DREAMS: WHAT ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT?

Do you participate in something that gives you an intense and barely controllable emotion? Do you have anything that when you think about you experience an intense and barely controllable emotion? If you answered “yes” to either or both of these questions, then by definition, you have a passion.

Much like dreaming about your best life, you need to write down what you’re passions. What type of things do you do that make you feel like time could fly? Write down things that you could do, read about or talk about with no end in sight.

PASSION DISCOVERY

To identify our passions, let’s review the definition: something that gives you a strong and barely controllable emotion. Write down any activities that make emotions bubble up within you and make you feel so happy that you could light a thousand stars. Also, write down anything that makes an abundance of negative emotions bubble up. Things you are passionate about don’t always make you happy. They can also be causes that you wish to support and work towards a more positive outcome.

Once you have identified things that you are passionate about, spend time thinking about how you wish to enjoy this activity. Is it something that you enjoy doing as a balance in your daily life. Is this activity something that you do when you aren’t working or when your kids go to bed that helps you settle your mind from the daily chores? Is this pursuit something that creates a bond between you and people in your life? Is it something that brings you additional income each month.

PASSION DEVELOPMENT

Are the activities that make you experience intense emotional things that you could earn money doing? Or are they things that you want to learn more about to develop a robust hobby?

Spend time learning more about these activities. Take time to become proficient at your passion. With the internet, there are many ways to learn about the activity. Could you find a local meetup group to participate in? Or, if you like to create items, is there an organization that could benefit from your talents?

DON’T MAKE IT MORE THAN WHAT IT IS

A trap that some fall into is believing that you can earn money with your passions. Or that if you do something that you are passionate about, your work will be easy. I would like to caution you on pursuing these activities for income until you do a great deal of journaling, soul searching, and reflection.

Taking an activity that you love doing by yourself or with others, even if other people earn a living doing the same activity does not mean that YOU will make a living by your participation. Do you have the skills, resources, and funding to do all of the activities to start a business and to grow it into a full-time income?

I’ve known people that have dreams that they wish to turn into income but aren’t aware of the thousands of things that are required to create a business. I’ve known crafters that love to make beautiful things but don’t charge enough money to pay for the booth at a local craft fair. I’ve also known crafters that charge too much money because they believe they are worth that dollar amount and never sell anything. Then some create beautiful things for which there is no true market in their area. There is a balance that must be struck when ask your passion to become income.

ENJOY YOUR PASSIONS

As long as we continue to have activities and pursuits that light us up, we are living a full, robust life. Enjoy the activities that you love, and don’t worry if other people think your hobby is strange. Like everything in life, do what you love with unapologetic enthusiasm, and the best will always be yours.