I love a quote by Brain Tracy which says ‘all successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose’.
Do you have a dream to turn what you enjoy doing into a thriving business? Support your family while being fulfilled in life? I have been pursuing my passion for over 15 years and now it is finally turning into a thriving business.
Following your passion is the only way to be successful in whatever you want to achieve. It is the only way to be thrilled with your life and the only way to be fulfilled. However, if you follow only your passion then you will most likely find yourself broken-hearted somewhere along the way. Your dreams will be just dreams if you do not follow them with a plan. When you decide to follow your passion you must make sure that your reason is always showing you the right way. When you combine reason and passion you can create a great business that you will enjoy. Here is what you need to know in order to turn your passion into a business.
Make sure that you have a passion not just a mere interest/hobby.
There is a huge difference between what we like and what we are passionate about. I like writing, it is my hobby but I am not passionate about it. The thought of spending the entire day writing is horrifying to me. Ask yourself this simple question “Am I ready to do this every day of my life for 5, 10, 20 years?” If your answer is “yes” then you have found your true passion.
Expand on your passion.
Look at your passion from different angles in order to see what the real source of it is. I have been working as a market research practitioner all my life. I thought since I enjoyed writing insightful reports and recommending marketing strategies to my clients there lay my passion. Over the years I realized, I was not passionate about this specialty, it’s not something I would do for fun. I later realized my true passion; lay in entertainment, photography, video production and developing commercial properties.
According to a recent survey conducted by Intuit – the research found out that there were 15.4 million self employed persons operating in the U.S. at the end of 2008. Further, it estimates that of the 27.2 million businesses nationwide, approximately 78.5% of those were non-employers. The term “non-employer” refers to a business that has no employees or payrolls. Hobbypreneurs are often found in all three categories of businesses (self-employed, employers, and non-employers). Intuit concluded that the hobbypreneur trend will continue to grow as a result of many factors including the use of the Internet and social networking, a growing trend toward baby boomers turning to small businesses based on their hobbies and passions and a growing interest in unusual products and services.
The good thing about businesses founded on passion, is that they last and develop faster. Follow your dreams and realize your true potential. There is a lot of potential within us which is waiting to be tapped.
I leave you with one of my favourites quotes by Abraham Lincoln – ‘you can have anything you want, if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose’.
Salute!!!!
