What are you passionate about and can you make money doing it?

14 Oct What are you passionate about and can you make money doing it?

Before you step off into the land of self-employment (part time or full time) you need to fully assess what assets you have (social assets or material assets) and how they might help you fulfill your dream. According to Steven Schussler author of the book “It’s a Jungle in there”

“An important talent entrepreneurs need to possess is the ability to dream-to see things that others have not yet envisioned. It provides the means to imagine and create new products and /or services that nobody else has thought of or, at least, not exploited appropriately. Passion often services as the springboard for these dreams”

Clearly the dreams that Mr. Schussler references are not the ones we do at night when we are asleep. These dreams or visions are our brains creative ways of seeing the world in a different way. It could be from creating a product to make our life better or a service to a population that is under served. Either way, an entrepreneur needs to maintain themselves in a constant state of discovery. Today’s “it” product or service is tomorrows “run of the mill” product. To maintain a competitive edge, one must be constantly evolving and changing how we view the world. Could you imagine how different the world would have been had Steve Jobs  stopped at the first iPod? Had that been the case there would have been no iPhone and eventually no iPad. As humans we evolve from babies to teenagers to adults and eventually to senior citizens. Projects and companies, like people, have a natural life cycle. If you want your company to stay viable long term you have to constantly be dreaming up new products or services to extend your companies life cycle. The fuel for that evolution comes in the form of passion.

In addition to your dream (aka your big idea) you also need to balance that with your passion. Passion for your project/company/job is what propels a business forward.

Carol L McClelland,PhD shares the following list. This list represents part of her “Your Dream Career for Dummies Cheat Sheet”.

• Listen for a change in your voice: When does your speech get faster? Are your conversations on that subject longer?
• Notice your excitement level: When you feel excited inside pay attention to what you are doing at that very moment.
• Track your curiosity: When you have a desire to learn more about a subject follow that lead
• Visit memory lane: Look as far back as your child hood. What used to fascinate you or what do you still have a keen interest in?
• Notice how you help others: What are some of the ways you are in service to your friends or family. What subjects do you know more about than your social group?
• Recognize a sense of mission: Do you have a vision or a life mission that excites you?
• Natural talents: What are skills that you have that come easy to you that may not be easy for everyone else?