Follow Your Passion

Remember What You Loved as a Child

Often, our truest passions emerge in childhood, only to be suppressed by real life situations/pressures.

Think about what you loved long before you had to worry about your career. It could be writing, Science experiments, taking care of people, etc. Getting back in touch with those instincts is an important step in finding your passion.

Eliminate Money from the Equation

If money were no object, what would you do? Would you travel? Spend all of your time with your children? Would you start a charitable organization to help old people?

Of course money can’t be ignored, but don’t let financial pressures dictate your choices. Your career should ultimately lead to financial security, but if financial security is the defining motivator, it’s unlikely you’ll end up doing what you love.

Ask Your Friends for Feedback

Sometimes you are just not the best judge of what makes you happy. Ask the people who know you intimately when you seem the happiest and what you do the most enthusiastically. Their answers may surprise you.

Read through a University Course Resources

Find some quiet time and see which courses naturally interest you. What would you study if you could do it all over? What courses do you think you could teach? Which subjects scare you to death, and which ones do you find boring? Revisiting these possibilities will help point you in the direction of subjects and topics that you love.

Identify your Professional Hero

Of everyone you know, either personally or in your extended frame of reference (from your doctor to Amitabh Bachhan), whose career would you most want to match? Reach out to him/her to learn more about how he/she got to where he/she is, or, if that’s not possible, read everything you can about his/her career and life.

Think of What You Enjoy That You Also Do Well

After you have done these exercises, think about what you’ve learned. Focus on the things that you both enjoy and do well – whether you have a way with animals, make a delicious kheer, or are crazy for origami – and write them down. Then, narrow the list to the top three or four things. Keep it handy, review it often, and use it as your jumping-off point when you’re plotting your career move.

Leverage Social Media

More than ever, we live in a social world. Once you’ve identified what it is that you love, get busy on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, connecting with people who share similar areas of interest. Read blogs, join forums and find out what it’s really like to do what you love.

Start Saving Money

Once you feel strongly that you want to start down this new path, start saving, a lot of it. The more money you have, the less finances will have to rule your decisions.

Just Do It

Eventually, you won’t really know what you love to do unless you actually decide to do it. Until you give it a start, it’s really just speculation. So, whether you take a small step like signing up for a course or you dive head-first into entrepreneurship, roll up your sleeves and do it. You’ll never know until you try.

Reference/Citation/Source

• Do What You Love! How to Identify & Pursue Your Passions
  https://www.themuse.com/advice/do-what-you-love-how-to-identify-pursue-your-passions