Example: this is what three sparks look like. Tap your own answers and they change.
1 Return · Art
From your teens: Drawing and painting.
Your first step: Take a sketchbook and a pencil and, twice a week, spend ten minutes drawing whatever is in front of you, at home or outside.
Where: At home or outside; paper and a pencil are enough
The awkward phase: Your first drawings won't look like what you see. Keep them and compare them on day 14.
2 Curiosity · Crafts
Your curiosity: Pottery.
Your first step: Mix salt dough from flour, salt and water, or buy a pack of air-dry clay, and take 20 minutes to shape a small bowl.
Where: At home; flour and salt from the kitchen, or clay from a craft store
The awkward phase: The bowl will be lopsided. Lopsided bowls are exactly right for a start.
3 Together · Nature and animals
From your teens: Being outdoors. With other people.
Your first step: Find a community garden near you and come to an open garden day.
Where: Community gardens; your city or local environmental groups know them
The awkward phase: You won't know what's a weed and what isn't. Ask before you pull.
Together about 2½ hours a week, not counting travel, almost free.
How it works from here: try all three over the next 14 days, each more than once. Right after each try, note your energy before and after, from 1 to 5; a note on your phone is enough. Save the reminder for day 4: on days 4, 9 and 14 you enter your notes and see which spark stays.
Ideas to try, not a personality test and not a diagnosis. Only doing it shows what grips you.
The page stores nothing. Your progress travels in the calendar file's link: your three sparks, your limits and later your check-ins with your energy before and after each try. Open it on days 4, 9 and 14 and the page knows where you are. If your calendar can't open the file (Google Calendar on Android often can't), copy the link and set it as a reminder yourself.
Your answers stay in your browser. We see none of it.
Example: Draw what's in front of you · Shape a small bowl · Community garden
A gray stretch of life often means something that gives you energy is missing. But if for weeks almost nothing brings you joy, not even what you used to love, there can be more behind it, depression for example. This tool cannot judge that and doesn't try. A doctor can.
Dieses Tool auf Deutsch: Hobbys finden
Most passion quizzes end with a label: creative, adventurous, a people person. It feels right for a minute and changes nothing about your Tuesday evening. Whether something grips you only shows when you do it, and rarely the first time. So this Passion Finder doesn't give you a label. It gives you three small experiments for the next 14 days that fit your real life: your time, your budget and where you are.
The research backs this up. Paul O’Keefe, Carol Dweck and Gregory Walton ran 5 studies on what the advice to find your passion does to people. Those who believed interests are fixed and just waiting to be discovered were less interested in areas outside their existing interests, expected boundless motivation once their passion was found, and lost interest in something new significantly more when it got difficult. Their conclusion: Urging people to find their passion may lead them to put all their eggs in one basket but then to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry.
Another study (Chen, Ellsworth and Schwarz, 2015) found that both paths, finding the right fit and developing a passion, can lead to satisfaction. Developing one just takes longer before it feels right.
Three experiments, three different areas. The first spark is a return: a grown-up version of something you loved at 12 to 16. Interests are surprisingly stable over the years: a meta-analysis by Low and colleagues (2005) followed career interests from age 12 to 40. Their stability stayed about the same through much of adolescence, rose sharply in early adulthood and then stayed high. The study didn't look at hobbies, and asking about 12 to 16 is our choice. The second spark comes from your curiosity, and the third is always one with other people, with real contact: you are there at the same time, you talk, play or work together, or you write to each other, say under each other's photos. A muted livestream doesn't count. Ryan and Deci describe 3 basic psychological needs: competence, autonomy and relatedness. Something you choose, something you can get better at, and something with people: that is the idea. The three always come from three different areas, so you never put all your eggs in one basket.
Your limits hold for all three together. The three experiments fit your free time per week together: with about an hour, at most 60 minutes for all three; with two to three hours, at most 3 hours; with four or more, at most 4 hours. Your budget for the 14 days holds for all three as well: with up to about 30, at most one of them costs anything; with more, one may cost more than 30, or two up to 30 each. Each experiment fits your place, and below the cards you see how much time all three take together. Travel is not included: if an experiment happens out, plan the way there on top. The first steps are kept small so they fit that time; with about an hour they are short forms of about 20 minutes wherever an honest one exists, and if you have more time, stretch any of them. If you choose "alone," the first two experiments are for you alone; the third is still one with people, but a quiet one where you don't have to talk much. It offers you one small step toward others, like a hello, and you can skip it. For the third experiment, forms that meet every week come first, so you can try them more than once; if one meets less often, the plan tells you that one date is enough. Among those, “alone” puts the quiet forms first, and if you choose “with others,” forms where you talk, play or work together come first. Where you only write to each other, that comes last. If your energy is low, gentle starts come first, and what matters to you moves up. If you said that almost nothing brings you joy right now, the finder won't suggest anything that needs a knife unless it comes from your own tiles. If nothing you tapped fits your limits, the finder says so and picks something that does.
Measure, don't guess. Right after each try you jot down your energy before and after, from 1 to 5; a note on your phone is enough. On days 4, 9 and 14 you enter those notes for each experiment, along with whether time flew, whether you would do it again without being asked, whether you looked something up about it afterwards and whether it clashes with the rest of your life. You note it right after doing, not from memory at the check-in, because mood and interest change while people are at leisure: in the study by Zawadzki and colleagues (115 adults, asked six times a day), both were better during leisure. A meta-analysis by Mazzucchelli and colleagues of 20 studies with 1,353 participants found that behavioral activation programs, which guide people toward valued and enjoyable activities, raise well-being (effect size 0.52), in people without a diagnosis too. It opens with this sentence: One of the most promising ways to increase well-being is to engage in valued and enjoyable activities.
This tool is not such a program. It only borrows the idea of trying activities and noting your energy.
The energy map. After each check-in the finder shows, for each experiment, how your energy changed on average and which phase your interest is in. The phases come from the model by Hidi and Renninger (2006), which describes 4 phases, from interest that is sparked for a moment to interest that is held, to an interest that has become your own. The finder shows the first three: tried, repeated, pulling you in by itself. The fourth takes months, not 14 days, and the finder never claims it. How it reads the phase is our rule: repeated means tried at two or more check-ins; pulling you in means, on top of that, you would do it again without being asked and looked something up about it.
Deepen, swap or let go. After a single try there is no verdict, because starts are almost always awkward. Deepen means: over at least two tries your energy rose by at least half a point on average, and you would do it again or time flew; or the experiment is already pulling you in by itself and your energy doesn't fall. Either way, it has to have fit beside the rest of your life at the latest try. If your energy only stayed level, the finder says that too: put it in your calendar; a step up is worth it once it also gives you energy. If it lifted your energy and you ticked that it clashes, the finder doesn't suggest the next step up; it suggests keeping it at a size that leaves room for the rest. If it pulls you in while your energy falls on average, the finder says so plainly: it pulls you in, but it costs you energy. Only an experiment that lifted your energy and fits beside your life can become your strongest spark. Let go means: it fell by at least half a point on average, you wouldn't do it again on your own, and time never flew. Everything in between means swap: same direction, different format. The finder names one in the same direction, one listed under the same tile, that fits your limits next to the other two; if one only fits on its own, it says so. If none fits, it suggests keeping the direction and changing one thing: time of day, place or company. Robert Vallerand and colleagues distinguish harmonious from obsessive passion: harmonious passion is freely chosen and supports healthy adaptation; obsessive passion creates inner pressure, negative feelings and rigid persistence. That is why every check-in also asks whether the experiment clashes with the rest of your life.
What is ours. The list of activities, their tags (cost, minutes a week, place, how to start), the first steps, the notes on the awkward phase and the thresholds of the energy map are our editorial decisions, not measurements. The first steps name kinds of places you will find almost anywhere: adult education centers (community colleges in the US), clubs, libraries, volunteer centers. We checked against current offerings that the short forms with other people exist today, such as open writing sessions, meditation groups and photo challenges online. Many need a free sign-up and run during the day; what we found is in each form's “Where” line.
The finder calculated the suggestions in these examples itself, with the same rules as above.
Example 1: little time, little money, rather alone. Loved reading at 12 to 16, curious about gardening; about an hour a week, almost no budget, at home, energy 2 out of 5, what matters: “Calm”. The finder suggests Read again as the return, Regrow kitchen scraps from the curiosity about gardening, and Meditate with a group as the quiet experiment with people, together about 55 minutes a week. Herbs in a pot cost a little and a community garden is outdoors, so gardening comes in its smallest form, almost free and at home. Because energy is low, the gentle starts come first. The silent reading club that comes from reading is in the same area as the return and takes an hour, so the finder picks a group that sits in silence at the same time: nobody has to talk, and if you like, you say hello to one person afterwards.
Example 2: two to three hours, up to about 30, happy with others. Loved “Team or club sports” and “Making music” at 12 to 16, curious about “Theater, improv” and “Volunteering”; out and about, energy 4 out of 5, what matters: “Being with people”. Suggested: Short strength workout from the sports, Help a neighbor from volunteering and Play music with others from music as the experiment with others, together about 2½ hours a week. A club trial session and a band take about two hours each; together they break three hours. So the sports come back in a short form you can do alone or with someone, and the band stays the experiment with others. Theater and improv also take two hours and don't fit next to the band; from volunteering, the smallest form fits.
Example 3: the energy map after 14 days. Say example 2 goes like this: Short strength workout tried on day 4 and day 14, once a week as the first step says. Energy went up both times, time flew, the person would do it again without being asked and looked something up about it afterwards. On average +2.0 points: phase Pulling you in by itself, verdict Deepen. Help a neighbor only from day 9, on average +0.5 points, time flew once: also deepen, but weaker. Play music with others tried twice, on average minus 0.5 points, time never flew, and it clashed with the week: let go. The strongest spark is Short strength workout, and its card says what comes next: Put it in your calendar and take one step up: a class, a group or a goal for the next four weeks.
The finder chooses from 77 ideas in 13 areas. Each has a first step, a note on cost, time and place, and an honest note on the awkward phase.
Mostly by developing it, not by finding it. In five studies by O’Keefe, Dweck and Walton (2018), people who believed interests are fixed and just waiting to be discovered expected boundless motivation once they found their passion, and their interest in something new dropped significantly more when it got difficult. That is also why it feels so hard: if you expect a passion to feel right from the first evening, every awkward start looks like proof it isn't the one. Start small, give each thing two or three tries, and pay attention to your energy before and after.
A quiz can point you somewhere; it can't tell you what will grip you. That only shows when you do the thing, and usually not the first time. That is why this Passion Finder turns your answers into three small experiments for 14 days: you note your energy right after each try and enter it on days 4, 9 and 14.
Start from what you loved at 12 to 16. Interests are surprisingly stable: a meta-analysis by Low and colleagues (2005) followed career interests from age 12 to 40 and found that their stability rose sharply in early adulthood and stayed high. It didn't study hobbies, and asking about 12 to 16 is our choice. Then fit it to your real week: time, money, place, alone or with others. And it is not too late: in a large observational study of people aged 65 and older in 16 countries (Mak and colleagues, 2023), having a hobby went along with fewer depressive symptoms and more life satisfaction. That shows a link, not a cause, in an older group. Pick one thing you can start this week.
A hobby is not a treatment. If almost nothing has brought you joy for weeks, not even what you used to love, talk to a doctor; in the US you can call or text 988 at any hour, and elsewhere Find A Helpline lists free helplines in 175 or more countries. Activity can be part of treatment: behavioral activation, best known from the treatment of depression, builds on valued and enjoyable activities. Which ones are right for you is better worked out with a professional than with an online tool.
Life can go gray when work takes up most of your energy and little else gives some back. Small, concrete experiments are a good answer to that. If it lasts for weeks and almost nothing brings you joy, it is worth talking to a doctor, and you don't have to wait for it to get worse.
Yes. The question can hurt, whether you chose not to have children or life went differently than you hoped. Meaning has more than one source: people you show up for, friendships, work that matters to you, something you make with your hands or your mind, and something you pass on, as a mentor or a volunteer. Those sources are open to you, and they grow by doing and repeating. The third spark in this tool is one with other people for everyone, because relatedness is one of the basic human needs. If the question comes from grief, you don't have to carry it alone: the help section at the end of the finder shows where to reach someone.
As a prompt for reflection, yes; as a test, no. Most online ikigai tests are built on a four-circle diagram, a popular Western framework, not a validated questionnaire. It asks four things at once: what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for. That is a big question, often a career question. This Passion Finder asks a smaller, more practical one: what gives you energy over the next 14 days? A bigger answer can grow from that.
No. Everything runs in your browser. Only if you save the reminder or copy the link do your three sparks, your limits (time, budget, place, alone or together) and your check-in answers travel in that link, including your energy before and after each try, so the page knows where you are on your next visit. Your energy at the start or on a check-in day, the answer that almost nothing brings you joy, your tiles and what matters to you never do.
The Passion Finder runs entirely in your browser. None of your answers is sent or stored, and while you tap, the page writes nothing into the address bar. If you say that almost nothing brings you joy right now, that answer never leaves the page, not even in a link. There is one exception, and you make it yourself: if you save the reminder or copy the link, that link carries, after the "#" sign, your three experiments, your limits (free time per week, budget, place, alone or together) and your check-in answers (for each experiment: tried or not, your energy before and after each try, the four checkboxes). That way the page knows where you are on your next visit and only suggests swaps that fit your limits. It never carries your energy at the start or on a check-in day, the answer that almost nothing brings you joy right now, your tiles or what matters to you. Your browser saves the calendar file on your device; it only reaches your calendar when you open it, and if your calendar syncs with an account, it is stored there too. Your browser does not send the part after "#" to our servers, and the page removes it from the address bar after opening; it may stay in your browser history. The share card is made as an image on your device and shows only the names of your experiments, never your energy. If you agreed to site statistics, they count which parts of the tool were used (for example, that a reminder was saved), never your answers.
All sources retrieved on November 1, 2026, the pages on current offerings on November 2, 2026. We archived a copy of each and checked every quote word for word against it. For the studies, that copy is the abstract in PubMed or in the ERIC database.
Published November 2, 2026
The choice of activities, their tags and the rules of the energy map are our editorial decisions; the studies the method rests on are listed with the method. The content is general information and does not replace individual medical, legal, tax or financial advice.
All calculators are under Tools. Where your life feels thinnest right now: the Wheel of Life. To turn a spark into a habit: the Habit Formation Calculator. And how much of that time your phone takes: the Screen Time Calculator.
Content and tools on Wild Garden are published by the Wild Garden Editorial Team. How we research, check and correct errors is set out in our editorial standards.
