Your
full-time job is security. You won't have the freedom to develop your passion
if you're constantly worrying about money. So, if your full-time job is the job
you need, then your passion should be the job that you choose. Only you can
choose whether you have the capacity to run this alongside your current career
path or somehow integrate it.
But where to
start? Finding and developing a passion from any age is tough as we don’t
always have the same interests we had when we were younger. But speaking from
experience, once you have found a job you love, that feeling will stay with you
for a long time.
If you’re
lacking the motivation to change to a career that you love, I have got my very
own top tips:
Weighing up your
options
Are you
ready to take the plunge?
There are so
many things you have to factor in if you decide to make the ultimate leap. Do
you think you can quit your full-time job or will you have to do something on
the side?
If your
chosen profession or business type becomes a success, it can transform your
life. Are you willing to do what it takes to turn your dream into a reality?
If your
answer is yes, then let’s make it happen!
“Some people dream of success, while other people get up
every morning and make it happen.” — Wayne Huizenga, owner of Video and the
Miami Dolphins.
Find the
links
In my various
roles through my business and secondary projects, I find that each role has
some sure-fire links that benefit the other. I started my career through
working in a petrol station and chatting to taxi drivers on shift who expressed
they were having trouble finding reasonable insurance policies because they
couldn’t speak fluent English.
Through
these interactions, I found the niche, and a potential business opportunity
that would result in full-time employment. From here, while I was building the
business, I knew that I was missing an element of helping others, but my insurance
firm started to open doors to make this happen.
Even now,
all of the causes in my repertoire give me exposure to new people and new
potential customers for the insurance business. For example, my work with
Birmingham Youth Sport’s Academy (BYSA) or the Pathway2Grow Networking events
provide me with opportunities and allow
me that extra exposure that I wouldn’t necessarily have gained through my
current role.
Now all
three projects are working hand in hand, it makes my career (and home life) so
much easier. You can achieve this in most business sectors and can utilize
connections when you need them.
“Best startups generally come from somebody needing to
scratch an itch.” — Michael Arrington, founder and co-editor of TechCrunch
Make time,
not find time
When you’re starting to build a business or a side
project alongside your full-time job, it goes without saying that pursuing your
passion means putting in the time. If you’re doing this alongside your current
daytime job, it will be hard to find the motivation after a full day's work.
However, you’ll find that once you’re doing something
that you enjoy, you will build momentum more naturally and somehow find more
energy. Whether it’s working with children throughout the weekends or setting
up your own freelance business in the evenings, putting in the hours does come
with the territory.
Don’t make your home your constant work base
The biggest tip that I give to other budding
entrepreneurships is not to make your home your base life completely
work-focused if you can.
You need that space to be able to unwind in so if you can
find an area where you can completely disassociate the two, then that will help
your state of mind and potentially boost productivity.
The most important lesson to learn from turning your
passion in to your business is that you must take care of it while expecting
nothing in return. However, find comfort in the fact that when your startup
does blossom, it makes all the patience and hard work worthwhile.
"You
have to see failure as the beginning and the middle, but never entertain it as
an end." -Jessica Herrin, founder and CEO of Stella & Dot
By
Abid Khan, co-founder of national commercial insurance business Riverdale
Insurance, who currently follows his passion through his Vice President
position at Birmingham Youth’s Sports Association and is the National Director
of the Pathway2Grow development.