Are you dreading the fact that you’ll be at your desk working most of your life, instead of simply pursuing your passion and enjoying life?
Read on.
Turning your passion into your career isn’t mission impossible.
It’s not just a barren wish, a long-forgotten dream, or a fairytale you stopped believing in as you grew up. At least it doesn’t have to be.
You need courage and determination to turn your passion into a career and you are the one that needs to make it happen.
Meaning: No, your dream won’t come true if you’re just sitting there wishing for it to happen. Failure is a product of your own (non)actions.
On the other hand, success comes the same way — as a product of your own actions.
Let’s start acting now!
Step #1: Get Rid of Your Own Excuses
The first step you need to make toward turning your passion into your career is overcome your own objections and get rid of your own excuses.
Every morning when you wake up, you say to yourself: I’ll start tomorrow.
No. Today is the tomorrow you referred to yesterday. Everyday is an ordinary day, unless you make it special yourself.
Putting off your own excuses often ends up with making up the new ones. Don’t fall into that trap!
Trying to force yourself to start today may end up with convincing yourself you’re not ready.
Well…we’ll let our beloved Hugh Laurie beat this one down for you:
“It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now… Now is as good a time as any.”
The next biggest obstacle is the infamous “I need better conditions” excuse.
Everybody needs better conditions. If you were sitting in a golden castle right now, you’d think you need a diamond one as a good starting point.
The truth is — if you need better conditions, you need to create them yourself. It’s all a matter of perspective: if you start now, you’ll have much better conditions a month away from now. It’s as simple as that.
The list of excuses goes on and on, and they all have a common solution: start eliminating the problem right away.
Step #2: Define Your Goal
Now that you’ve decided to throw away the endless list of excuses, it’s time to define your goal and specific steps to achieving that goal.
Say, for example, that your greatest passion is cooking. You try out new recipes every day, and even inventing them yourself, and you truly enjoy cooking for your friends and family and seeing them enjoy every bite of your masterpiece.
In that case, your goal may likely be to become a chef. There — it’s defined.
Now let’s think about what needs to be done to achieve the goal.
Your first step may be to take a cooking class. You may think you don’t need one as you could make a dream-come-true dish even in your sleep. Don’t take this know-it-all attitude.
Never underestimate the benefits of practical learning and the power of an official certificate. You may be the best cook there is in the world, but a certificate is what will open the door to turning your passion into your career.
The next step is to find an opportunity to demonstrate your skills and quality of your work, going toward finding a kitchen employment. The ways to do so are countless — and it’s completely up to you how you want to do it.
Get creative, and stop fearing rejection.
If you send a cake to your favorite restaurant with a note saying ‘Do you need an extra cook?’ — what’s the worst thing that can happen? That they ignore it.
What’s the best thing that can happen? You get to do the job you LOVE. Absolutely worth it.
Step #3: Get An Official Certificate To Prove That You’re Great At What You Do
This is where things get real.
This is, once again, the moment to dismiss your fears and excuses, and rationally think through the best options available.
You don’t necessarily need a University degree or exceptional high school grades to demonstrate your expertise. Practical knowledge and experience are nowadays much more valued.
In that case, vocational education and training may be the best choice you can make. Many registered training organisations offer courses that include actual internship in the position you’re getting educated for. Meaning: if you want to be a cook, you’ll get to work in a fancy kitchen and gain practical experience and recommendations that will help you get the job you’re longing for after you complete your course.
At Barrington College, we offer internship experience in five star locations — such as Sofitel Hotel.
Vocational education and training can help you end up with an extraordinary job — and it can will open the door to world-wide employment opportunities. Just imagine — you could travel the world baking cakes on a huge cruise ship, or work at prestigious locations all over the planet.
And cooking is just a sweet example: whether you want to start your own business, work with people, travel the world, manage luxurious hotels, or whatever your passion is — the procedure is the same.
Gain a practical education and a national qualification that will open the doors of opportunity. Then grab each opportunity as if it were the last one standing.
Step #4: List Your Opportunities & Make the Most Out of Them
An opportunity may knock on your door every now and again, but it’s crucial you don’t leave it to chance. You may as well go knock on its door!
Start by using social networks to introduce yourself to employers. If you want to get noticed, a well developed LinkedIn account is a must. Use LinkedIn articles to demonstrate your knowledge and talent. If visuals can help you demonstrate your skills, use Instagram and Pinterest to promote your work.
Next — do your research and create a list of employment opportunities that attract you. Don’t be shy — reach out to those employers and send them your resume with cover letter attached. Whether or not they’re hiring at the moment, the day will come when they’ll drag it out off their drawer and dial your number.
Don’t make the mistake of applying only for one job to avoid turning down other employers — they won’t have a problem turning you down. Don’t fear letting them down before you even start working with them.
Moreover — if someone else hired you already, that only contributes to your image of a great, desirable professional. Handle the situation by kindly explaining you already accepted a very attractive offer and implying they were a little bit late — but also point out that it’s never too late, and nurture the connection with the employer as there is still a chance to work with them some day in the future.
Step #5: Don’t Give Up At The First Obstacle
Having a plan doesn’t mean everything will go as planned.
Often, things turn out to be just the opposite of what you planned, causing frustration, anxiety, and negative feelings that will try to lure you into the old ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ trap.
Don’t let that happen! Defining your goal and planning the steps to achievement will largely help you start, but you must always be on the lookout for alternative solutions if the primary ones do not work.
For example: you apply for 10 jobs thinking you’ll need to turn down at least 3 employers, and then you don’t get a single offer. Don’t let that discourage you. Instead, ask them what you could have done better, and use that feedback to better shape your resume, cover letter, attachments, or your very performance at the interview.
Remember: you will fail and fail over and over again in order to finally succeed. Don’t hope to achieve great things without struggling to do so. Failure is no big deal. It’s just another step to your final goal.
As Malcolm Forbes said: “Failure is success if we learn from it.”