“Ignoring your passion is slow suicide. Never ignore what your heart pumps for. Mold your career around your lifestyle, not your lifestyle around your career.” ~Unknown
Last week I asked you some important questions.
What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money?
What would you do?
- How would you spend your day?
- What are the things you would get involved with?
- What would you do with your life going forward?
- What kind of feeling and accomplishment would you want to feel when you turn in for the night?
- What kind of legacy would you want to leave behind?
Those questions won’t take overnight to answer. And they may change as life goes it’s jolly way. How I wanted to spend my days ten years ago are a slightly different than how I want to spend them today.
Once you have your list of things you would love to do the next step is to figure out which passion to pursue and monetize so that you can leave the 9-5 rat race. How do you do that?
1. By trying a variety of things and by listening to what makes you feel alive inside. And I mean, LISTEN. You have to actively pay attention. You need to write things down and you need to go on a little treasure hunt called a personal growth and development journey.
2. You also need to pay ATTENTION. Many of us are hit with it over and over again but we keep throwing it away. Our dreams are like a boomerang. It will keep coming back screaming for us to pay attention. I wrote a post on that you can read HERE.
3. Start connecting the dots. Write down a timeline of things you have been doing throughout your life. What things do you keep coming back to? Many, when they get their a-ha moment, realize the journey they have been on has prepared them for their dream life all along. Those experiences, jobs, hobbies and more have prepared them for this next step.
4. Stop focusing on money as your main motivation for what you should do. Can you make money and not enjoy what you are doing? Of course you can. Many of you are doing it every day going to a J-O-B you don’t like!
Make sure you write down all and any passion you would do if you didn’t have to worry about money. Then write down skills you already have or skills you would love to learn and develop related to that passion. Now you have two out of the three necessary parts. The last part? Is there demand for what you would offer? If there are people out there doing what you would like to do and they are being paid for it you know there’s a market. That’s your sweet spot.
I know many of you think your idea needs to be unique and never done before. That’s not true. Your personality is unique. There is no other person like you out there. No one has your story, your voice, your exact skills, your exact way of delivering something. No one can write like you, no one can sing, draw, sell, speak, create products like you.
If others are making money on what you want to do…you can too! You just have to add your own personality to it and find a slightly different angle setting you apart. Remember, there are people out there waiting for you and what you have to offer.
In your 10 Steps to Getting Off the Hamster Wheel Guide you have room to write down those ideas that mix passion, skill and what others would be willing to pay for. Try to find about 3-5 passions that fit that criteria. If you come up with ten, write down ten. Later on in this series we’re going to take a look at how how to test an idea and see if you can make money on it.
That’s all for Step 2. You can read the other posts in this series HERE. Next week we’re going to talk about Step 3 which is a favorite topic of mine – getting your finances in order. I would love your ideas and feedback for this How To Leave the Rat Race series and what you think about it. If you’re here for the first time, welcome! Sign up below to receive the guide and follow along. You will receive the guide, blog posts and more via email so that you never miss a thing!
What is one struggle you deal with in regards to figuring out what passion to pursue?
Brilliant post. You’ve managed to take a complex subject and make it beautifully simple, Camilla.
This is such an important subject to understand. Everyone needs to do this, no matter what stage in life they are at. The changes that can result from it are nothing short of life-changing.
The speed of progress you can make once you stop trying to contort yourself into a mould not made for you is extraordinary!
Rick Siderfin recently posted…Can I Have a Quiet Word With You?
Thank you Rick! It’s a process but an important one. I meet so many that say ‘oh, what a waste of time working this job all these years now when I know what I want to do” not realizing it was part of the journey towards figuring things out. And yes, definitely break the mold and challenge the status quo!
Great post! One of my biggest struggles with chasing a dream is getting past what other people are going to think or say. It takes time to get traction and in the meantime you face the naysayers. It takes time and perseverance to become a success. Thanks for the encouragement!
Miranda recently posted…10 Things for 12 Months (Free workbook for YOU)
Those naysayers! I hear you on dealing with them. Best thing you can do is to avoid them, and when you’re spending time with them, don’t talk about your dream and what you are working on. Talk about the weather. Keep your WHY close and keep moving forward. You can do it!!
Just found your blog today. Looking forward to following along with your “10 Steps to Getting Off the Hamster Wheel Guide” and whatever else you may send me. Thanks so much, Linda
Linda – happy to have you on board! Enjoy the guide and the posts and let me know if you have any questions or topics you want to learn more about. Cheers – Camilla