You don't have to commit to doing one thing or working in one place for your entire life. You can do a dozen classes a year, if you like, for ten years. By then, you'll find something interesting.
"The greatest achievement is blurring the line between work and play." - Arnold Toynbee
One of the greatest accomplishments of my life has been my love of writing. The opportunity to do the work I love, waking up every day with a purpose, connecting with people who appreciate what I do … it is more meaningful than I could imagine.
Unfortunately, many people rule out the possibility of doing the job they love because it seems unrealistic. For nearly two decades, I focused on going to college and working in a regular job, which I sometimes enjoyed but often feared. Starting my own business, following my dream, doing something that I loved? Nonsense.
Nonsense is exactly what I'm going to give you now. It's possible: I did it by working full time all the time, freelancing on the side and caring for my wife and six children. I did it even if I never dared to dream about it during the first three decades of my life.
I don’t have all the answers, but I would like to share what I’ve learned about doing what you love. Because if you can find it, it will help motivate you to get out of bed in the morning and scream, "I'm alive!"
If you don't think this is possible, then do a little easy test. Think you can't start blogging? Sign up for a free WordPress.com account and write a short post. Don't tell anyone about this. Just write a post. It costs nothing, you risk nothing, and it will take almost no time. But you will find out that you can do this one little thing, and if you pass this test, you will know that your theory of impossibility was wrong. You can do this with any skill - not just blogging.
Expand your tests. If you pass the first test, then do another. Then another. Keep going and you will notice that your confidence is growing. Your skills grow with confidence. It's amazingly simple. Take the test and do it again as long as you like it.
If you don't know what you love, then don't worry. There is no need to understand this right now. Try something that someone else is already doing and see if you like it. The real part of the fun, by the way, comes when you start getting good at something. So stick with it for a while and enjoy the training, then enjoy being good at the activity. If this first try doesn't work, then try something else. You don't have to commit to doing just one thing all your life. You can do a dozen classes a year, if you like, for ten years. By then, you'll find something.
Here are some things to try out:
1. What are you good at? Even if you did not do anything, then you still have some skills and talents, some expressed abilities. Even if you weren't doing anything, you may have had some talent when you were young, even if you were in elementary school. Have you always been a good writer, speaker, draftsman, organizer, builder, teacher, friend? Were you good at idea creation, event management, gardening, sales? Consider this. Take at least 30 minutes to ponder this question, as we often forget what we did well. Remember your past works, projects, hobbies. This could be your passion. Or you may have multiple hobbies. Start a list of such potential candidates.
2. What motivates you? It could be something at work: a small part of your job that motivates you. This can be something you do outside of work - a hobby, a part-time job, something that you do as a volunteer, or as a parent, or spouse, or friend. This may be something you haven't done in a while. Again, think about this for 30 minutes or 15 minutes at least. If you don't, you are probably fooling yourself. Add any answers to your list.
3. What have you read about? What do you read about on the Internet for hours? What magazines are you looking forward to reading? What blogs do you follow? Which section of the bookstore do you usually browse? There can be many topics here - add them to the list.
4. What did you secretly dream about? You have perhaps some funny dream job that you always wanted to do: be a writer, artist, designer, architect, doctor, entrepreneur, programmer. But some fear, some self-doubt held you back, led to the fact that you rejected this idea. Perhaps there are several of them. Add them to the list - no matter how unrealistic.
5. Learn, ask, take notes. OK, you have a list. Choose something from the list that excites you the most. This is your first candidate. Now read about it, talk to people who have already been successful in this area (through their blogs, if they have one, or by email). Make a list of what you need to learn, the skills you want to learn, the people you need to talk to. Learn, but don't wait too long before diving into the next step.
6. Experiment, try. This is where learning really takes place. If you haven't started yet, then start what you have chosen. Perhaps you could move on to the next step now, or select a different sample candidate. But if you haven't tried, then start now - just do it. This may be your own business, but make it as public as you can. It will motivate you, it will help you get feedback, and your reputation will improve as you progress. Pay attention to how you feel when you do this: is this something you are looking forward to, what awakens you, what would you be happy to share?
7. Narrow down your choices. I recommend that you select 3-5 items from your list, but if it is more than this number, then do steps 5 and 6 along with them. It may take a month or more. Or, you may have already found out and tried everything. So you have to ask yourself: what fascinates you the most? Will you be able to produce what people will pay for or what will they get carried away with? How do you see yourself doing this for years (even if it's an unconventional career path)? Pick one or two things to do and focus on that. You are going to take the following three steps: banish your fears, take the time, and turn it into a career if possible. If that doesn't work, then you can try the following on the list: There is no shame in trying and failing, because these are valuable lessons that will help you succeed the next time you try.
8. Find inspiration. Who else does what you love to do? Who is most addicted to this? Follow them. Learn about them. See how they made their way. Watch carefully how they do the job, what they are doing right. Learn from the best.
9. See a mentor. Try to connect with the people who inspire you the most. If they don't respond, try a few more times. See if you can invite them for lunch or coffee. Don't belittle them about anything. Just ask them for help and tell them that you would like to receive a little guidance from them in a way that does not take up a lot of their time. Do not take a lot of time, but go to them when you are in trouble, making difficult decisions.
10. Pick one hobby at random. Some people have many interests and don't know where to start. Pick one or two hobbies at random if they are all roughly equal, and just get started. Don't let the choice paralyze you. Start because in the end it won't matter. If you start with the wrong hobby, you will learn something valuable no matter what.
11. Become good at it. You only get good at something with practice. Let your friends and family be your first audience, readers, clients. Then bring in a few more others at a low cost and gradually grow your audience. Always have an audience or customers if possible. This way, you will become good much faster with feedback and responsibility. Read about it. Watch the video. Take a course. Join a group of students. Find people to work with. Soon you will be good at what you do.
12. Help others. One of the best ways to become the best at something is to help others learn. Improving someone's life with your new skill is also an amazing way to get satisfaction from what you love to do. Help as many people as possible in any way you can - it will pay off.
13. Find your voice. After all, as you master your craft, you will learn that you are different from thousands of others who do the same. You will find your uniqueness. She won't necessarily be with you at first because you may not have the technical skills to express yourself. But in the end, you will find this voice. Find what sets you apart, what makes you stand out from the crowd. Then highlight and underline it.
14. How can you be helpful? What can you do of value to others? Sometimes they have to do something that they really need to do. Sometimes you need to do better than others. Sometimes you need to save people's time or money. In other cases, you just need to make their life in some way better, brighter, more pleasant.
15. Become an expert. If you become the best at something, helping others, finding a voice and becoming useful, then you will become an expert. Others will turn to you for advice. Help them. Read more.
16. Don't be an asshole. Too many people on the web are so worried about maximizing subscribers or page views that they do things that are disrespectful to their readers. Are you asking me to click the Next Page button five times to read your article? That's what assholes do. A pop-up appears asking me to subscribe before I was about to read the article I wanted? That's what assholes do. Shout at me to “Like” on my Facebook page when I can decide to do it myself, without asking if the article was really good? That's what assholes do. Learn to feel what is respectful and what the assholes are doing.
17. Action and love are what counts. Many people focus on development, achieving a goal, or making money, but they forget what matters. The most important thing is to love what you do. If you love it and do it, then you have already succeeded. Don't worry too much about reaching certain levels of success, people push themselves so hard to achieve these things that they forget to enjoy what they are doing; and in the process they lose the reason they first did it.
18. Learn how to make a living doing your own thing. It won't happen overnight. You have to do something, become the best at it, have a passion for it. It may take months or years, but if you are enjoying yourself, this is the most important thing. Try to sell your own products. I have found that the best way to generate income is by far the sale of my own material. I tried ads and affiliate links and found that what works best for me is my own products and services. I have already proven to my audience that I am of value, I am honest and trustworthy, so they are much more likely to want what I have created than what I recommend done by others. So, create something of value that will help people and sell it.
19. Dream big. Once you've gotten over your initial fear and started becoming the best at what you love, dream big. The first stage is small steps, but don't stop there. You can change lives. You can change the world. It will change you.
I am not saying it will be easy. It will take a lot of thought and introspection at first, and then a lot of courage, learning and experimentation, and ultimately a lot of commitment.
But it's worth it: every grain, every ounce of courage and strength. Because in the end, you will have something that will change your life in many ways, give you a reason to jump out of bed, it will make you happy, no matter how much you do.
I hope you follow this guide and find success, because I want you to find your true calling.
"Everything you can imagine is real" ~ Pablo Picasso
