Finding Your Passion

Do you feel like you're stuck in a rut and you can't escape? Are you sick of your job? Are you not really sure what you really want to do with your life?
One of the keys to happiness is doing what you love. You might think sitting on a beach for the rest of your life relaxing sounds like it might be a pretty nice life, and yes, it is, for a while. Eventually though, boredom will set in and both your body and mind will cease up. Man is not supposed to sit around all day. Productive work is one of the most important keys to life. It can bring you self-esteem, confidence, social interaction, growth, motivation, and a sense of purpose.

Your job/career or enterprise should be something that drives you if something makes good money or it is easy but it doesn't stimulate you, then you're wasting your time and risking your happiness. There are so many benefits to be gained from a job you love. You will wake up happier, excited about going to work. This happiness will be reflected on those around you, your partner, your family, and your friends.

Remember - it should be your hobby it should be something you want to do.

As well as the improvement to your own wellbeing, finding a vocation that makes you "spring" out of bed in the morning is more likely to allow you to excel making more money and rising to the top. This is why it is important to choose a career you love rather than going into something because of the money it involves. With enough passion and business skill, the usual rules of earnings are obsolete. Bear in mind of course that you will need a reasonable skill level in your chosen activity to succeed, but this is usually the case if it's something you've been practicing for a long time out of love for it.

Most activities can be split into these two main categories: Creative and Recreational.

Recreational activities are mostly unproductive. Too many people chase non-productive recreational activities under the impression that they can earn a living from it. Of course you want to be making money by doing what you love, but trying to earn a living from recreational activities is both lazy and difficult. Unless you truly shine in your field or are very lucky, this is just not feasible. Think about it, is someone really going to pay you for watching TV? You need to focus on the more productive side of your life - the creative activities. These hold the key to both a successful career and sense of satisfaction that you won't achieve from anything else. Enjoy your recreational time, but don't necessarily try to pursue a career in it. Remember that true prosperity comes from honesty and hard work. Trying to get it for anything less is dishonest, lazy, and doesn't pay off.

On the other hand, recreation is very important for experiencing pleasure and relaxation outside of work. And since we all need pleasure and relaxation, you might earn a living providing this to others. You could create a new form of recreation, improve an old one, or market and distribute an existing one. Of course, you need to do this in a field you enjoy.

So how do you find out for sure where your passion really lies? And, how do you make a living out of it?

What I'm going to do is ask you a series of questions to help you decide which creative activity you should think about pursuing. These questions do not tell you for certain if each particular area is really for you, they are designed to provoke your mind, and get you thinking about yourself. I'll get the ball rolling, but you will need to make your own decisions and judgments about what to pursue. Also, at each stage we will offer you some ideas of possible paths you could take. Again, remember it is up to you. The whole purpose of this exercise is to find out what motivates you to find something you will naturally enjoy. Don't see these ideas as limitations see them as open doors.

Productive Area: Thinking/Problem Solving
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Is it you?
Do you find challenging situations to be interesting and rewarding?
Do you like developing ideas and plans?
Would you consider yourself an intellectual?
Are you a logical thinker?
Do you enjoy working through problems?
Do you enjoy designing things to solve problems?
Do you have an eye for detail?

Suggestions:
New technologies always need the tinkering types to fix things or even design new products.
There are many career paths available today that center around computers and the information age.
Accountancy or a career in the financial industry may appeal to you.
You also might be attracted to scientific studies - see the "research" section.

Most Suitable Industries:
Science
Electronics
Electrical
Plumbing
Mechanics
Professional IT
Engineering
Technical Support
Manufacturing
Law and Policing
Forensics
Finance

Productive Area: Organizing and Coordinating
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Is it you?
Have you ever dreamt of running a big company?
Do you volunteer to take on responsibilities?
Do you enjoy, or at least feel an urge, to organize your house, your job, or your finances?
Do you like to understand the big picture?
Do you currently hold a position at work that involves coordinating people and jobs?

Suggestions:
If you enjoy this, you would probably enjoy running a business or department of your own.
You're almost certainly a responsible individual. Absorb more responsibility to add variety to your career and improve your prospects.
As well as being a good creative job in its own right, coordination is a very useful skill needed for turning your passion into a commercial reality.

Most Suitable Industries:
Management
Politics
Finance
Quality Assurance
Travel, Tourism
Logistics

Productive Area: Heavy work
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Is it you?
Do you enjoy physical work?
Do you mind getting your hands dirty?
Do you think of yourself as a 'workhorse'?
Would you be bored working in an office?
Do you like getting into the gritty, intricate details of a job?
Do you prefer working outdoors?

Suggestions:
If you really enjoy getting your hands dirty, there are vast opportunities for this type of work. Since many people don't like this sort of work, there will be many unexplored possibilities. People will have overlooked problems or job possibilities because of a reluctance to do hard work. As someone not afraid of a bit of hard work, pain, or dirt, you will have a distinct advantage. This will be an asset in a job or make way for a host of business opportunities.

Most Suitable Industries:
Construction
House renovation
Armed forces
Gardening
Plumbing
Cleaning
Mechanics
Science
Transport
Logistics
Agriculture, Fishing, Hunting, Forestry
Driving
Travel, Tourism
Leisure
Social Care

Productive Area: Creative work
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Is it you?
Are you artistic?
Do you like to design or blueprint?
Do you play any musical instruments, or sing?
Do you doodle?
Do you have a sense of design or an "eye" for things?

Suggestions:
If you like creating things, then you'll most likely have a tremendous asset - an active imagination. Use this as often as you can to keep it "tuned up". Feed it with existing entertainment.
By seeing things from a different perspective, you can give the world a different view on things. Try and work on expressing your individuality in your work.
There will be many fields open to an imaginative person. Writing, music, film, computer games and other media, poetry, drawing, painting, digital art and other creative areas - most of these are very artistic.
If you are musical, take instructional classes such as music or voice lessons to improve your skills. If you are technical, look into computer games, web design or product design.

Most Suitable Industries:
Art
Entertainment
Writing
Design
Web design
Engineering
Manufacturing
Advertising and Marketing

Creative skills can be put to good use in most industries.

Productive Area: Practical Building, improving, fixing
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Is it you?
Do you like using your hands?
Do you look at objects with a view to improving them?
Are you of a practical nature?
Do you enjoy practical pastimes such as carpentry, mechanics, metalwork or electronics?
Are you curious about the workings of things?
Would you say you were technically minded?
Do you find satisfaction in fixing things?

Suggestions:
If you enjoy a practical pastime and have the talent, then turn it into a career. Refine and then market your skills so you can become a professional. If you need more skills, you can attend one of many technical schools that can help train you. Talk to professionals to get a sense of the industry.

Most Suitable Industries:
Science
Electronics
Electrical
Plumbing
Mechanics
Professional IT
Engineering
Technical Support
Manufacturing
Construction
House Renovation
Agriculture

Productive Area: Research
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Is it you?
Do you like theoretical fields in science and design?
Do you head for the science news first?
Are you motivated to help cure dangerous diseases?
Are you fascinated by statistics?
Do you like discovering the cause of things?

Suggestions:
You might enjoy pharmaceutical research to help create that new wonder cure or product of the future! Or, more industrial type research might fascinate you, such as that needed for increasing the safety of various modes of transportation. Perhaps psychological research to learn how people think and how the brain operates.

Most Suitable Industries:
Any science
Psychology
History
Geology
Archeology
Forensics
Manufacturing
Engineering
Electronics and other high tech industries

Productive Area: Helping Others
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Is it you?
Are you a people person?
Are you unfazed by uncaring or rude people in your day-to-day interactions?
Do you sincerely care for other people?
Are you always volunteering and helping in anyway you can?
Do you like seeing other people make progress?

Suggestions:
Young people and old people always need assistance. Consider a career in teaching or geriatrics. If you are business-minded, start your own school or retirement home. You also may be able to help people by becoming a therapist, counselor, coach, or personal trainer, or even a Power-Essence type teacher.

Most Suitable Industries:
Medicine
Nursing
Social Care
Teaching
Charity
Service
Support
Police
Law
Politics
Entertainment
Hospitality
Travel and Tourism
Leisure

Productive Area: Serving
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Is it you?
Are you assertive, as opposed to passive or aggressive?
Are you good at coming to mutually beneficial compromises?
Can you be persuasive?
Can you see things from different viewpoints?
Do you have an outgoing personality?
Are you good at dealing with customers?

Suggestions:
There are customer service positions in nearly every industry. Increase your company's business by becoming the best representative to the customer.
If you are persuasive and outgoing, you may be suited for a sales career, which can be very lucrative and challenging. You could also consider jobs that put yourself in the public eye such as acting and public speaking.

Most Suitable Industries:
Retail
Catering
Sales
Support
Politics
Entertainment
Human Resources
Hospitality
Advertising, marketing, PR
Recruitment
Travel and Tourism
Leisure

Of all these examples, did you find at least one or two areas that you consider to be at least interesting? Do you have interests that fall outside any of these categories? You may find that you saw a recurring theme, which could be an obvious pointer to an industry you will probably prefer. What else comes to mind? Our suggestions only scratch the surface. There is actually a huge range of possibilities open to you. Use your imagination.

Find the basic areas you enjoy and integrate them together to open a floodgate of ideas. Narrow down the list based on your circumstances - what you'd enjoy the most, what is viable, and what opportunities are currently open to you.

Profiting from Recreation
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Now finally, you should also consider your recreational pastimes to help you decide on a course of action. Although directly profiting from our own recreation is difficult and unsatisfying, we can earn indirectly from it. We all have the need for pleasure, relaxation and personal development, and a value creator can take advantage of this.

How? By looking to improve our own and other's recreation time.

Think about how your own recreational activities could be improved:

What would make them more enjoyable?
What would make them easier?
What could make them cheaper?
How could they be catered to a different audience?
What would make them quicker, more efficient, or last longer?
Could they be integrated with other activities or opportunities?
Is there another way of doing them?

When enjoying your free time:

Make compliments, and think about why you're being complimentary.
Be critical and make complaints, and think about how to eliminate them.
Always be thinking: "Wouldn't it be good if."

Feel free to think about other activities, but by focusing on the things you enjoy you'll be more knowledgeable and able to be critical in more detail.

As well as improving our own free time, we'll be adding value to the lives of those who enjoy the same things, too. We then profit from the solutions we create.

An important note
These techniques can also be applied to Creative Activities. Making it easier, cheaper, and more enjoyable to be creative increases the opportunities for would-be value creators. Remember that many creative activities can be a source of recreation anyway.

Conclusion
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So, start thinking about what you really want to do with the rest of your life. You don't have to decide today, but you should be mindful of your time and your life. Remember the average lifespan is only 900 months. How long do you have left?

Unfortunately, most people's natural tendency is to take the path of least resistance, which is usually just staying in the same boring routine. But do you really want to waste your creative potential like that? You don't want to look back on yourself twenty years from now and say, "I could've done this. I should've done that."

You obviously don't want to stay in the same old rut, working for someone else, making them rich, doing what you hate, but it's a lot of effort to change careers, start a business or take training.

Forget that! Once you are in a career of your dreams it opens a world of possibilities.

You will become the best you possibly can at the job thus increasing potential for promotion, bonuses and pay rises.
You will strive to learn more about your chosen field, opening more doors to you, including the possibility of starting your own business.
If you have a business based around your passion you will have the potential to out-compete all other businesses in the field, earning you more profit and prestige.
Every morning you will wake up excited about going to work. Sunday night anxiety will be a thing of the past!
You will never be bored again, spending most of your free time on your passion, learning more, improving your skills, creating business opportunities, and enjoying every minute!
Your happiness and drive for life will rub off on your family causing them to search for their passion too!
Because you know you are good at your job, your self esteem will be heightened.
Your motivation will increase because your job will not be an effort that you have to force yourself to start, but something you naturally fall into and start doing at any time of day or night.
Your happiness will make everything else pale into insignificance!

Don't let life pass you by. Do what you love and enjoy the rest of your life!