Passion alone won’t bring you success in the field of your choice.
This post originally appeared onThe Simple Dollar.
In fact, it was interesting enough that it popped up all over the place on social media sites.
Because passion and persistencewhile most often associated with successare also essential ingredients of futility.
I’m that passionate about writing.
I also often lapse into this kind of state when spending time with my immediate family.
It just isn’t going to happen.
My first post-collegiate job tapped into my passion for computer programming.
Today, I can tap into my passion for writing as a way to earn an income.
Become an electrician or a plumber or a carpenter.
Add a teaching certification to your studies.
Add a second major so that you might see work in either field.Be diverse.
What about transferable skills?This websiteoffers a great list of these skills.
Those skills should be all over your resume because they’re valuable in almost every field.
Find ways to build these skills, particularly in ways that enable them to be added to your resume.
This is theexactcareer advice I’m giving to my own children already.
Figure out what you’re naturally good at.
Add some transferable skills to the mix.
What if you’re already in a tight career field?Get training in another field.
Take evening classes so that you’re able to move into a career path with more diverse options.
What kinds of projects come through your workplace?
Do any of them brush upon your areas of passion?
What about projects that other people and companies in your field are tackling?
Do they parallel your passionate areas?
You may be able to jump to another employer who is doing something interesting.
You may be able to convince your boss to let you work on a particular special project.
What if there’s nothing in the pipeline that even looks close to your areas of passion?
The possibilities there are limitless.
I’ll get lost in the pages of a book.
I’ll gather a bunch of like-minded friends and play a mind-crunching board game with them.
I’ll work on writing a novel.
I’ll work on an iOS app.
I’ll learn about something new or try out a new skill.
I’m not doing it for cash; I’m just doing it because Ilovethat particular activity.
That is akeypart of any great day.
Does this mean I’m magically going to make money from that board game I’m playing?
What it does mean is thatpassions are a part of a complete life.
The average American watchesfive hours of television per dayandmore than an hour of internet usage for pleasure per day.
That’s alotof time.
The point?Find time.Look at what you’re doing each day.
DoesSportscenterorThe Big Bang Theorytrump that?
Often, I’ll devote a healthy portion of my Saturdays and Sundays, too.
That experience makes my life better.
It is perhaps the single biggest key in my life to keeping melancholy at bay.
Share Your Passions
Now, here’s the kicker.
This is the big part that I felt like Mike Rowe was missing in his essay.
People love passionate people.
Few things make me happier than seeing someone else engaged in something that theyreallycare about in a positive way.
Iloveseeing someone engrossed in a book.
Ilovehearing from someone who is really excited about that book and wants to tell me about it.
In fact, in my eyes, that’s about thecoolestthing a person can do.
That positivity is infectious and enjoyable.It comes through.
For the most part, those people are earning money simply from sharing their passions.
They’re not usually experts in their field of passion.
Youtube is full of ambassadors for various passions.
So is the field of podcasting and the blogging area.
Some businesses hire people with passion for customer relation purposes.
How does this happen?It’s just people sharing their passions.
I shared it with a few friends.
Another friend of mine makes a living from his Youtube videos and a related podcast.
What does he talk about?
He talks about his own experiences playing games.
Hemakes a livingat this.
What do all of these stories have in common?
All of us spent our spare time on something we were passionate about.
We took a chunk of that spare time and channeled it toward sharing what we were passionate about.
People were attracted to that passion, which opened up opportunities for each of us.
But, in each case, we made it eventually.
The passion for the topic is what kept each of us involved.
Beyond that, most of my closest friends were discovered through my attempts to reach out regarding my passions.
My life is a better place for having found these people.
It shocks me that Mike Rowe overlooked this.
It certainlyseemslike he is passionate about trade craftsmen.
He’s not an expert at any particular tradefar from it.
Yet, he took that passion for trade craftsmanship and basically made a career out of it.
Whatever it is that you love, find a way to share it with others.
It’s a great way to build relationships.
It can often earn you some income.
Sometimes, it can even find you a job that lets you earn a living from that passion.
Final Thoughts
Whatever you are passionate about, find a place for it in your life.
Iwork to live, notlive to work.
That’s not really necessary, though.
So, why have this discussion about passion here?
For starters, you no longer feel an overwhelming stress in your life.
Back in the dark days, I felt absolutely tied to my job.
Every decision there felt stressful because Ineededthat job.
This caused me to be constantly stressed about my job for years.
The end result of that experience is that I came home feeling dead inside.
The stress just ate me up.
I was often happy in the evenings to just sit there staring at the television.
Because of that, I lost touch with many of the things that I was passionate about.
As our finances improved, I felt substantially less stressed.
Our debts weren’t closing around our necks.
We had an emergency fund.
This led to less stress at work.
That led to less stress and more energy at home.
Trent Hamm is a personal finance writer at TheSimpleDollar.com.
Image adapted fromAlena PopovaandAlchena(Shutterstock).
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