Discovering You: Turning a Passion into a Career

Recently I had an opportunity to really “hang” out with my sister-in-love, and I say “hang” because for the very 1st time we were able to go off and just do what we wanted without the worry of kids + hubbingtons ect. While we were out we talked candidly about our futures and what we wanted next in our lives. Cuz honey, the planning doesn’t stop just because you are married and have children. Just like her I have been working since I was just 14 yrs old. Let that sink in, at this time in my life I have had a job of some sort for almost 21 years! Even though I can legitimately say I have worked more than half of my life, up until this past year I was not living in my truth or in what made me truly happy.

The funny thing now is looking back I can see that I worked because I had no choice for the most part being a new parent at 22. If we can all be honest Im sure there is a nice amount of us who are currently in jobs we have no passion for because we have no choice, bills, obligations ect. I get that 100%. What I didn’t know then that I do know now is there is a way to do both. Do the job that you have to do, while positioning yourself to turn your passion + what makes you happy into a career.

Sometimes the hardest step to take is the 1st one. Giving yourself permission. It sounds so crazy but we are our own biggest critics. We tell ourselves no before the question is even asked. Truth Moment friends, for every single idea I have ever had I have not only provided myself with the idea but at least 10 reasons why whatever the idea was wouldnt work. Once I gave myself permission to dream and to dream f*cking BIG at that point there was no limit and instead of “No and why me” it became “Yes and why not me”. Shifting your mindset is the number 1 step in turning a passion into a career.

I didn’t go into Pilates or yoga training with the thought of making big bank. I found Pilates when my body needed healing + yoga when my soul needed healing. Those two things brought back pieces of myself that I thought I had lost + I became passionate about the benefits because of all it had done for me. I would teach a Pilates class all day long for myself over sitting in anyone’s cubicle doing something that brings me no joy any day of the week. Here are some steps I took to realize my passion + turn it into a career:

1. Permission: I gave myself permission to dream and I mean DREAM BIG + imagine the life that I wanted. The most fabulous thing about this day and age is there is a market for pretty much anything! Don’t box in your dreams, dream vibrant and as big as you want.
   • Questions: What does your future look like? If you had a perfect day what would it entail? What things do you truly enjoy doing?
   • Action Items: Make a list of the things you enjoy doing and careers that include those things. Not a traditional job? List the service you could provide.
2. Research: Once I decided that I wanted to pursue Pilates and yoga I started researching jobs, education, certifications, blogs/books etc. I looked up everything I could and began collecting resources and contacts that I could reach out to for questions. Having a true understanding of how to take the passion part to the career part plays a huge factor in being successful.
   • Questions: What type of careers are involved with what you love? Is there education or courses you can take to learn more? Are there steps you can take to freelance? If working for a company what requirements would they need?
   • Action Items: Create an end goal and make a plan of how you will get there. Be DETAILED on exactly what you need to do step by step. Include any additional education, training’s , events, conferences whatever stops that need to be made from your point A to point Z of this journey of passion turned career.
3. Evaluate: As a mom, wife and full time employee when I thought of my life and all the “things” I had to do I became overwhelmed. Then I had to slap some reality in there because even with all the “things” I had on my list to do there were plenty of moments throughout my day that I spent doing virtually nothing but scrolling on Instagram. I took inventory of where I was spending my time and got rid of the time that I consider “idling”. Evaluation is super important because without carving out the time needed to grow that passion, things will never be as big as they could be. Plus this is your passion so why be mediocre about it! We want to handle our passion the same way we would handle something precious to us. Truly evaluating where you are in your life right now will help you put in perspective of what you can and can not commit to while helping you eliminate those things that steal our time.
   • Questions: Where is the majority of your time spent? Are there things that you can eliminate to create more time and space for your passion? How can you add room in your schedule for your passion? What things hold you back or make you less productive? When are you your most productive self?
   • Action Items: Remove what doesn’t serve you or your passion. Increase the things that make you more productive. Break the goals you created down further to tasks that can be completed each week or month. Be realistic yet firm when setting personal deadlines. I’ve lived at both ends of that spectrum of not being realistic and setting myself up for failure and I have been so loose with my goals that I was truly passive in reaching them. Set yourself up for success.
4. Execute: I set my plans in motion and started crossing things off my tasks list. Each week I completed a mini goal that played a bigger role in the overall goal. I gave myself grace where I needed grace, didn’t beat myself up when things didn’t go as planned or if I feel short on completing a task.
   • Questions: Are my actions still inline with my goals? Do I need to re-evaluate my time or my end goal? Are there things that I can be more efficient in?
   • Action Items: Follow through with the goals set. Periodically re-evaluate where you are along the way. Take each goal 1 step at a time keeping in mind its not a race its a marathon.

Reuse, recycle, repeat. I continued this exact strategy to reach my goal of completely Pilates certification and Yoga Teacher training. Once I completed my training’s, I followed the same template to land my 1st job in my PASSION! Whats great about this template, or guidelines is you can apply it to any sort of goal or desire you have in life. It is practical for any situation. Lets get out here and not only DREAM but actually see these dream into fruition.