“So what do you do in your free time?”
“Umm… I eat. Sleep. Watch Netflix.”
Sounds familiar? My heart used to to stop a second every time somebody asked me this dreaded question.
We used to draw, play with dolls and lego, try every sport out there.
We wanted to become astronauts.
Professional football player.
The next Picasso.
But as we got older, we were told to be “realistic”.
“An art degree? Do you WANT to be able to get a job afterwards??”
As a result, most of us adults don’t have many (or any) hobbies. Our lives lack passion and purpose.
This can be very frustrating, as this life won’t last forever. Many people experience a quarter-life and midlife crisis. However, it’s never too late to find your passion.
In this post, I will show you exactly how to find what your passion.
Not only that, I will also share how to monetize that passion. So that you can make money doing what you love!
It IS possible, and much easier than you think.
People are automatically drawn to people with a burning passion. Just look at any successful Youtuber, artist or professional sport player. People want to be like them, be friends with them and marry them.
When you pursue your passion you light up, and people are attracted to that light like a magnet.
Table of Contents
5 Steps To Finding Your Big Passion
2 years ago I had no clue what my passion was. By following these 5 steps I found out my big passion is writing and recording videos, helping people awaken their power and do what they love.
I was able to quit my main job and now I am pursuing my passion full-time, and I couldn’t be happier.
Enough Julia… You have convinced me I need to find my passion as an adult. So how do I do it exactly?
- Become “Yes Man”
- Ask yourself these 3 questions
- Brainstorm
- Master your craft
- Monetize your passion
1: Become Yes Man
Have you seen the movie Yes Man with Jim Carrey?
If not… Have you been living in a cave? Seriously, watch it.
It’s about a man whose life is going nowhere. He always says no and stays in his comfort zone. One day he is challenged by a self-help guru to say YES to everything for a whole year. His life is never the same after that.
And now I am this self-help guru, telling YOU to do the same! One year is perhaps a bit extreme, so:
I challenge you to say yes to EVERYTHING the next 30 days.
(Within reason, don’t say yes if a man offers you candy in his white van…)
“This sounds scary, I don’t know if I can do it…”
WHY YOU SHOULD GO OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE TO FIND YOUR PASSION
It will be very difficult to find your passion if you never go outside of your comfort zone. Going out of your comfort zone helps you grow as a person and you’ll probably make lots of new friends too. (You might even meet the love of your life!)
“Think back to the happiest moments of your life. Chances are, you were not in your comfort zone then.”
Just look at my happiest moments:
- Flying to Spain to meet up with my crush, who I’ve never met before (he turned out to be my twin flame and we are now together!)
- Celebrating Halloween dressed up as Miley Cyrus, when I was studying a semester in Perth, Australia
- Performing stand-up comedy in front of a hundred people in my sister’s University
- Trekking to Mt Everest Base Camp in Nepal
I was almost peeing myself of nervousness moments before all of these, but they were the most incredible moments in my life.
And don’t just passively wait around to get invited to things.
- Attend meetups on Meetup.com and local Facebook events. Don’t be afraid to try something new! For example, when my younger brother was new in town, he went to a Korfball event to make new friends. He had never heard about this sport, but he loved it. Now he plays for the national league!
- Sign up for a course/class. Is there something you’ve always wanted to try, but you haven’t had time or postponed? Sign up for a workshop or course and learn the basic. Maybe it becomes your new passion!
- Travel. You can even travel to the country where it originates. For example, if you love watching Muay Thai, why not go to Thailand and learn how to do it from the best?
2: Ask yourself these 3 questions
- WHAT DO YOU LOVE DOING?
Imagine if you suddenly inherited 1 billion dollars and never had to work a day for the rest of your life. What would you spend your time doing?
- WHAT DID YOU LOVE DOING AS A CHILD?
What you loved doing as a kid can give you a hint of what your passion is. When you were a kid you didn’t have as much social programming – you did what you wanted to do. Period. No matter what society or people around you thought.
You also had more time for your hobbies.
“When you grow up, you get more and more responsibility: School and homework and later down the line working. While also taking care of your household and making time to be with your friends, partners and perhaps kids.”
Suddenly you don’t have time for the things you loved doing.
So really think about what you loved to do before life got in the way.
- WHAT DO YOU READ ABOUT?
What you love reading about also give you a big clue of what your passion is.
If you love reading fantasy books, then why not write a fantasy novel yourself. Maybe you will become the next J.K Rowling?
This was the case with E.L. James. She was obsessed with the vampire series Twilight. So much so that she wrote a fan fiction, that became the bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey.
If you love reading about minimalism, then perhaps you should start a blog and and Youtube channel teaching other people on how how to live a clutter-free life.
3: Brainstorm
Now that you have thought about the three questions, write down everything all potential passions. Everything that comes to mind, with no judgement. You can evaluate later.
You can also write down things you haven’t tried before. Look for inspiration in books, on the Internet, ask others etc.
4: Master your craft
Pick a few that you want to dig deep into and learn.
Research:
- Rent books
- Get a coach or mentor
- Watch youtube videos
- Take courses at Udemy or Skillshare
- And most importantly – learn by doing
Learn by someone who has already achieved what you want to achieve. Say you have an interest in investing and real estate, then you can read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and maybe even take one of his courses.
What if I’m not talented enough?
Zlatan Ibrahimović was told by his football trainer that he will never be good at football. Zlatan proved him wrong and is now known as a football legend and one of the best strikers of his generation.
You are not born with talent. Talent is earned.
How do you earn talent?
By failing over and over, and not giving up when things get tough.
Here’s the deal:
You will fail a lot, especially in the beginning. But since your passion brings you so much excitement, you are more motivated to succeed. You therefore are lore likely to master your passion than any subject in school.
And the more you practise, the better you will become. The success will further motivate you to master your passion.
You can learn more about how to master any skill by reading Mastery by Robert Greene, or by watching this video.
5: Monetize your passion
When you have found you passion, the next thought is usually:
How can I do this full-time?
And trust me, there is nothing more rewarding than having your passion as your job. Every Monday morning I am literally jumping out of bed because I can’t wait to start working. I used to hate Monday mornings before this.
But don’t quit your current job just yet.
Some passions only last for for a short phase.
I used to be obsessed with fossils. I used to go on eBay every day during University lectures and place my bids. I remember having a massive mammoth tooth I was so proud over. This burning passion only lasted about 4 months. My impressive collection started collecting dust in my wardrobe.
Imagine if I had quit my job and invested all my money into an Archeology degree. The regret!
So start doing your passion as a hobby or side hustle. If after a year or so you still feel it’s your big life calling, THEN you quit your job and pursue your passion full-time.
So how can you monetize your passion?
“Regardless of what your passion is, whether it is baking apple pies or playing video games, there is a way to monetize it. By teaching it to others.”
There are several ways you can attract money into your life doing what you love.
8 WAYS TO MONETIZE YOUR PASSION
- Teach private lessons – in person or online
- Publish books – hardcover or e-books
- Become a public speaker
- Hold workshops and seminars
- Create online courses
- Start a Youtube channel
- Write blog posts
- Become a coach or mentor
Let’s take a deeper look at my two favourites. The reason why I prefer these is because they can be done working remotely AND generate passive income (make money while you sleep!)
PUBLISH BOOKS
Anyone can publish a book nowadays. You can publish it for free on Amazon Kindle Store as a hardcover or e-book, or you can sell it on your own website.
If you publish it on Amazon you don’t need to set up a website and your book will be suggested to people who are likely to want to buy it. The downside is that people generally are not willing to pay more than 10 dollar per e-book on Amazon, and you need many reviews (and good ones of course) to see significant sales.
If you sell it on your own website you can often charge higher prices. You can use Payhip or Clickbank as a payment provider. They are free to use but take a little cut of every sale.
CREATE ONLINE COURSES
Another good option to earn passive income is by creating video courses.
You can record videos, publish them on Youtube as Unlisted and then host them on your website. Another option is to use online course builders like Teachable or Thinkific. They make it easy for you to create professional-looking online courses.
START A YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Teach people your passion on Youtube! When you have 1000 or more subscribers and over 4000 watch hours, Youtube will give you a cut of the ad money. There are Youtubers with sport cars and mansions, so it’s definitely possible to make this your full-time job.
However, becoming big on Youtube takes time, so don’t quit your job just yet.
WRITE BLOG POSTS
Another way of earning money pursuing you passion is by starting a blog and writing blog posts. Just like Youtube you can earn ad money if you place ads on your website.
You can also earn money by placing affiliate links in your blog posts, so that you get a commission from the seller every time somebody clicks your link and buys the product or service. Clickbank is the biggest affiliate network. I also recommend Share A Sale.
You can also sell courses and e-books on your website and mention them in your blog posts to get further sales.
I used Squarespace to create my website, it’s very easy to use and includes hosting. Another good option is WordPress, which is the most popular website builder in the world. It is more customisable than Squarespace and other “drag and drop” website builders.
I have listed more work from home ideas here.
Conclusion
Finding you passion is not easy our lives often get in the way, and some passions only lasts for a phase. However, it is so worth it to explore what your passion is.
It gives your life meaning and you can even earn money doing it, by teaching other people. You can do this by writing books, starting a Youtube channel, creating online courses (get that passive income!) or become a coach teaching people one on one. This way you can pursue your passion full-time and leave your draining job.
What do you think your passion is? Let me know in the comments!
