Many of my clients choose their next step in life based on where they believe the money is which would ultimately lead them to happiness. Please don’t do this, because if you pick a passion and build it into your next step the money will flow and happiness will be built in automatically. This does not mean if you love to play piano that you can hang up a sign and people will come walking in. You still need to plan accordingly to either turn it into a viable business or find an employer that will fit with your personality and needs. What it does mean is that as those people eventually come in, they will sense your passion and love and will become customers for life.
So how do you pick out this passion and turn it into your next step in life?
First you need to pick which of your passions you really want to grow into a career or lifestyle. Not all of your interests will make for a good business so you need to evaluate what you want to spend your time on and what will work in a business. I frequently ask my clients this question “If you could talk about one thing everyday what would it be?” I love reading about health and fitness, but I think after a week of talking about it I would need a week off! On the other hand talking about creating an ideal life and achieving it I see no reason to ever stop talking about!
As you are discovering where your passions can lead you consider these tips.
• If you need to make a list of all your interest so you can go through and eliminate them one by one go for it! Also, don’t be afraid to combine two of your passions. A great book to help you with this is “What color is your Parachute”. Get all into it and do the full flower exercise, no matter how cheesy you feel! (Get the workbook it makes it easier)
• Just because you are good at it does not mean you should create a business around it. This one is hard because we gravitate to what we know – that does not make for a passion based business. I was a great bookkeeper that did not make me happy doing it! Avoid the easy road of turning your current job into a business or slightly altering your position. It is easy to say if you switch from non-profit to for-profit you will be happy, you might be but really analyze what you dislike about where you are now and how that would or would not change.
Once you have narrowed it down to one or two the next step is to build a business or find a career around the interests. This part can be time consuming and it just may take some brain storming around it. Give yourself plenty of time and space to figure out what the right move is. Ask yourself these questions:
1. What can I do to make money with this? Would I pay for this?
2. Do I need training to do this?
3. If someone else is doing it is their still room in the market or is it saturated? Can I do it for them instead of working for myself?
4. Are the start-up costs reasonable for me?
5. Can I imagine spending my time on this for many years in the future? Really take the time to envision yourself 10 years down the road doing this.
Finally, once you have selected a business it is time to start building a business plan or begin your career search and chasing your life’s passions! Your soul will thank you!
