There are a ton of guys working a job they hate. But I don’t think all of them hate their job as much as they are working a job that doesn’t line up with their passions. There’s nothing worse than going to a job that you know does not fit you. Maybe it did a some point but not now. So what do you do? How do you discover what your passions? I ran across this basic idea on a website called www.zenhabits.net and thought I’d use part of it.
1. What are you good at? Take 30 minutes and honestly evaluate what you’re good at. Don’t be afraid to ask friends and family to give their answers.
2. What excites you? What was the last thing that really pumped you up? Try to identify those times in your life when you couldn’t wait to get to a job, an event, or whatever.
3. What do you read about? What websites do you got to every day? What blogs do you regularly read? What magazines do you subscribe to?
4. What have you secretly dreamed of doing? What are the jobs/activities you’ve always dreamed of doing?
5. Learn, ask, take notes. Now that you’ve got a list, narrow it down to one and then start researching it Read books, Google it, find whatever information you can. Then talk to people who are already doing it. Ask questions and take lots of notes. But don’t only talk to people who are successful, interview at least one person who failed. You’ll be amazed at how much you can learn from other people’s failures.
6. Experiment, try. At some point you’ll have to stop researching and actually do it. Look for low risk ways to try your passion out. Volunteer, part-time, be creative.
7. Narrow things down. You’ll probably have to try more than one to narrow the list down to THE one.
8. Banish your fears. At this point you’ll probably be scarred to death. Partly from doubting yourself, partly from other people doubting you and partly from the basic human fear of change. A great question to ask that will help you deal with fear is “what’s the worst that can happen?” You’ll be surprised that the answer is not as catastrophic as you might imagine.
9. How to make a living doing it. Once you’ve discovered the passion in your life, figure out a way to make a living do it. You’ll be surprised how many ways you’ll uncover.
Living from passion is the most fulfilling way to live. Go for it!
