As I'm thinking about the questions

It's helps me to remember this quote from a commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace:

Learning how to think really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience.

A big issue of mine when trying to tackle the "what are your passions/talents/interests" question is confusing my ideals vs. my real desires. Still need a lot of work separating the two, but I hope in time I'll be able to figure it out.