The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. - Arnold Toynbee
Living with purpose makes life worthwhile. Making a living while pursuing your passion, well, that's a wonderful thing. But before you can get to that point, you have to figure out it is you are passionate about. Here are 10 steps that will set you on a journey of discovery.
1. What are you good at? At this point in your life, you've surely exhibited some skills or talent, shown some kind of aptitude. Have you always been a good writer, speaker, drawer, organizer, builder, teacher, friend? Have you been good at ideas, connecting people, gardening, selling? Give this some thought. Take at least 30 minutes, going over this question often we forget about things weve done well. Think back, as far as you can, to jobs, projects, hobbies. This could be your passion. Or you may have several things. Start a list of potential candidates.
2. What excites you? It may be something at work a little part of your job that gets you excited. It could be something you do outside of work a hobby, a side job, something you do as a volunteer or a parent or a spouse or a friend. It could be something you havent done in awhile. Again, think about this for 30 minutes, or 15 at the least. If you dont, youre probably shortchanging yourself. Add any answers to your list.
3. What do you read about? What section of the bookstore do you usually peruse? What magazines do you look forward to reading? What have you spent hours reading about online? What blogs do you follow? There may be many topics here add them to the list.
4. What have you secretly dreamed of? You might have some ridiculous dream job youve always wanted to pursue to be a novelist, an artist, a designer, an architect, a doctor, an entrepreneur, a programmer. But some fear, some self-doubt, has held you back, has led you to dismiss this idea. Maybe there are several. Add them to the list no matter how unrealistic.
5. Learn, ask, take notes. OK, you have a list. Pick one thing from the list that excites you most. This is your first candidate. Now read up on it, talk to people whove been successful in the field (through their blogs, if they have them, or email). Make a list of notes of things you need to learn, need to improve on, skills you want to master, people to talk to. Study up on it, but dont make yourself wait too long before diving into the next step.
6. Experiment, try. Heres where the learning really takes place. If you havent been already, start to do the thing youve chosen. Maybe you already are, in which case you might be able to skip to the next step or choose a second candidate to try out. But if you havent been, start now just do it. It can be in the privacy of your own home, but as quickly as possible, make it public however you can. This motivates you to improve, it gets you feedback, and your reputation will improve as you do. Pay attention to how you feel doing it is it something you look forward to, that gets you excited, that you love to share?
7. Narrow things down. Repeat steps 5 and 6 with a few more items on your list. This could take month, or perhaps youve already learned about and tried them all out. So now heres what you need to ask yourself: which gets you the most excited? Which of these can produce something that people will pay for or get excited about? Which can you see yourself doing for years (even if its not a traditional career path)? Pick one, or two at the most, and focus on that. Youre going to do the next three steps with it: banish your fears, find the time, and make it into a career if possible. If it doesnt work out, you can try the next thing on your list theres no shame in giving something a shot and failing, because itll teach you valuable lessons that will help you to be successful in the next attempt.
8. Banish your fears. This is the biggest obstacle for most people self-doubt and fear of failure. Youre going to face it and banish it. First, acknowledge it rather than ignoring or denying it. Second, write it down, to externalize it. Third, feel it, and be OK with having it. Fourth, ask yourself, Whats the worst that can happen? Usually its not catastrophic. Fifth, prepare yourself for doing it anyway, and then do it. Take small steps, as tiny as possible, and forget about what might happen focus on what actually is happening, right now. And then celebrate your success, no matter how small.
9. Find the time. Dont have the time to pursue this passion? Make the time, dammit! If this is a priority, youll make the time rearrange your life until you have the time. This might mean waking earlier, or doing it after work or during lunch, or on weekends. It will probably mean canceling some commitments, simplifying your work routing or doing a lot of work in advance (like youre going on a vacation). Do what it takes.
10. How to make a living doing it. This doesnt happen overnight. You need to do something, get good at it, be passionate about it. This could take months or years, but if youre having fun, thats whats most important. When you get to the point where someone would pay you for it, then youre golden there are many ways to make a living at that point, including doing freelance or consulting work, making information products such as ebooks, writing a blog and selling advertising. In fact, I recommend you do a blog if youre not already itll help solidify your thinking, build a reputation, find people who are interested in what you do, demonstrate your knowledge and passion.
I told you this wouldnt be easy. Itll require a lot of reflection and soul-searching, at first, then a lot of courage and learning and experimentation, and finally a lot of commitment.
But its all worth it every second, every ounce of courage and effort. Because in the end, youll have something that will transform your life in so many ways, will give you that reason to jump out of bed, will make you happy no matter how much you make.
Leo Babauta is the creator of ZenHabits.net.
