I have had many conversations with people who dream out loud what they really want to do with their life. In nearly every conversation they have something they are passionate about and rather skilled at. Their challenge is in pursuing it and believing they can do it.
Often they begin defining their passion in terms of a job description and struggle to figure out how they can monetize it. That thought process usually creates barriers, not opportunity. I advise them to go through a more strategic and creative thought process that allows them discover the options for turning their passion into a business, a hobby, a cause, or a service.
Instead of dealing with traditional roadblock thinking about your passion, I encourage the following thought process:
- Clarify your true passion.
- Define and articulate how others would benefit from this skill and energy.
- List options and opportunities as to how you might provide this to the world.
- Initially avoid the traditional thoughts about whether this would make money, require money, or fit into something easily described to others.
- Look at the options and decide which one best defines their interest and devise a plan for turning it into something.
- Then define how passionate you are about this opportunity by taking action and “owning it” or do nothing.
This approach takes people out of the “I have a dream, but don’t know whether it would work” mindset and facilitates a “what’s possible” interaction. For an example of this kind of thinking, read the article, “Don’t Miss That Aha Moment.”