When it comes to choosing a career, many people are torn between the decision of following their passion or pursuing a profession which will make them more money. However, many people have a hard time realizing what they want to do in life, and often they learn that their chosen career paths don’t get them any closer to their passion.
Can one find the perfect balance between doing what he loves and loving what he does? Such an endeavor does indeed lead to career satisfaction and personal fulfillment, but what are the necessary steps to take to find a job or run a business that you truly enjoy and make decent money out of it?
The good news is that now you can make a reasonable salary doing what you love. Here are some success tips to help you through.
Look into Your Heart
Career experts and successful people in the business field all agree upon one thing: for you to follow your passion and turn it into a rewarding job you need to first do some soul searching.
What is that you truly love doing and can become lucrative? And, most importantly, what specific passions do you have that you can engage in on and on without getting bored?
You may like to knit occasionally, but do you like to knit that much to spend the next decade knitting for a living?
Before deciding to follow your heart, you need to look into your heart and list your most burning (and productive) passions. Just make sure you don’t categorize them into job titles or industries.
Make a Plan
When we hear about people leaving their jobs to pursue a whole different career path, we all admire them and wish we were in their stead. If you entertain such idea, keep in mind that these successful people also had a plan besides having a dream.
If you identified the passion you want to pursue and make money out of it, perhaps it’s time to think like an entrepreneur.
Write down a step-by-step plan comprising all your next steps and actions. Set up long, medium, and short-term objectives and narrow down the ways you can reach those goals, make a budget if necessary, list your resources (human, financial, logistical and all the others) and find time to implement the steps to get you closer to your dream.
Wanting to pursue your passion career-wise and pursuing it for real are two different things, so if you made up your mind, start thinking like a professional.
Figure Out How to Make Money out of Your Passion
One of the greatest obstacles modern people face today is transforming their passions into lucrative career paths. It’s one thing to like playing video games and a whole different other working in a video game developing studio or running your own computer games producing company.
This is the point where many young and passionate people stop pursuing their dreams – they learn that their passions don’t usually fit in the wider economic landscape.
However, this doesn’t mean you should stop and settle for a job you don’t quite love wholeheartedly. This means brainstorming your way out of the situation.
Think about your passion from all possible angles: your one, potential customers’ one, the markets, the startups taking off the ground around you, even your social media network.
While you may not have the know-how and budget to start your own video game studio or get hired by one of the big players in the field, you can still start teaching kids about video games, put together an online stream, market video content tutorials, and walkthroughs via your blog and so on.
If you are 100% committed and dedicated to your passion, you will find your niche to explore and evolve to make money and live your dream.
Don’t Swallow More than You Can Chew
You know those stories of people quitting their jobs and investing all their savings into a fabulous idea only to become successful and appraised entrepreneurs? We look up to these people and envy their courage together with their brilliant minds.
While such stories are indeed inspiring, a grain of salt won’t hurt. Before venturing into the realms of entrepreneurship or a job you have never done before professionally, keep in mind that in this day and age one needs to have a safety net.
Bills and mortgages don’t wait for you to see your dream come true so make sure that the aforementioned plan also contains some safety and backup plans as well. You shouldn’t begin your adventure thinking about failures, but you should keep it real as much as possible.
Be Ready to Work as You Have Never Worked Before
With the risk of repeating ourselves, when pursuing what you love, you need to be realistic. Understand that as much as it is your passion, it is a job like any other.
Therefore, do not just expect to give it minimal effort and be excellent at it. Besides, there other people who share the same passion and are pursuing it. You should not assume that you do not have competitors.
Remember that following your passion ultimately makes you a solopreneur. Therefore, you need to work twice as hard. This is the only way you will earn a decent salary off of doing what you love the most.
Mentorship
Mentorship is crucial when pursuing something you love. Research people who are have pursued the same line of business as you and are now successful.
You can use social media tools, such as LinkedIn, to find these mentors. Try following them and be a regular visitor on their blog pages. If they have a group for those your field, consider joining.
Also, look out for seminars and conventions held out specifically for people in your line of job. This will equip you with knowledge and skills that you need to be successful at what you do.
Surround Yourself with Positive People
If you are leaving your current job, particularly a well-paying job, to pursue your passion, there will be those who will try to dissuade you.
People who cannot see the bigger picture give you all the reasons why your decision is wrong. You need to avoid them or at the very least ignore their words. Listen to what you want more than what they fear.
Surround yourself with people who encourage you on your decision. This will give you the courage required to keep you going. It is also important to keep an open mind to reasonable and down-to-Earth advice and recommendations, coming from both groups of people.
Go for Part-time Classes
Pursuing your passion makes you an entrepreneur. If you have been employed before, you might not have ready skills to manage a business to success.
Therefore, you should consider going back for some management classes or courses that enhance your skills. This will go a long way in helping you learn new methods of earning money and how to manage those funds.
If you are looking for a specific job in a specific company that helps you live your dream, enhanced skills and proven knowledge will better help you land that job or find interested investors in your startup.
Be Patiently Persistent
Just because you are pursuing your passion for a career doesn’t mean that you will automatically thrive or immediately start to earn money.
Like any other job, there will be challenges on the way. There will be times when you feel like you made the wrong decision and just want to give up.
You need to be fully aware of what you are getting yourself into and what you will do when the tough storms come. By being patient and persistent, you are bound to make it.
Outsource
Once you start to grow, plan on outsourcing. Identify the tasks you like doing and always handle them yourself. Then, consider outsourcing the duties you find difficult or unenjoyable.
Allowing other people handle those tasks will give you time to perfect your passion while ensuring that every other aspect of your job is being handled.
While outsourcing, there are various factors you need to consider. Find people with expertise, share your vision, and promise to offer good value for the price asked.
Just Do It
If you have a passion for something, do not waste any more time. Just do it. If you start now, you have better chances of being successful before you get old.
Besides, no one wants to take a risk in their golden years. At that time, people want to enjoy their life savings and spend more time with their loved ones, rather than trying their hand in business.
This right now is the time to make the change so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labor properly.
No one can guarantee that the road to pursuing your passion will be easy. Doing something you love involves the same risks as pursuing any other career, sometimes even more.
Therefore, you need to be ready to give it your all and stick with your decision even when things are not that great. Then when you start to earn money, you will be glad you kept pushing.
About the Author: Amanda Wilks is a writer, blogger and Contributing Author at qualityeducationandjobs. She aims to help job-seekers and employers all over the world reach all their professional endeavors.
So many times I have seen people have their dreams crushed by their closest friends and family members. Surrounding yourself with positive people–even virtually–can also be supplemented with ridding yourself of negativity.
Once agin, thanks SB!
So many times I have seen people have their dreams crushed by their closest friends and family members. Surrounding yourself with positive people–even virtually–can also be supplemented with ridding yourself of negativity.
Once again, thanks SB!
Well, Thank you for showing the great stuff on above. Yes, It is true if the surrounding people are positive we can achieve our goals but sometimes we may fall down. Working from our heart with what we want(our liked jobs) can helps to reach higher position(our Aim).