America is known as the land of the free. The place to achieve the American dream. The place we are led to believe that we can reach out and touch the sky. But in reality how many people do we know that are actually doing exactly what they love and not just trying to get by?
America is at a turning point. With the amount of unemployed people, a distrust for big companies or the “corporate ladder” and with Millennials leading the way…people are turning to doing those things that make them feel good about themselves. Not because they have to but because they want to.
Many people are making careers out of their hobbies and many are changing careers in search of a purpose.
While it is unrealistic to ditch your job in search of what many might consider a pipe dream, try to find time to do what you love aside from your 9-5. Whether that is helping people by volunteering, writing that book or starting that blog you’ve always wanted, or perhaps teaching others a skill/talent. You will notice that while this may not make money at first it will compensate you in other ways that will make you feel great about yourself.
Don’t believe me? There are over 1.1 billion search results on Google about “follow your passion”.
Even Google Auto Suggest, shows that the first question people are asking after the word ‘follow’ is ‘your passion’. Many of these search results portray great stories where people are living their dream and are truly going after their passion but even more incredible…they are making a living out of it. Many believe following their dream or passion is a gutsy and risky thing done primarily by entrepreneurs.
While this may be easy advice for many focused individuals to follow, the concern lies in the larger number of people who don’t even know what their passion actually is in the first place. Here are four tips that can guide you and get you started in finding your passion.
1. Ask yourself, what are you really good at? Or what really excites you? Is there something that you have secretly dreamed of but have never really pursued? Perhaps there is a topic you find yourself reading a lot about.
2. Find the time to bring that passion you have just identified to life. “I don’t have time” is just an excuse.
3. Get better at it. Practice. Experiment. Volunteer somewhere to perfect it and attend seminars. Reading books/articles on it can only make you better.
4. Once you feel comfortable. Try to make a profit or a business out of it. Just like Confucius once said:
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
To sum it up, there are many ways, dreams and roads open to you to fulfill your desires in creating a better life for yourself and achieving happiness. You just need to identify those signs and allow them to enter your life.
The bottom line is, there is a huge return on investment when you commit to investing in yourself. Stop thinking about it and take the first step. You never know how far it can take you and what opportunities lie on the other side of trying it!