According to a recent Gallup poll, the world has about one billion full-time workers, but only a small percentage of them—15% to be exact—are engaged at work.
The great majority of people either dislike their employment situation or flat-out hate it.
While there are many reasons why you might not enjoy your job, from bad management to work that isn’t meaningful, there is one way to ensure you will—
Turning your passion into your career.
In this guide, we discuss the basic steps to consider when making the choice to transform what you’re passionate about into a lifelong profession.
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Let’s get started, shall we?
Here’s how to turn your passion into a career:
1. Discover Your Passion
Before you can turn a passion into a career, you need to know what your passion is, of course.
We all have things we’re interested in, but these aren’t passions, usually.
Interests are fleeting activities or causes, and they can and will change throughout the course of your life. Passions, on the other hand, are long-lasting and all-consuming. Passions are the reason you work, the source of your joy, and a principle thing on your mind at any given moment.
Do you enjoy doing yoga?
Great! Do it in the mornings before school or in the evenings after work, because this is an interest, and a very healthy one to have!
Or, do you live for yoga? Has it been at the forefront of your mind for years? And, are you currently reading this article upside-down because you’re in the shirshasana position as we speak?
Now that’s a true passion!
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2. Plan Out Your Passion Career
Once you’ve identified your passion, don’t jump straight to looking for related work on job websites.
Your passion deserves better.
First, plan out your career path and how it’ll support your passion throughout its entirety. If you’re a student or young professional, you of course don’t have to map out your entire plan until retirement. However, create a basic outline, and ask yourself important questions, such as:
- How can your passion translate into a lifelong career?
- Is there demand or a gap to fill?
- Will you become an entrepreneur or practice your passion as part of another company?
- What will you need to do to progress your passion career?
- Do you have a Plan B?
Related Read: What Is a Career? The Definition of Career & What It Means to Have One
3. Train & Get Certified
If you leave your passion as an extravocational activity, you can grow and evolve it as you see fit.
But, when your passion becomes your profession, you’ll have to become qualified if you’re going to succeed.
Seek out certificate courses at online universities or local colleges. Research the leading industry organizations and consider becoming certified through one of their training programs.
Let’s say your passion is traveling and you want to turn your wanderlust into a career. If you’re applying to college, perhaps you’ll get a degree in tourism law, international business, or hospitality management. Or, if you’re already a professional, getting a certificate in travel economics would definitely boost your career, as would becoming a CTA® Certified Travel Associate.
Then, you can finally call yourself a professional in that passion field!
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4. Be Patient
No matter what field you choose, you’re going to face obstacles and setbacks.
Even in your passion career.
Try not to let it get you discouraged. Know that change is a constant, and learn to build resilience. If you receive criticism, hear negative feedback, or make mistakes, take it in stride and use it to grow and push yourself to the next level.
Careers span decades. And, if your passion becomes your career, you could very well continue at it up to retirement and beyond. Give it time to evolve, and learn how to be more patient with both yourself and your progress.
Enjoy the adventure.
As Ernest Hemingway once said, “It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.”
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5. Don’t, Maybe
While it’s a common goal to translate the things you’re passionate about into a career, it doesn’t have to be, of course.
Say you live for the thrill of climbing mountains and scaling the kind of sheer cliff walls that make me want to faint just thinking about it.
You could turn that into a career.
You might lead expeditions, compete professionally, or become a rock-climbing instructor.
However, you might also lose the solitude, the sense of adventure, and the novelty which made you passionate about it in the first place.
Rather than transforming passion into profession, consider leaving your passions as hobbies or pastime activities and having a fulfilling career in a separate area.
Your career path could be teaching, accounting, marketing, or IT. On weeknights, you can hit up your local indoor rock climbing wall; on the weekends, you can get your fix by heading to nearby mountains; and, when planning for your yearly vacation, you can prepare to summit K2!
Related Read: How to Improve Reading Comprehension: 15 Strategies to Follow
Well, that’s our guide on how to turn your passion into a career, and we hope it helps you make a fulfilling professional choice! Got any questions, feedback, or other tips for turning passions into professions? Let us know below in the comment area, and thanks for reading!
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