Turning Your Passion Into a Career
You may be heading off to work every day to job you aren’t wild about, all the while trying to make yourself feel lucky about the fact that you have a job at all. You may also be out of work and searching desperately for a job similar to your last one, all the while ignoring a small voice in the back of your head, a voice that wonders why you’re working so hard to obtain something you don’t really want.
If either of these apply to you, wait for a quiet period during the day and stop, just for a minute. It’s time to get serious about considering your other options. Turning your passion into a career is not a silly dream. People do it every day. It just takes a bit of patience and a clear plan.
First, identify what exactly your passion is. Writing it down can help you define it. The image in your head may look something like “I love birds!” But when you write your passion down, a more concrete vision usually emerges, something like “I want to rescue endangered songbird species.”
Describe your passion and phrase it as a goal. Then break that goal down into smaller goals, and attach each smaller goal to an action. Before the day is over, you may be holding a roadmap to the very place you need to be. You may be surprised to discover that that first step is actually the hardest step of all.
Sleep on your plan for a day or two, and then get to work. Chances are, your plan involves money you don’t yet have or training you haven’t yet received. If you need the time to gather these resources, or other resources like additional information, city permits, a motivated team, etc, then you’ll need to keep your current job for a while. But while you’re working, save your money and keep your plan at the front of your thoughts. Take at least a few minutes each day to make one more move toward your goal. And remember, if your intended new career is possible for anyone, then it’s possible for you. If any single step looks insurmountable, just bring it down to size by dividing it into smaller steps. Then get moving.