If you are like most people, you probably dread going to work. But why is that? Perhaps you hate your job and crave doing something that you are passionate about.
It drives me absolutely crazy to read the crap that many people write such as ‘Do What You Love and You’ll Probably Starve.’ They say that millions of people follow their passion and don’t earn any money from doing so. But they give examples of those desperate to break into the arts, the media, and non-profit work. They say employers in these fields get hundreds of applications for each job, and so you have to be a superstar or extremely well connected to get the job.
So I assume playing it safe means stacking shelves in supermarkets, working on a factory line or just collecting your unemployment benefits year on year out. Don’t give yourself the chance to fulfil your potential then. What bloody stupidity!
Let’s all conform to finding a 9-5 job, which pays a descent salary and work in the same place from 18 to 65, then go off and enjoy our retirement tending to our back garden. Alas this isn’t the way things work out for most, and the only common thing is people doing work they hate, and being paid badly for it, having a hard time making a good living.
For the smart ones, the money is on self-employment. You get to be an instant CEO without years of dues paying. And the trick, find your passions and then find the business you can build around them.
Yes, I know you’re scared. You hear that most new businesses go out of business within a few years. And you don’t know the first place to start. You also probably aware there are many guru’s out there, particularly in the make money online world, who take your money and show you exactly what not to do to make money online.
Building a business around your passion is possible, and without me daring to say I’m a guru let me give you the simplest formula that will make the difference to you doing this successfully.
Step 1: Determine your Passions
Step 2: Determine the business you want to create around these passions
Step 3: Find a simple business model in ‘your niche’ and copy everything they are doing. Just make it better.
Step 4: Keep your business very simple: one simple – one website, one service or product. The more complex, the more that can go wrong.
Step 5: Make sure your product or service has a good profit margin, 100% plus otherwise you’re doing the work, maybe even getting the turnover, but little profit coming your way.
I spent some time this week with a great guy. I loved talking with him and felt a real synergy between us. He had taken an interesting and successful career path. He spent many years in the military and then when into corporate business providing coaching and consulting. It was obvious he reached a high level and enjoyed great success. Now in his late 50’s you’d expect him to be winding things down. He admitted he was comfortable and money wasn’t an issue for him. Yet you could feel an unfulfilled longing within him. He said ‘I want to make the difference.’ Then he began talking about helping other people to discover their true potential, and talking about this he was totally animated. He knows too many people go through life not touching their potential, never chasing their dreams, accepting mediocrity and unhappiness. We both agreed this is such a waste and now with the internet everyone can step up, follow their passion, and fulfil their potential.
I know for myself things changed dramatically when I asked myself this question:
What am I truly passionate about?
Then, knowing the thing I felt was my passion I then asked myself:
Why should people listen to what I have to say?
I believe the answer to this lies in my life’s journey and what I discovered through my lifetime so far.
So start by asking yourself these questions.
“What do you care about?”
“What is important to you in your life?”
“What do you enjoy doing?”
“What don’t you like doing?”
“What are you good at?”
When you find the answer, then ask “How can I help people by doing this work?” If you don’t feel like your work is helping people, and that it won’t help people in the near future, then it will be difficult to gain satisfaction from it.
Whatever the answer I want you to realise that career happiness is the first step to living a happy life. I am a true believer that if you love what you do, you will always be successful. Money can only solve most of your materialistic needs, but it takes a lot more than that to be happy.
For me it is allowing me to every day help to change people’s lives and helping ensure I leave a legacy that will never disappear. It will carry my name long after I’ve passed.
As my last point for today, I think it’s important to point out that sometimes pursuing your passion takes time. If you dream of owning your own business instead of working in a cube at a 9-5, it’s usually not the best idea to quit your job without a plan. Instead you should try to get your business started on nights and weekends until you know you will have an income or at least a company that is attractive to investors.
