Become What You Love

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I reckon close to half the people that hire me as a Life Coach, have no clear defined idea of what they want out of the process or even what they are passionate about.

They just feel stuck or like they are wasting their potential and want a lot more out of life even if they don’t know what that ‘more’ entails.

I have said here before, I often get a sense some people are embarrassed about this fact even though there’s absolutely no reason why they should be.

I’ve even had people tell me via e-mail they want to work with a Certified Life Coach, but only when they know what they want from the process!

I say this because you’re about to read a guest post from John Anyasor that is really aimed at the people that do know what they’re passionate about, or at least have an inkling. If that’s not you, panic not, read the post and then hire a Life Coach!

Don’t Just Do What You Love, Become What You Love

Most of us know what we’re passionate about. Maybe you’re someone who sings at the top of her lungs in the shower every morning, striving to become a master singer. You might be some who knits all kinds of things; anything from socks to hats, and from sweaters to mittens, you love knitting them all. You could even be someone who writes on his blog every other day, hoping for that one big post that blows everyone away.

These are your passions. To become successful from them is your destiny. You believe that you cannot lose!

But let me ask you something: are you just doing what you love, or are you what you love? Do you engage in your passion whenever you get the urge, or is the urge consistent with large peaks and small valleys strewn throughout? When someone asks you what you do, do you give your job title before your passion, or is your passion always at the forefront?

“What do I do? Oh, I’m the Vice President of the PR relations sector.”

“What do I do? I’m a kick ass writer. I guess I do a little PR too…”

See what I mean?

Becoming your passion is easier/harder than it sounds.

We all want to make a living off of doing what we love. Some of us think it will be easy, and some of us will think it will be hard. Well, to settle our minds, I’d say we’re both right.

It is indeed much easier than engaging in unfulfilling  work for years on end, only to realize in the last decades of your life that you hate being a [insert unfulfilling job title here].

You work hard on your passion because it doesn’t feel like it’s work at all. Instead it just feels like you’re practicing something that you want to get better at.

Nevertheless, when you’re on the road to becoming you’re passion, it will take lots of effort and lots of work to make it worthwhile. You must be relentless in becoming what you love so much so that you lose your identity of just being that guy who writes on a blog, or that girl who sings in her shower. Hard work, perseverance, and patience are the keys to getting you through this process.

How to become what you love.

So at this point you’re probably thinking, “This sounds like a great idea, John. But how do I become what I love?” Not to worry, my dear reader, I’ve got you covered. Regardless of your skill level, these conditions must be met in order to become your passion:

1. Make time (even when you think you don’t)

I’m sure you’ve probably heard this before, but it’s obvious, right? In college, I have a friend who loves music, always plays music, and as far as I’m concerned, he IS music. Just like me, he has a lot of work to do every single day. Since he’s a drummer I ask him;

“I never hear you practice. Don’t you play anymore now that you’re in college?”

“I go out and practice for two hours everyday.”

“Where do you get the time to do that?”

“I make time. And don’t tell me you don’t have time. Everyone has time.”

Even if it’s 1 am and you have to get to work at 7, stay up for an hour or two and work on your passion. For every hour you are engaged in your passion, you become that much better and that much more of it.

2. Don’t put it off and start now (yes, I mean today)

Carpe diem, seize the day, just do it, yadda, yadda, yadda, you get it. But have you ever asked yourself, what’s really stopping you from doing it now?

Will doing it later hurt you or will it just enable you to put off becoming your passion even longer?

Your passion should be what you indulge in because you want to, not because you feel that you have to. If you don’t like doing it, ask yourself this: is what you claim to be your passion, really your passion?

3. Try something new within your passion

Love can be expressed in many different ways, so why not express your passion in the same manner? If you love writing, don’t write in the same format each time.

Change it up a bit, add a little spice, do something unorthodox, and leave some room to experiment. If you’re a singer, don’t feel content to sing the same song over and over. Live a little, try another genre, and play another tune.

You’ve got to become your passion in every aspect, not just one.

4. Join, copy, and learn

I understand that you have your own unique flavor and that you want to become your passion in your own way, but we have to sometimes face the reality that we may not be the best at what we love. However, that’s not a bad thing. That just means you have more room to improve.

Who are your betters? Who are the ones dominating your passion? Join forces with them, mimic their technique, and, most importantly, learn from what they’ve done. In truth, that’s the fastest way to get better at being your passion.

To become successful in your passion, what you love must become synonymous with your identity. Understand that this goes for everything you love in life. You aren’t just someone who knits, you’re the famous knitter queen known far and wide. You’re not just someone who blogs in your spare time; you are THE blogger.

And don’t let your singing begin and end in the shower – keep singing well after the faucet turns off. You know what they say – you are what you love.

John Anyasor is a 19 year old college student that runs the HiLife2b blog. You can follow him on Twitter if you like the cut of his jib.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Johns a great guy and I have followed him on Twitter for some while. I felt the need to tweak his post because he kicked off saying everybody knows their passion. I’ve be doing this job long enough to know that is a self development myth. I still like the post though and I’m really interested to know if YOU know what your passion is, or are you still looking for it?