We all go through this dilemma in the teenage years of our lives. Deciding whether to pursue a passion or to get a regular job can be quite challenging. But believe me, when you are in your teens it’s the best age to decide which path to follow. Most of the people in their teenage years make sure that they keep all the career doors open for themselves. That’s the reason why they pursue multiple degrees. And it’s not wrong, having certifications and degrees in different fields can give you a wider scope. But eventually, you have to finalize one direction. I would like to make it simple for you. Follow your Passion! Let your passion be your career.
Wish to know why? Well, here is the answer. When you are passionate about something you will work with dedication and devotion. You will always seek excellence in what you do. Now if you want to give yourself a few more reasons to follow your passion, then go ahead check out the reasons.
What is Passion?
First, be clear about what passion means. It’s not just a hobby that you like to practice. Passion is a strong emotion towards what you like doing. This emotion allows you to be true to yourself. It empowers you and makes you confident about yourself.
In a true sense, passion helps in making you understand where your true skills lie. What you are made of and what you should be doing in life.
The top 10 reasons why you should follow your passion.
Follow Your Passion- It Keeps You Motivated
Do you know the story of Walt Disney? He developed an interest in art and drawing during his childhood days. When he turned 18, he worked as a commercial illustrator and simultaneously pursued art classes. In the early 1920s, he started an animation studio with his brother Roy and continued to set up many animation designing studios.
He suffered various debacles yet he continued to pursue his dreams. His passion for animation and art made him establish a successful venture in 1928 with the cartoon character ‘Mickey Mouse’. When you are passionate about what you do, it makes you learn from your mistakes and pushes you even harder to achieve success. That’s what passion does to you. It drives motivation in your life.
It Paves a Way to Self-Actualization
Self-actualization is the highest need in the hierarchy of Abraham Maslow’s theory. The theory describes, there are five needs of a human being. Physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness & love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs.
The term self-actualization means someone who has realized his talents and potential and is living a fulfilled life. He accepts his shortcomings and assesses himself realistically and positively. It is the highest stage in the hierarchy of needs. And only a smaller percentage of people reach that stage in life. But when you are passionate about what you do, you can reach that stage without any obstacles.
Follow Your Passion- Because When it is Your Career, Work is Fun
I know many people on this earth have a practical approach to life. They are not wrong; they just choose the easy way to live a happy life. To follow your passion, you need strong support, drive, and motive. Just because you find your job boring, you can’t quit and move on to follow your passion.
You’ll suffer massive setbacks. Before you turn your passion into a career make sure you have enough finance to fund yourself. You need to have a planned approach towards life. Gradually when you get involved in your passion, you’ll start enjoying your work. When you are passionate, work is more like a play.
You can’t get bored unless you are doing it the wrong way. But planning and being financially sound should be the foundation of your passion. Or else, you’ll end up ruining your life.
You’ll Maintain Consistency at Work
Ask yourself, how many times you’ve been consistent at work? I know you won’t have any answer because consistency exists only when you perform your job with diligence. That’s not the case with passion.
You’ll automatically grow consistent when you follow your passion. Work becomes fun as mentioned before when you start enjoying what you do. When you enjoy your work, you’ll work either to improve yourself or you’ll fight to maintain your standards at work. Your actions won’t be perfunctory.
You Won’t Fear Failure
We all know the story of Edison. He failed 10,000 times in an attempt to invent the bulb. But eventually, he did succeed. On asking him about his failed attempts, he replied, “I have not failed, I just found out 10,000 ways that won’t work”.
One of the best things that can happen to you when you pursue your passion is, you become fearless. People’s opinions and views won’t matter to you. You’ll admire your progress because you’ll be devoid of the fear of failure.
You must note this, following your passion doesn’t mean you won’t face any failures. There will be unanticipated setbacks. You may even have disastrous encounters, but you won’t be let down by your failures. You’ll continue to work on improving yourself. That’s the plus point of following your passion.
Follow Your Passion- You’ll Be Ready to Work 24/7
I have heard people saying that you’ve got to be passionate about your job. But I don’t understand if you don’t like your job how can you be passionate about it? A single factor like a monthly salary cannot make you passionate about your job. Like I said, passion is an emotion, you can’t force someone to have an emotion.
You must agree to this, if you love doing something you’ll become passionate about it. Sir Isaac Newton slept only two hours per night and dedicated 22 hours of the day to his work. That’s passion. You become passionate about something when you derive happiness from it.
Research (About Client Needs) will Become Your Hobby
Once you decide to take the plunge, you’ll become more prudent. You’ll study your clients’ wants, needs, and expectations more thoroughly. Passion for your work will make you do that. It’s the best part about turning your passion into a career.
It will become necessary to understand your client’s desires and demands to stay in the competition. Imagine if you were in a job, would you do this wholeheartedly? No, nobody does, and let’s admit it. But when it comes to your own business, you will work harder to keep your clients happy.
You’ll Invest Wisely to Upgrade your Skills
It becomes necessary to upgrade your skills to flourish in your career. Likewise, you’ll have to take efforts to polish your skills to reach out to more customers. Upgrading skills may include getting a valid certificate or a degree to make your profession more legit.
For instance, if you liked to solve people’s personal problems but you did not have a valid clinical psychological degree, then you could pursue a course online and legitimize your profession. That’s how you follow your passion and climb the career graph.
Once You Follow Your Passion, Financial Freedom will Follow
When you first start with your passion, you may not succeed overnight. It will take years of hard work to build an empire for yourself. But consistency is the key to success. So, you must keep working to excel at what you do. The quality of your work will get you recognition.
I believe whatever you do with your heart and soul will reap benefits. It may take longer, but you’ll see the progress. Also, once you establish yourself in the market, you will see money pouring in. If your passion is your career, no one can stop you from reaching the heights. The only thing you’ll have to continue doing is work with determination.
Appreciation will Push you to Offer More
If your work is astounding, you’ll receive appreciation from your clients and customers. Appreciation from people will drive you to serve more dedicatedly to your clients. It is possible only when you put your passion to the right use. Building a career out of passion isn’t as simple as it sounds. So, you may have to sacrifice a lot in that process.
But if you manage to build a handful of clients in the beginning, then you will achieve success in the following years. Word of mouth publicity, feedbacks, likes, and shares on social media counts a lot if you wish to flourish in this digital world. So, yes, once you feel appreciated, you will work towards serving more.
Conclusion
In most cases, people do not realize what talents they possess. And constantly worry about their success. You could also be one of them. But you can get your answer by asking the following questions to yourself-
What do I like doing?
What am I good at?
Do I really enjoy doing this?
Can I make a living out of my passion?
How are people going to get benefited from my work?
Do I have enough funds to support my passion (only for the initial years)?
How is my work going to be different from others?
Will my work make others’ lives better?
If you could answer all these questions positively, then yes you must follow your passion.
