How to Turn your Passion into your Profession
Millions of people around the world battle with job satisfaction and eventually life satisfaction. People wonder, is this job or career really for me? And when this question can’t be answered or the feedback is negative, it begins to show in the way they approach their jobs and even life in general, with negativity. One of the ways job satisfaction is measured is by the passion an individual has for his or her profession. If one is not getting satisfaction from their profession, the main reason is usually a lack of passion for what they are doing.
What is passion? It is an intense or strong feeling towards an object or person. Excitement and enthusiasm are important characteristics of passion. So one’s passion for their profession is characterized by excitement and enthusiasm about what they do. Passion is a very important emotion towards work because it can be the key difference between getting work done well or not.
A large percentage of the working class in the world show up to work just because they are supposed to, not because they are passionate about their jobs.
Reasons why you should follow your passion and turn it into your profession:
- You relate with your work and generate better ideas: when people are forced to work, they don’t always do well. Doing what you are passionate about makes one have good performance because ideas flow naturally. Being passionate makes the challenges surmountable because you are always motivated.
- You don’t feel pressured to work: when people’s main pursuit is money and not because they are passionate, they feel frustrated with the work. If the mindset you have about the job is that it is frustrating and depressing, you will hate the job more and the result will show in your performance. A lot of people believe they have to work for money but they feel unfulfilled in later years and eventually slip into depression, feeling not self-actualized.
- You can accept late hours of work: when doing what you love, a little more is never a problem. Working late works is never a problem for a person passionate about his or her profession. They see it instead as an opportunity to build, become strong, make a greater impact or even make more money. When people are passionate, they work willingly without needing to be forced or supervised. There are seasons in every business or organization where there is more demand and it will require that employees put in extra hours of work compulsorily, it’s in such seasons you can tell those who are passionate and those who are not. Some will find it frustrating, while some will thrive in such seasons.
- Nothing can stop you: obstacles and challenges are nothing to a man who is passionate about what he is doing. You will only see them as milestones to where you are going. A person who enjoys what their doing will put in everything for the success of it.
Here are some steps to turn your passion into your profession:
- Discover what your passion is.
Discover what you have the most enjoy doing that you never get tired of. Your hobby and passion are certainly not the same things. Your hobby is what you like doing in your spare time but your passion is what you are wired to thrive in, so that must be clear. Can your passion become your hobby and be turned into a profession? yes. But not all hobbies can become your passion and turn into a profession. For example, just because you enjoy playing golf in your spare time doesn’t mean it’s translatable into a profession.
Under discovering your passion, first, you have to discover your giftings. They are characteristics you have that you didn’t choose, they came naturally to you. Secondly, how will be the best channel for your giftings. For example, if your gift is encouraging people and helping them make healthy life decisions, the best channel may be life coaching. The third and final is knowing your target market or audience. Still using life coaching as an example, do you talk well with teenagers, wives, husbands, the elderly, athletes, etc. Know your target, the people you will render your services to.
- Determine its demand
This is very important especially if you have to leave a current job to start on your passion. As beautiful as your passion is, it’s too risky to start a career that its demand is or too competitive. But in the case where your skills are sharp and you are confident, competition shouldn’t be a discouragement as long as you have good marketing or advertising plan.
- Thorough Research
Proper information is everything if you are going to do well. Have adequate knowledge about the field you are delving into and leave no stone unturned. Find out how best the business or profession can run effectively. Interview people with experience in the field, and ask questions. What are the contacts to have? , what equipments are needed? , do you need hands(employees) for effectiveness or can you work alone for starters and later employ people? How much capital is required? Find out how they succeeded and follow their instructions.
- Make a plan.
This is where the brain comes in. You must be objective about your plans and push away sentiments. Draw a detailed plan of the steps you have to take to turn your passion into your profession. What you need to do, how much you have to spend, people you will need to meet and if necessary what you may need to learn. Plans aren’t infallible so if possible have a plan B as backup and even a plan c.
- Don’t be a hindrance to yourself
Don’t sit down giving yourself reasons why it will not work, instead be optimistic. Throw the excuses into the trash can and leap. Picture yourself already doing what you love and having good results. Stay positive.
- Get Qualified
While still in your current job, horn your skills. Get the necessary training during the weekend, take online classes, and practice, so you can become valuable. Having a skill is not enough to make you a professional. You need to have solid experience in your field. You can decide to work for someone in your field of interest, instead of starting on your own. Eventually, you might discover you don’t need to start up your own but you enjoy working with someone else.
- Be flexible
I wish l can tell you that everything will go smoothly but that’s not the case. Be flexible enough to make adjustments when faced with challenges. Be open-minded also when it comes to criticisms, who knows people’s ideas can give you insights on how to do things better. It is important to have people who are experts around you to help you take the right steps.
You must also note that turning your passion into your profession will take hard work, consistency, and motivation. Daily take steps towards achieving your aim.
Most people discover their passion but are not able to stick with it for so long, they are excited and enthusiastic for some time, then when they figure out the amount of stress, commitment, and effort(financial, mental, and physical) required, they lose their interest eventually. That is why, if you have a current job, you have to be careful and objective when deciding whether to quit your current job to pursue your passion.
Some people turn their passion into their profession almost stress-free because it seems everything is available. But this is not the same for everybody, so you must be tenacious about achieving your goals.
Whatever you do, know that time when lost cannot be regained, so it should be spent doing what is profitable to one’s life and the society at large. You can convert your job into what you like or do something you enjoy doing. Whichever be the case, joyfully achieve your desired goals without frustration.