Many of us reach a point in our lives where we are no longer happy with our chosen career path or current job. Perhaps it’s because we chose the one expected of us or maybe it’s the one we chose in order to live a means to an end. Had to pick something that would bring in the income, be that to live out the dream we were taught we should achieve, or to simply just bring in the income to get by.
I ended up leaving high school not knowing what I wanted to do. I moved out of home soon after so had to find any job I could to bring in the income, from kitchen hand worker to car yard hand, I can’t say the jobs I had as a young adult were enjoyable, but, they brought me the income I needed to pay rent and put food on the table.
After some time I received a strong calling to work in the fitness industry. After completing the necessary courses I started out as a group fitness instructor but soon diversified to become a personal trainer and even a fitness coordinator involved in middle management. I loved this job. I had found my passion and remained in the industry for 17 years.
Looking back, I’d say I stayed in the industry 2 years too long. At the time I did not realise I had lost my passion as I still enjoyed certain aspects of my role.
To cut a long story short, I chose to leave the fitness industry when the fitness centre I worked for closed down.
I became the young adult I once was with no idea for a chosen career, or job path. I settled for a means to an end job and as I write this I am currently working that job. It’s by no means a job I find enjoyable, but, this job has taught me a lot about myself, and a lot about what I truly desire from a job.
I discovered a strong desire to work from home in a way that allowed me to place more priority on doing things I love. This is what has led me to start my own affiliate marketing business.
But am I passionate about it? If not, what do I have a strong enough passion for that would drive me to start a new business or begin a new career?
This question is what drove me to write this blog. As did the thought, “how can anyone ever achieve true success if they do not know what their passion is?” After all, when we earn income via our passion, no effort is required because we love what we do so much.
The first thing I did was ask Google, “how to find your passion”
I read a few blogs that provided the advice I have heard many times before so I’ll share this with you first before I get into what I think is the true answer.
HOW TO FIND YOUR PASSION “THINKING STYLE”.
It’s time to have a think, so do what it takes to get comfy, have a notepad with you so you can jot down any possibilities, and ask yourself what I believe would be the three most important questions that could reveal your passion…
1.What did you love doing as a child?
The answers to this question can be quite significant as the things you loved to do as a child you did out of pure joy. You had no responsibilities so there was no concern for money or time. You simply did what you did for the absolute love of it.
Do you remember the games you played, the activities you looked forward to, the things you wanted to be, or even the habits you developed naturally?
Whatever comes up for you as you contemplate these things may just be the insight you need that will inspire you to take on a new path.
2. What types of books, magazines, documentaries, and videos do you find yourself constantly attracted to?
Is there a particular topic you love so much you could read or view content about it all day long?
If you could spend much of your day engrossed in your favourite topic, perhaps it’s a definite option to look into with regards to finding a way to earn income from.
3. Is there anything in your life you could not imagine ever not doing?
This question would bring about similar answers to the above 2 questions, but it’s worth looking into in case you missed a worthy option. Sometimes things we could not imagine ourselves not doing are things we would not include as our favourite thing to do.
Asking friends and family what they think you are good at or passionate about may also provide new food for thought. That is if you need more to think about of course.
Had enough to think about yet? Did you come to any conclusions?
Not to worry, here’s an even lengthier method of finding that career you’ll feel passionate about.
HOW TO FIND YOUR PASSION “FEELING STYLE”.
There are those who’d agree that the problem with trying to find your passion by thinking of the answers to the questions I’ve put forward, is the fact that passion cannot be found in your head.
Passion is a feeling so it can only truly be found by following your heart.
Thinking does not ignite passion.
The only way to truly ignite passion is to go out there and take action.
Here’s what I mean: No matter how hard you try, you cannot figure out your passion by thinking about it. You need to get out there and experience various possibilities so you can feel your way to your truth.
I used to horse ride in my youth. I remember loving it so much. Life provided me with the opportunity to take up horse-riding again as an adult. I started riding once a fortnight with half-hour lessons. I loved it but questioned whether or not I truly had a passion for riding. I understood that the possibility existed that I enjoyed it for the simple fact that it was familiar to me – I did it as a child.
Life then gave me the opportunity to ride every week for a month. That was when I realised I really loved it and now I ride every week for either one hour or 30 minutes.
It was only through the experience of riding more often that I could be sure horseriding was a passion of mine.
I guess the problem with trying to find your passion by “experiencing and feeling” is the fact that finding the time to explore various interests for long enough to enable you to feel that an interest is a passion could be difficult, let alone time-consuming.
However, if you combine the thinking style with the feeling style, you may be able to identify a shortlist of things to try out.
So, has applying the above two methods enabled you to find a passion you’d like to pursue as a career.
If not, that’s fine. There is a completely different approach to finding a fulfilling career that you will feel passion for that I’d love to share with you.
Please, allow me to introduce you to what I feel is the ultimate way to find a career you feel passionate about…..
HOW TO FIND YOUR PASSION, THE “PROVISION OF VALUE” WAY.
Research done at 80 000 Hours, an Oxford-based charity dedicated to helping people find fulfilling careers, shows that people who take the traditional approach of “passion matching” the way they earn income are ultimately no more likely to enjoy or excel at their jobs.
Benjamin Todd, the co-founder and Executive Director of 80,000 Hours, has discovered that if you can find a way to provide value to others, you will feel passionate about what you do.
If you’re looking for a fulfilling career, the new approach to discovering it is to do something that provides value to other people’s lives.
We are actually hard-wired to help others. When we do so, our serotonin levels increase (the happy hormone) and our cortisol levels decrease (the stress causer). That is why helping others in some way always feels nice.
So if you can figure out a way to solve pressing problems experienced by people, and then develop and apply skills to solve those problems, you are on a sure winner to creating fulfilment and feeling passionate about what it is you do.
Perhaps that pressing problem is one you have or have had yourself.
A pressing problem I had was trying to figure out a way I could enable myself to leave my current job to earn income in a way that allowed me to schedule my income-producing activities around the things I love to do. I didn’t even know what type of career or job I wanted to pursue, let alone one that would provide me with my desire.
Thankfully, thanks to discovering I could start an online business, I have found a career that will not only provide me with my desire but also provide me with the ability to truly help others. My role as an affiliate marketer enables me to help others find their next career so they too can earn income in a way that provides them with the ability to do more of the things they love.
Now that’s a pretty good way to provide value.
But is affiliate marketing a passion for me?
At the moment I am only affiliated with the SFM. I know I am very passionate about being able to live life 100% my way, so having the opportunity to give someone else that same possibility, to live life 100%their way, will feel amazing.
Because it’s so true, it does feel great to truly help another person.
There are many tasks involved with affiliate marketing I really enjoy, such as creating video posts and designing landing pages. I’d actually go as far as saying I find these tasks fun. However, as with any job, there are parts of affiliate marketing that I find not so enjoyable, such as the problem-solving aspect of the role, and even keeping up with social media – it can do my head in. However, as I create success with my business I will be able to employ others to run the aspects of the business I no longer wish to. Thankfully there are plenty of people out there who love using social media and who gain a lot of satisfaction solving problems.
Overall I definitely enjoy building my business. I also enjoy the learning process and, believe it or not, the challenges I am faced with creating a successful online business. As hard as it may seem to get through some of those challenges, I find overcoming them very rewarding, and even invigorating. I feel truly alive.
Another great thing about affiliate marketing is that you can affiliate yourself with all types of products, products that resonate with you, products that have helped you. It’s just like making product suggestions to a friend with the aim of helping them. When you sell a product that resonates with your heart, marketing that product becomes easy because, whenever you speak or write about your passion, your “voice” is energised as you give off good energy. People do pick up on this.
Learning affiliate marketing with SFM will teach you things about yourself you never knew. I would never have imagined in a hundred years that I’d enjoy creating video posts. As you discover more about yourself, you discover other online business opportunities that you may wish to create. For example, you may choose to educate people about something you love to do via online webinars, or, you may start an e-commerce business selling products you feel strongly about.
Final Words:
If you are reading this blog to figure out your new career path remember you’ll feel the greatest amount of fulfilment and passion when you become great at something that provides value to others. It then comes down to learning how to offer that value to the people who need it.
SFM teaches you to become great at providing value to other people s lives via the use of marketing – because no matter what value you choose to provide to others, you will need to know how to market that value in order to help as many people a possible.