A successful career doesn’t necessarily require passion, but if you want to get fulfillment from your work, this piece of the puzzle is a prerequisite. The trick is finding a way to turn what you love into a paying gig. Here are a few tips to transition your passion into a fruitful career.
1. Make your passion actionable
Maybe you love animals or nature. Perhaps you enjoy travel and shopping. The question is: how do you turn your passion into a career? You have to make it actionable by discovering fields that feed into your passion.
Animal lovers could become veterinarians or trainers. Nature lovers might work for the Forest Service or BLM, lobby for public lands, or become tour guides at national parks. If you enjoy travel, you could become a pilot, flight attendant, travel writer, or professional house sitter. If you like shopping, you might become a buyer or a personal shopping assistant. Think about jobs that feed into the passion that feeds your soul.
2. Know what you love, but also what you’re good at
Passion is a necessary part of any job if you want to stay motivated and enjoy fulfillment from your work, but what drives and excites you isn’t necessarily enough to get a job done or ensure positive outcomes. You also have to employ some level of skill in execution.
Suppose you want to help people suffering with disease, but you simply don’t have the talent for math and science needed to become a doctor. What if your strengths lie in communication? You might want to consider working in administration, social outreach, or grant writing instead, all of which still allow you to pursue your passion for helping those in need while playing on your strengths to ensure the greatest overall success.
3. Get educated
Pursuing your passion begins with knowing what you want to do, but once you have an end goal in mind, you have to plot the steps to reach your goal, which means learning and developing the skills that will allow you to succeed in your chosen profession. Whether you want to design clothing or energy-efficient housing, you plan to become a doctor or a hospital administrator, or you’re interested in traveling the globe or beyond, education is the vehicle that gets you where you want to go.
4. Network
WHAT you know is enough to ensure you can do a job, but sometimes WHO you know is more important for getting a foot in the door. Whether you’re in college or making your way in the working world, networking is a huge part of finding success when pursuing your passion, so make sure to shake hands, foster connections, and keep in touch so you have options when you’re ready to make career moves.
Post by Sarah Harris
