstraps and improve your life and situation. If you’re losing passion for life, now’s not the time to give up. Now’s the time to dig deep within yourself and better your life.
Even if it seems impossible. There’s little things you can do every single day to pull yourself from your bootstraps. You can work out, meditate, eat well, and sleep well. The basics and the little things in life are what makes you whole.
Not the big things like a job promotion or anything else. Your everyday choices are what makes up your life. Too many people think a day doesn’t matter. It matters more than we think it does. It’s the power of compound effort.
We are a product of our choices, not our environment. We have the greatest power to influence change in our lives.
9) Remind Yourself What You’re Grateful For
Even if you’re losing passion for life, there’s still things that you are grateful for. Our lives are not always bad. There are ups and there are downs. It could be for little things like breathing fresh air and having the ability to walk around safely in the neighborhood.
Not everyone can walk around safely in the neighborhood without fear of retaliation, judgement, or attack. Just living in the developed world means a lot. The developed world is a fantastic place to live in, no matter what problems we face on a daily basis.
I’m grateful that I still have my health, a great job, and the ability to achieve upward mobility in the world. My life isn’t perfect but it’s still good enough and better than 99% of the world because I make it that way. No matter how bad your situation is, someone else always has it worse.
It’s how you play the hand you were dealt that matters in you winning or losing.
Losing Passion for Life? There’s Hope at the End
We’ve all been there, you’re not alone. I’ve lost passion for life before and millions of others lost passion for life before as well. Some lasted months and others lasted years of feeling it. If you’re losing passion for life, there’s hope in the end.
We all have the ability to put ourselves back to how we felt when we were first born. When we were first born, we didn’t feel sadness or happiness, it’s our first time being out in the world. Everyone has a chance to get back to feeling as such.
If you’re losing passion for life, there’s always hope at the end. You are in full control of your life. I’ve been through car accidents, depression, constant job rejections, and I know I’ll face even more challenges and rejections down the road. But we have to keep going.
It’s what we do. It’s who we are and what we are born on Earth to do. If you’re losing passion for life, you have the power to get to the top. It’s a small setback and a small bump in the road. No one ever got to the top without feeling sluggish throughout the years.
If I lost $125k in 2022 and still feel like I can bounce back, you can too. That was the lowest I’ve ever felt but it taught me a very important lesson on risk management and risk taking. The lessons you learn throughout the journey come very valuable down the road.
You are more resilient than you give yourself credit for.
Losing Passion for Life? 9 Ways to Revive Passion
- If you’re losing passion for life, figure out what your passions are
- Change jobs
- Remain patient
- If you’re losing passion for life, don’t do anything dramatic
- Take care of your physiological needs
- Make more money
- Cut out toxic friends
- If you’re losing passion for life, proactively make choices to better your life
- Remind yourself what you’re grateful for
