I have learned that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
- Henry David Thoreau
Have you always been interested in photography or fashion designing or music? But for some reason you graduated with some other degree and started working for the money and not the work itself? At first the money seemed worth it and you somehow managed to squeeze in your passion too as a hobby and you were pretty happy. But then what happened? Slowly your mainstream job began taking up too much of your time. And with a heavy heart you gradually gave up your hobby.
But now after months\ years of dragging the same story you find the money is just not worth it. You don’t enjoy your job, your performance is lagging, you are tensed and stressed and you begin to get frustrated as you are simply not content with your life. You question yourself as to why you aren’t happy! Well the answer is quite obvious, you aren’t happy because you are not doing what makes you happy!
There are many stories of very famous people who left their well paying jobs to follow their heart and their passion.
- Nagesh Kukunoor a chemical engineer gave up a career as an environment consultant in Georgia to become a film director in India, which was always his dream.
- Shankar Mahadevan used to work as a software engineer on Oracle Version Six before he gave it up and began a career full time as a singer\composer.
- Chetan Bhagat a mechanical engineer with masters from IIM Ahmadabad is today a renowned author of four best sellers.
- Boman Irani did a diploma in polytechnic and used to work at Taj Palace as a room service staff. Even as he worked to help his mother at their family bakery, he continued his passion for photography and at the age of 25-26 was also pursuing theater simultaneously. By the time he entered the film industry in 2000 he was 44 but he never gave up his passion for acting. Look at what a success he is today!
Aside from these big names we have also heard of examples of people around us who started off working as something else and then changed course to something that was more meaningful to them personally.
If you find you are in a similar situation where you are just not interested in what you are currently pursuing, you probably need to rethink your priorities and give your own dreams a chance. These above mentioned successes are definitely inspirations but that doesn’t mean you too should melodramatically leave everything to pursue your passion. We need to be rational too; since it’s your livelihood at stake.
We will try to throw some light into how to go about it:
Identify your passion
First and foremost it is of utmost importance to find out what it is that you are the most interested in. What task or interest calls out to you? We all have multiple interests but find what you enjoy doing, and have enjoyed doing for a long time but have never actually pursued it. What is it that you feel you were born to do!? It could be anything - dancing, writing, music, directing, acting, fashion designing, drawing, etc. You need to lay a finger on what it is.
Are you good at it?
This is the next most important question that you need to answer. Other than simply having a keen interest in something, you also need to know if you are good at it. That does not mean you have to be the best or the absolutely outstanding but you shouldn’t be horrible at it either. Then there is no point in pursuing something you aren’t good at, is there? Your passion should easily come to you without much efforts or hard work. Pursuing it should make you feel alive! And that vigor should be seen in the outcome.
Be practical and do your ground work
Even if you narrow down to that one option it doesn’t end there. You cannot simply leave your current job and income to suddenly follow your heart when you know not head or tail of what you are to do. You need to completely think it through. First start with a research of what it exactly is that you want to do with your passion. For e.g. you might have found that you want to pursue photography but what exactly in photography interests you, like wildlife, fashion, etc? Or if you want to dance where do you believe you can perform? Do you want to join any particular group?
Research and plan
Chalk out a plan for what you need to do and how. If you are interested in photography you cannot simply buy a camera and start shooting, you need to find out how you will go about learning the techniques, etc. involved. So you need to know if you can start working under someone, or you need to do some course in that field or you need any specific kind of experience, etc. Accordingly you need to decide on how much time and money you may need to spend at first. Talk to people you may know in the field you want to pursue. Keep a couple of options open so that you have different ways in which you can do what pleases you.
Start slow
After the planning and chalking out even if you find that you have all you need and that you are ready, don’t jump in head first. Take it slow. Don’t just leave your current job in all glory only to find that you are going nowhere with your other interest. Things don’t always go as per plan so it is better to have a part time job or some source of steady income as you try your hand in this new field. Of course if you have some kind of back up and are absolutely confident in what you plan to do, go ahead, don’t let anything hold you back!
Moderate expectations
You will not become a master or a pro over night. Do not forget the reason why you started this new field, it was because you wanted to do what makes you happy. Do not somewhere down the lane forget that fact as you keep high expectations of returns. Do it because you enjoy it and have an amazing passion for it. Give your 100 % at every opportunity and leave the rest. Dissapointment at the work will come and go. Deal effectively with it and keep going. If money is your only objective, there is no room for passion in your life.
Success is within not outside
At the end of the day the objective is to wake up every morning with a zest and energy to do what you love and sleep in peace every night, contented with your work. Success is not calculated on the basis of how much money you have or how high you have climbed, but how much you are putting in your job and how much satisfaction it gives you in return. True, you need to be practical at the same time and fend for yourself but if you pursue something with great passion and work hard to learn and excel, there is very little that can keep you away from success!
Stop cribbing and getting frustrated if your current job isn’t what you really wanted to do with your life. Life does not give us too many opportunities. We need to find some for ourselves. So find your passion and live up to your dreams. The objective is to live, not merely exist!
