I’m writing this post from my hotel room in Bali, Indonesia. I’m here on a two-week vacation with the girlfriend. But no excuses. I’m setting aside time to bring you another value-packed post.
Today we are talking about how to find your passion… and how to find a way to monetize that or make it what you do for a living.
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What do you love to do? Like really love to do? Think of something you could do for hours, for free, every single week for the rest of your life.
Do you have something in mind? Is that something you are thinking of what you do for “work” and to earn a living?
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If not, it’s basically a hobby. And that’s cool. We all have things we love to do and do them without getting paid to do them.
Some of us like to read more than anything. Others like to work out. Still others love to travel. The list goes on. I love all of those things!
But so many of us do things we are not passionate about for work to earn a living so that we can afford to do those things we love to do.
A few of you might be freaking out. What if nothing came to mind when I asked you what thing you could do every day for the rest of your life?
Or what if you see no way you can make a living doing that thing you love right now?
Well, take it one step at a time.
Set aside time to brainstorm things you’re interested in
If you can’t identify a passion of a moment’s notice, you should really set aside some thinking time to write a few bullet points down and identify what truly makes you happy.
I actually did this for myself recently. I was considering creating a new niche website on something I’m passionate about.
I may have mentioned in a previous episode that I’ve played the drums since I was in 5th grade. However, in the last few years, I’ve played much less as I’m more interested in reading, listening to podcasts, and finding real estate deals.
It was actually kind of a sad activity for me. I was spinning my wheels for hours and days trying to figure out what the heck I care enough about that I could write and talk about it for free and forever.
I thought about doing a drum blog. But like I just said, I’m not that into drums anymore. I thought about making a travel site. But I don’t want to commit to being a full time nomad and constantly producing content about it.
I was so frustrated. I literally had “passion crisis.” I couldn’t find anything I care enough about to write or talk about!
Then it dawned on me. I AM doing what I love already. Sure, I don’t have a niche travel blog about Couchsurfing in Europe. I don’t have a podcast about how to groom your sugar glider.
But I’m posting podcast episodes and blog topics on everything from productivity to events I’ve attended. And that’s okay. Because I love that.
And it’s clear that I love it, because it’s something I’ve been doing consistently and for free for well over a year now. Obviously, the goal is to monetize it eventually and turn this passion project into something that can perhaps one day be my main gig.
So with all that being said, what is it that YOU love to do? Once you find that, you’ll notice that you are able to spend countless hours grinding away and it doesn’t feel like a drag.
When you do what you love, you enter “flow” state
When you find that thing that you truly love, you find you can enter a “flow” state and the time just flies by. That thing for me USED to be drums. But now it’s self-development and creating helpful content.
Finding your passion can be a challenge for some of us. There’s so many tempting things in life that we think we are passionate about. But when it comes to starting a blog or podcast and trying to stay consistent with posting, we find we maybe aren’t so passionate about it because we want to quit on week 3.
How can you monetize your passion?
Once you do identify that true passion, I challenge you to think of how to monetize that. You hear the phrase “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
It makes so much sense. If you can do something that you enjoy doing for hours, nonstop, what if you could find a way to make that your living? What if that was your day job?
Think of people who have successfully “life hacked” their passion. Sara Blakely with Spanx. Tony Hawk with skateboarding. And even Tony Robbins on self-development.
They found a way to turn their passion into their life’s work.
I think that’s where we all ultimately need to work towards. A life that we don’t need vacation from.
As I sit here in my hotel room admiring the beautiful view and excited to explore the island, I’m doing what I love!
Taking time out of my trip to record my thoughts and put them out into the world doesn’t feel like work. It’s something I genuinely love (and feel obligated) to share.
That, my friends, is passion.
If I can show my audience that I am pursuing my dreams, passions, and interests, it might inspire some of you to do something you’ve been wanting to do but have been putting off.
Go on that vacation. Apply to that new job. Create a podcast on mini pigs. Work towards the life you want, one step at a time. And eventually, you will build it.
But also remember that things do change. People change. I’m no longer a huge drummer. I don’t have a goal to go on a world tour. So my passions have shifted.
Keep this in mind as you go through life. You might have wanted something as a kid that you just aren’t interested in anymore. If you’ve always dreamed of becoming a doctor, and now you’re not feeling it, don’t do it.
Even more importantly, if your parents have a dream for you that IS NOT YOUR DREAM, don’t do it.
You will hate your life. You won’t be happy. You will ultimately burn out because you won’t be interested enough in it to do it even when things get tough.
Key takeaways
Take time to identify a few things you truly are passionate about. If you already know what that thing (or those things) are, have you found a way to monetize that or make that your main thing?
Start small. This is where I’m at as well. I’m growing my audience, putting free content out into the world, and I haven’t really tried to push any monetization strategies hard.
Once I add enough value and identify the right product or service that fits my audience’s needs, I plan to find some revenue streams that way.
But remember that it’s not a race. Fortunately, when you are doing something you truly love, it’s really not about the money (although like I said earlier, finding a way to make money doing something you love is the goal).
Daily motivation
“Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Actionable steps
Identify 5 of your top passions. Write them down. Now circle the top 3. Again, this may be difficult and can take some time.
Write down how you can take the next step with each of these passions. Which one is your ultimate favorite that you could see yourself blogging, vlogging, or podcasting about for free for at least a year?
That is the thing focus on.
If you know the thing already, work hard at letting others know you’re passionate about it.
Post about it all the time. Create content. Hang out with people who are also into that thing. Become a master at that craft. And you’ll find that monetizing it and making a living from it is not so far far-fetched after all.
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