Identify Your Passion in Life, so You Can Turn It into a Job

Different people are motivated by different life events to take stock, reevaluate their positions in the grand scheme of things, and begin taking the necessary steps to starting up their own businesses, or seeking out professional retraining in line with their passions and interests.

These moments of revelation and reflection can take many forms, and lead to many different outcomes. Some people invariably decide they will gravitate towards artistic pursuits, while others will seek out mini dax futures, and still others will turn their attention ever-more towards coveted industry qualifications, such as the obtaining of an MBA.

But what if inspiration doesn’t just fall into your lap? What if you know — for a certainty — that you want to change the focus of your professional life, but you just can’t put your finger on exactly what it is that you want to do?

The thought exercises that follow are designed to help you discover your dream job and begin pursuing it actively.

Sit down for a while and write out a list of things you would do if you didn’t have to work anymore

One of the best ways of “focusing your eye on the prize” and uncovering your true interests in life, without getting in your own way with premature doubts and worries, is to write out a list of what it is you would do with your time if you no longer had to work anymore, at all.

Some of the items on that list will be things like “catch up on my reading”, and “visit new countries”, while others are likely to revolve around certain hobby, or would-be hobby topics.

Good examples here include things like “I would start a blog”, or “I would study graphic design”.

There’s no telling what specific pastimes this exercise will reveal to you, but whatever they are, you are almost guaranteed to find among them the gem of an idea for how you can reorient your professional life to be more in line with your general interests.

Brainstorm what your perfect day would look like

Similar to the previous exercise, but broader in its scope, is the question of “just how would my perfect day look, if I could design it from the ground up exactly as I wanted?”

This is a thing worth reflecting on in a deep and meaningful way, and it’s often best to write out your thoughts in order to aid the brainstorming process, until you have a coherent story written out.

Where do you live? Who do you live with? What do you do each day?

This exercise is, like the last one, designed to peel back the ever-threatening scarcity mentality, and allow you to get at the meaty bits of your own aspirations.

Ask yourself — is this something I would enjoy working towards, as well as achieving?

As has been said time and time again, the journey is as important as the destination.

Many people suffer for years, or decades, doing jobs they truly despise, because the pay is good and they rationalise that the future benefits of early retirement and a big house will be worth it.

But that’s a pretty horrible kind of “dream”, isn’t it?

When identifying what your dream career would look like, be sure always to ask yourself the question; “is this something I would enjoy working towards, as well as achieving?”

If you can enjoy the work you do, as well as looking forward to the benefits, you will be filled with meaning and excitement each day you live. If you don’t, it’s going to be a drag.