Day 3 — Passions

Time: ~70 min · Goal: find what fuels you — read from real data, not just memory.

Values are how you operate; passions are what energize you. Different question. The rigorous move today is to lean on the Day 0 data wherever memory would otherwise cherry-pick, and to treat your imagined future as the weakest input rather than the strongest — because we’re poor predictors of what will actually fulfill us.

Have your Day 0 data (calendar, spending, history) open alongside your Day 1 notes.

1. Energy inventory, expanded (15 min)

Return to Day 1’s energy audit. For each energizing activity, go deeper: what about it fuels you — the what (subject), the how (mode of work), or the who (people)?

For each energizing activity (aim for 5):

1. Activity: __
   • What / how / who? __
   • What specifically fuels me: __
2. Activity: __
   • What / how / who? __
   • What specifically fuels me: __
3. Activity: __
   • What / how / who? __
   • What specifically fuels me: __
4. Activity: __
   • What / how / who? __
   • What specifically fuels me: __
5. Activity: __
   • What / how / who? __
   • What specifically fuels me: __

2. ◇ Mine the real data (15 min)

Memory flatters; the records don’t. Read your Day 0 data and write what it actually shows — then note whether it matches what you’d have guessed.

• Calendar: which recurring blocks do you protect, arrive early to, run over on?
• History: what subjects do you return to when no one’s watching and no one’s paying you?

• Spending: what do you spend on without resentment, even when money is tight? Discretionary spend is a revealed vote.

• Calendar:
  • what it actually shows: ________
  • did it match what I’d have guessed? ____
• History:
  • what it actually shows: ________
  • did it match what I’d have guessed? ____
• Spending:
  • what it actually shows: ________
  • did it match what I’d have guessed? ____

(No Day 0 data? Use the “lose track of time” recall instead: list every activity in the past year where you looked up and hours had passed.)

flow activities: ________

3. Unprompted attention (10 min)

What do you read about, watch, or research when no one is paying you and no one is watching? Your history is more honest than your résumé. Tally the recurring subjects.

subjects: ________

4. ◆ The hypothetical — weighted least (15 min)

You have 5 years and enough money. No external expectations. What would you actually do? Write the honest version, not the heroic one.

what I’d do: ________

Now treat this as your weakest input. When the hypothetical and the data disagree, trust the data. Note any disagreement explicitly:

Hypothetical says __ ; the data says __ ; reconciling: __

5. Themes (15 min)

Group everything above into 3–5 themes, specific to you. Each theme must point to at least one data example (◆), not only a remembered one.

Examples (not yours): building things that work · being in wild places · teaching what I’ve learned · solving puzzles · making people feel seen.

Theme 1 — __

• Data example: ________
• Other example: ________

Theme 2 — __

• Data example: ________
• Other example: ________

Theme 3 — __

• Data example: ________
• Other example: ________

Theme 4 (optional) — __

• Data example: __

Theme 5 (optional) — __

• Data example: __

✓ End of Day 3

3–5 passion themes, each anchored to real evidence. → Next: Day 4 — Purpose.