Finding Your Passion & Taking Risks: What to Do
If you aren’t sure what your passion is, it can feel as though you’re waking up and living the same day over and over again. You may have a lack of motivation and see minimal growth in yourself and your career. Living this way can make you feel like a corporate robot with the destiny of waking up in 10 years in the same position as you are now. This is why finding your passion and taking the necessary risks is so important!
Questions to Help You Find Your Passion
It can be challenging to find what you’re truly passionate about. After all, if doing what you’re passionate about was easy and risk-free, everyone would be doing it. So, to find your passion, ask yourself the following questions.
What is the Most Important Thing to You?
Knowing what the most important thing in your life is will directly point you to your passion. But, this is not to be confused with what is unwillingly important in your life. For example, some people have financial burdens that are the only thing they think about before they make decisions. Or, some people have high expectations put on them by their family members, religious leaders, or bosses, so that becomes the most important thing to them.
What we’re talking about here is: What is the most important thing to you deep down. If you knew you would succeed, what is something that you would do today? When you have a clear, overarching goal that you want to achieve, taking the next step is much easier.
Here are some of the most common passions amongst people:
- Leaving a legacy
- Becoming financially stable or successful
- Being a good family member (parent, sibling, child, etc.)
- Helping others
- Following religion
What Do You Talk to Others About?
When you’re at a party or when you’re celebrating a holiday with family, what do you find yourself talking about? Do you talk to them about how to become financially literate? Do you talk to them about the environment? Maybe you can’t shut up about how Facebook is becoming Meta and how it’s the biggest case of rebranding the world has ever seen. Or, maybe you’re the person who can’t stop talking about their pets (same). Looking at what you tend to chat with others about is a strong indicator of what you’re actually passionate about.
What Are You Great At?
Everyone has that one thing that they’re the best at. Out of me and my friends, I’m probably the most entrepreneurial and business-savvy. Meanwhile, some of my friends are passionate about growing plants, raising their kids well, or fashion. I’m not great at any of those things, so why would I follow those as career or life paths?
Dr. Renny McLean once said, “Mediocrity is the enemy of excellence.” It’s a rarity to find someone who is highly successful at doing mediocre work. So, it’s critical that you do what you’re best at. If you’re great at bookkeeping, maybe you should become a financial advisor. If you’re great at cleaning, maybe you should start a housekeeping empire. Whatever you’re excellent at, do it. It’s probably what you’re meant to do.
You’ve Found Your Passion… Now What?
If you’re truly passionate about something, the three questions above should have helped you realize it. So, now that you know your passion, what’s next? Well, there are a few routes you could take from here.
First, you could start a business, non-profit, or find a company with the same mission. Second, you could take the next step and pursue a certification, degree, or another type of education if you need it to pursue your passion. Third, you could do absolutely nothing and let the risks involved scare you.
Risk vs. Reward
Following your passion often comes with risks. It can be a financial risk and it can be a personal risk. But, what you must know is that virtually every business idea comes with risks. Even Bill Gates sounded ridiculous when he wanted to come up with a way to type documents on the computer rather than write them, as people had been doing for thousands of years. But, can you imagine if he let the risks stop him? Today, the thought of hand-writing an essay in college is laughable. I wouldn’t even be typing this blog post right now if he didn’t pursue his passion.
So, imagine if you do fail. What’s the worst thing that could happen? Maybe you would have to find a mindless job to help pay the bills. You could fail in front of the people you respect most and lose a ton of money. But, what if you do succeed? You could pave the way for other entrepreneurs. You could change normal processes that everyone follows, such as writing things by hand. Most of all, you could achieve your dream and leave a legacy.
Start Chasing Your Actual Dreams
It’s time to start chasing your dreams and pursuing your passion. And by that, I mean your actual passion. Not the one that your horoscope sign says you should have. Not the one that everyone else tells you to have. Do what you want to do and chase what keeps you up at night. There may be bumps in the road, but at least you won’t have the same boring and unfulfilling job in 10 years.
#assistantly #wefindunicorns
