From the "Passion Unlocks Prosperity" series:
Following Your Passion
From and early age, you're routinely taught to put following your passion on hold.
You were admonished to concentrate on the serious undertaking of getting a "real" job...and not to waste time following your passion. The advice I got: "Get a degree in business!... or something that will guarantee a job"
Of course there are a few people who actually have a passion for the vocations their degrees assure them. As I recall however, for myself and most of my friends, choosing a career path had more to do with job availability and income than it did with actually having a passion for the activity. Following your passion wasn't part of the equation. You had to choose a career! Plan your life...Get it together!
It's like being forced into an arranged marriage, instead of marrying for love. Except that over time, you seldom "learn to love" your job. Instead, you suffer through it and tolerate it.
How you feel about yourself.
For some people, making a living is nothing more than an exchange of time for money. I experienced this first-hand when I worked in an autombile assembly plant for a few weeks. This took place about two years after my "music touring" days had come to an end. My passion was music but I now found myself married and faced with the reality of earning a "dependable" income. So I put my passion away because it was time to get "serious".
At first the job I had was kind of a challenge.
I had to put on two motor mounts each minute on the big V-8 engines as they passed by my station. After about the second day I got the hang of it. By the third day I was counting engines so I knew when the break time was coming.Then lunch. The last break.Then the last engine of the day! This was my working life day after day.
I was a young married man at the time and was grateful for the job...but it began to scare me. I looked around and was surrounded by people who were doing similar repetitive jobs for 10, 15, 20 years or more! I lasted about 6 weeks.
The big lesson I learned from that experience was the people I worked with honestly believed they were doing the best they were capable of... and many were grateful for the jobs they had. I believed otherwise. In fact, I spent more time daydreaming about all the other things I could be doing than at any other time in my life.
That job was best place I ever had to seriously think about finding and following your passion.
My desire to follow my passion led me to make a fateful decision one day.
About ten minutes into the new shift I quit and walked off the line...and I've been self-employed ever since. Following my passion has fueled many adventures during my life. Quiting that job was a personal declaration of independence. I didn't know how at the time, but I knew I could do better for myself.
So I walked away...
Six months later I was accepted into the Indiana University School of Music!
Wondering about the next step in your life?
Are there dreams you want to make real?
Have you considered the possibility that you could transform your lifestyle into a springboard that supports and empowers your dreams?
Would you like to learn how?
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