If you haven’t yet found the work you were meant to do, my hope is you’ll find this resource an invaluable guide.
I have written 1000’s of articles in my time, but I don’t think any of them were more important than this one.
We’ve all heard it a million times in a million different ways.
[slogan]”Find what you love to do”[/slogan] [slogan]”Pursue your passion”[/slogan] [slogan]”Find work you enjoy doing”[/slogan]Well let me tell you, in my mind the secret to success is to find what you love to do and be the best you can be at it.
I don’t care how old you are either. It’s never to late to turn your attention to the things you love to do. With all the excitement from seeing Bradley Wiggins winning the Tour de France and then all the British victories in the Cycle Velodrome at the London Olympics 2012, I may not be able to turn my attention to pro bike riding, but I’ve got my cycle out of storage, and my backside back into the saddle.
You’re never too old to do what you want to do, be what you want to be or have what you want to have. Just because you’re all grown up, that doesn’t mean you can’t “change course” to work at what you love. That’s why I’m a coach and lifestyle entrepreneur at 50 instead of being a marketing consultant for the gym industry, as I was a few years back.
Since I abandoned my corporate obligations and my 100’s of-miles commutes and became a lifestyle entrepreneur, I’ve not looked back. Best of all, I get to live life on my own terms.
It has been an incredible journey. But none of this would have happened if I hadn’t first tuned into what I truly love to do. I had always loved personal development, and this is what I turned my life journey towards.
I met a young guy a short while back. He comes across as a very committed young man. He has a partner and a child on the way. He works very hard at his job in an attempt to pay the bills. He is feeling a lot of pressure with the imminent approach of his first child. When you talk to him about his work, you get a bit of a shrug of the shoulders, and you hear him say ‘it’s just a job’. He then tells you ‘His lucky to have one.’ He works Monday through Friday, and counts down the days till the weekend, the time he can actually enjoy his life. In fact he hates his job but feels stuck, with no way out. And he doesn’t know what else he’d want to do.
This is all just wrong in my mind. I am not putting down what I see as playing it safe, but I do question whether it is the right way to live. In fact I know it’s not. Life is for living, making the most of the time we have here. And every one of us has the talent and skills to make something great from our lives. All we have to do is find our passions.
There is a lady I met the other day. Intelligent, knowledgeable and a great communicator. The world’s her oyster, but she comes up to one obstacle that she can’t get through.
Her words, that she’ll repeat time after time are I don’t know what my passions are .
She’s not alone in this. That’s the problem. So many people are totally blind to what their passions are, and yet they don’t have the time to truly try and determine what they are. If they did, people really would be able to reveal what their passions are, and by doing so they’d change their life.
How many of you dread Sunday evening because it leads into a week of work you simply dislike. This article is designed to help you avoid those Sunday nights.
As it is for all of you that life’s not the way you want it, and your job or career just isn’t the ideal, perfect, designed just for you work that it could be.
And if you are currently a student, like my daughter, lost in a maze of career possibilities, this article is designed to bring you some clarity about choosing a career.
So let’s assume you haven’t been able to find your passion or tie it to the career of your choice, whatever that may be. You have trouble living or working with passion. Well I want to help you figure out what your passion(s) are in life, and how to translate them into a career involving your passion(s).
Let us start by defining passion so we can lay a foundation. The way I define the term passion is something in which I enjoy doing, something I can do all day long and continuously find joyfulness from it.
For people of all ages the harder part is identifying possible career paths that are best for us — now or in the future– that allow us to use our passions.
Have you ever allowed yourself to think about your dream job where you spend your days doing the things you want, while getting paid what you deserve. Sounds like bliss right, well I assure you it’s possible.
But do you know what you want?
This is the first question you need to ask yourself. It is a seemingly easy question many answer by mentioning what they don’t want instead of what they do want. Really inspiring I don’t think.
So come on, tell me, what type of job do you dream about?
Some of us know from the time we are very young what we want to do when we grow up. When you were younger, you probably wanted to be an football player or a actress, right?
Others are still trying to figure out what their dream job is. Alas way too many like the lady I met the other day, they don’t have a clue. .
Alas some of you have tried a career or two, then went on to do something completely different with their lives, and still in real terms they don’t have a clue what they want.
Whoever you are, you will know what you want by the end of this article.
You owe it to yourself to take the time to explore and discover as much as possible about yourself. Then you need to match what you know about yourself with research about the opportunities that are out there within the fields that you enjoy or have skills in, for you to take advantage of.
Once you have done that, you can pull all the ideas and information together and confidently identify the best career change options for you at this stage in your life.
To get the best out of life there are three things that you need to know:
[ul type=”bullet” style=”5″] [li]Who you are[/li] [li]What you’re good at[/li] [li]What you love doing[/li] [li]What you would really like to do with your life[/li][/ul]Why is this important?
[blockquote photo=”/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/confucius.jpg” align=”left” author=”Confucius” occupation=”Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher”] Find a job you enjoy, and you’ll never work a day in your life.[/blockquote]
Life will become much easier when you are doing something you love.
Imagine what it feels like to do work that actually mattered to you? To get paid for living and experiencing your passions every day?
Maybe you already are?
Let’s find out?
[ul type=”bullet” style=”4″] [li]Are there days you don’t feel like going to work? Yes/No[/li] [li]Have you often have you thought about changing jobs? Yes/No[/li] [li]Do you often go home at the end of your day feeling unfulfilled? Yes/No[/li] [li]Are you proud to answer when asked, “What do you do for a living?” Yes/No[/li] [li]Do you get to use your personal gifts or talents at work? Yes/No[/li] [li]Are you bored with your work? Yes/No[/li] [li]Frustrated by your bleak prospects in the future? Yes/No[/li] [li]Jobs satisfaction is more important to me than how much I’m paid. Yes/No[/li] [li]Have you recently said this to yourself: “I don’t like my job”? Yes/No[/li] [li]Do you stay at your job because it’s too difficult to find another one? Yes/No[/li] [li]Is your job challenging? Yes/No[/li] [/ul]Count the number of Yes responses and then compare it to this index I’m providing you right here.
Total Yes Responses:
[ul type=”bullet” style=”8″] [li]0-3 Yes responses: You love your work, but is it your dream job?[/li] [li]4-7 Yes responses: You enjoy your work, but it lacks fulfillment.[/li] [li]8-10 Yes responses: You need to find another job.[/li] [/ul]Now let’s try to get a clear picture on that perfect career for you.
So let’s go find your passion, where that fire lays in your belly.
So answer these questions for yourself: you have to ask yourself some questions to pinpoint exactly what you were born to do.
1
Identify what gets you excited
Some of you are going to be hard work. Let’s put this question another way. If you’re at a party, and there are people talking in different corners of the room about different subjects, and you overhear somebody talking about a subject that fascinates you so much you want to hang around and listen, what would that subject be?
2
What were you good at as I child
What do you remember spending hour after hour doing. Chances are it is something you still have a passion for.
3
What are your talents?
Come on, brainstorm the things you do well, the things that come naturally to you. If you’re having trouble listing your gifts on your own, consult people you trust and ask what they think your best skills are. It’s been said that we each have at least one gift we’ve been given, and that the true purpose of our lives is discovering what that gift is, and sharing it with the world. What are you naturally good at? What talents do you have? What have you shown an aptitude for in your current and previous jobs or even in your personal life?
4
What do you like to work with?
If you love working with people, that’s a clue to your dream job. If you love writing, or taking part in physical activities, travelling or working on a computer, these could be a clue as to what your passion is.
5
When have you been happiest?
Thinking back throughout your life, Think about the happiest moments of your life, and what you were doing and where you were doing it. Remembering why you were extremely happy during those times can help to pinpoint your passion.
6
What would you do for free?
Do you think that the most successful people in the world got to where they are because they wanted to get rich? Absolutely not, they did what they were passionate about, and their success was just a result of their dedication. So think about something that you would just love to do. If money wasn’t an issue, What would you be doing?
7
What would you regret not having tried?
We all have these dreams, and somehow, life pushes us in another direction, and next thing we know, our dreams get side tracked. If you were at the end of your life, what would you regret not having pursued? What would you have liked to do, that you didn’t get a chance to? Think about what that might be. This is a good chance to be your true passion.
8
Take a look at what you’re already doing
Often times, there are many opportunities for doing what we love right under our noses, we just haven’t noticed it yet. Sometimes this is because we don’t think we could actually make a living out of it. Or it might just be because it never occurred to us that we found it so fascinating, because it always seemed so natural.
Here are a few questions to get yourself started:
[ul type=”bullet” style=”4″] [li]What do you often find yourself searching for on Google and researching for hours?[/li] [li]Does a certain topic turn you on just thinking about it?[/li] [li]What do you have an addiction to learning more about?[/li] [li]What do you find yourself talking about for hours to the point of losing track of time?[/li] [li]When you enter a bookstore, which section do you naturally gravitate toward?[/li] [/ul]Come on now be brave, evaluate and choose with your heart the one and only thing that is worthy to spend all your time resources with. The chosen one should really be something that brings out the best in you.
You’re still not there yet. Not able to commit to what is your main passion, what do you want to be doing for the rest of your life.
[ul type=”bullet” style=”4″] [li]What do you love to do in your free time?[/li] [li]What are the skills that come naturally to you without much thought or effort?[/li] [li]If you could do any job in your life, what would you choose?[/li] [li]What types of things energize you?[/li] [li]What activities, subjects, or causes have you been deeply involved with?[/li] [li]What are some areas in which your family and friends consider you an expert?[/li] [li]When you are online, or at a bookstore or library, what subjects most appeal to you?[/li] [li]What kind of work environment fits you best?[/li] [li]What do you most value in life? From work?[/li] [li]What types of volunteering have you done — or wish you have done?[/li] [li]What types of career paths have your closest friends followed?[/li] [li]Do you possess deeply held beliefs that you have a calling in life?[/li] [li]What are the types of things that people ask you for help with?[/li] [li]What are some of the big goals you want to achieve in your life?[/li] [li]What kinds of things happily grab and hold my attention so that time seems to fly?[/li] [li]What gives me a sense of satisfaction and purpose?[/li] [/ul]You still a little unsure. It’s in the gut feeling, you know when you’ve found your true passion, because it makes you feel good. You feel it in your gut and it’s like you won the lottery.
And the answer, your true passion is ___________________________________________.So now you know what you like doing! And you’re good at it! But does the world need it?
Ok, so it’s time to do your research.
Once you’ve discovered (or rediscovered) your passion, spend some time researching the types of careers that centre around your passions. Don’t worry if you’re feeling a bit unsure or insecure — it’s a natural part of the career change process.
You’re on your way now, and that was the purpose of this article.
[blockquote photo=”/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Denis-Waitley.jpg” align=”left” author=”Denis Waitley” occupation=”American Motivational Speaker and Writer”] Chase your passion, not your pension.[/blockquote]
After you’ve found out what your passion is, it’s time to start living it. It’s time to get dirty in the messy business of living your bliss. Immerse yourself in passionate, deliberate action, instead of perpetual toe-dipping.
Now that you’ve discovered your passion, the only question is…
How can you set this world on fire with it?
Next Week read part 2, determining your business built around your passions.
There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.
