Take the plunge 3/12 Have your thoughts ever wondered off at work? Have you caught yourself dazing and thinking of your dream job or something that you wish you were doing instead of being in your cubicle? Do you have a hard time dragging yourself out of bed every morning to get to work? Do you have a hard time on Mondays because it is a sign that your weekend is over?
Let’s imagine a different scenario. Imagine you could lose track of time in the work you do regularly. You look forward to receiving your workload for the day and the week. Your afternoons fly by and you feel like you could do it again and again. Although you love vacations, you are also the person who gets excited to return to work. You come into work with a smile. You look forward to meetings, and to working with clients as you love what you do.
Which of the 2 scenarios would you prefer?
Most would opt for the latter. And this is why we propose that you take the time to consider your passions and your interests as you start to explore entrepreneurship as the right lifestyle choice for you. In Article 1 in this series, we talked about the thought process and questions to ask yourself that can motivate you to consider becoming an entrepreneur. Now you’ll explore passions and interests and how they can be integrated into a business that solves problems and is useful to clients.
The importance of passion and interests
Passion is what energizes us. Passions excite us. Passions are things that we are willing to make sacrifices for. Interests are what keep us involved. Interests are the things that keep us curious and wanting to know more. Both of these are keys elements to building a sustainable business.
Passion is an incredible asset to successful entrepreneurs. Being passionate about your business creates energy. That energy is felt by your team. The energy creates a synergy. That synergy allows people to feel more connected with what you do. Your clients feel those things and allows them to connect with your brand because it’s genuine, it’s authentic. This feeling not only builds a client base, it also creates loyalty.
Passion does mean hobbies
There is an important distinction for us to make. When we discuss passion, the first thought of most people is the following: hobbies or leisure activities. Just because one loves soccer does not mean he or she should start a business that allows him to play and be involved in soccer every day. Just because we love something, we are really interested in it, does not make it a passion.
Most of the time, we do not want to be forced to do what we do in our leisure time. Our leisure time is precious. Our hobbies are often an escape. Once one changes that escape and love into an obligation, more often than not, that love disappears.
This does not mean that taking note of our hobbies and our leisure activities cannot be useful. They usually are. They are further indicators of your passions and interests. Do you love to follow the statistics of players in baseball? You may have a interest in data and analyzing data.
Take an inventory
How does one know what they are passionate about or really interested in? Energy, as it is a sign of passion and interest, is something that lifts us up, that we want to do over and over again. Another indicator is looking for things in which allow us or make us lose track of time, or when time seems to fly by.
As you start to explore what these might be, take the time to list the things that you want to do over and over again, the things that you are doing when you lose track of time, the things that you look forward to tackling in your week. Now explore why these things have found their way onto your list. What are the elements from each one that really talk to you? If we take photography for example, what is it about photography that excites you? Is it capturing the moment? Finding the right composition? Working with people? Being on your own in nature?
Now that you have built the list, analyze it. Is there a pattern in the things you have listed? Is there a common thread in the elements?
Build something you love
Loving your job is not a privilege; in fact it should be your reality. Explore avenues that connect passion and interests that might be able to generate a source of income, something around which to build a business, something that you can do and be paid well to do.
As an entrepreneur, we can create a business that allows us to do what we do best, which allows us to be passionate, which allows us to work in areas of interest. We have the opportunity to create something powerful, magical, sustainable and long-lasting.
Top tips from this article:
Let your passions and interests drive you Which passions and interests could energize me every dayBe mindful not to be distracted by the opportunities to make a lot of money, with things we are not passionate about Clients can recognize passion and connect with it As an entrepreneur, build a start-up around your passions and interests
Suggested actions:
Make a list of your top areas/tasks/conditions when you lose track of time and find the pattern Read Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Why now is the time to Crush it and Cash in on your passions Discover the Hedgehog Concept as presented in the book Good To Great by Jim Collins Find out how you might be able to complete an interest assessment (employment centers, career coaches, libraries)
For more articles on choosing the Entrepreneur Lifestyle™, suggestions, tools or for inquiries on our trainings, discover our other articles or follow-us on social media.
Understand the mindset. Choose the culture. Live the lifestyle
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