As a serial creator and business owner, I’ve spent the past (almost) 15 years of my life choosing certain paths and then deciding to change direction. Sure, I’ve probably missed out on certain opportunities in doing so, but I’ve also gained new ones that I never thought possible.
Everybody talks about “loving what you do”, and you’ve probably seen those “Do what you love, love what you do” posters and quotes plastered all over the internet by now. While that’s a great message, your life has to be more than that. There has to be a drive and a passion to fuel your self. Without that, the exploration and challenges of life can fall behind.
What is the difference between LOVE and PASSION?
Loving what you do is easy. It can come in all forms and jump start your motivation to get moving towards your goals. I love practicing hand lettering in my spare time and want to become better at it, but do I have the PASSION to push all other things aside and set my path on creating a career out of it? Personally, I don’t.
Some may love working in a corporate office because of the people and stress free work ethic that comes along with it… but many don’t have the passion to put their absolute all into the job or wake up striving to complete new work tasks every morning.
I want you to think more about what you’re passionate about and less about what you love.
So many people choose one path and stick with it. They could spend their entire adult life working at the same job, experiencing the same interactions, and be totally 100% happy. But I want more from you, I want more from myself, and I want you to want more for yourself. How boring might it be to look back on life in another 40 years and regret not taking chances or seeing where that creative idea could have gone?
Changing your path
You’ll know when it’s time to change direction as soon as you feel yourself falling out of passion with your current route. Or perhaps you’ve never felt that drive to begin with!
Small changes can make just as much of an impact as larger ones. Shifting your area of focus in a career or learning how to do things differently can have huge benefits to your own personal goals as well as your mental health.
For example, I used to thoroughly enjoy making YouTube videos sharing blog tips and tricks. For a long time, I was keen on getting this information out to you guys and helping you create better blogs. When more and more individuals started doing the exact same thing, the task became daunting for me to come up with original content and the thrill was somewhat lost. While I still love sharing my own tips with you in more creative ways, my focus had to change because the initial passion was lost.
My life goals changed over the years from creating income for the sake of creating income, to building a life that was as flexible as I wanted and didn’t require me to put in tons of work that I didn’t fully enjoy. In the grand scheme of things, the latter seemed more important to me, and because of that passion to change paths, I’ve been able to make a life “doing what I want” while still living comfortably.
If you’ve been feeling like a change is in your future, ask yourself these questions. Heck, even write them down as a physical form of inspiration to hold yourself accountable!
- What is it that you want to change?
- What are you not passionate about in your current situation?
- How could your life or mental health improve with these changes?
- What do you have to do to achieve these goals?
- What are some small steps you could take to start getting on the right path?
- How long are you giving yourself to change your path?
- What are you worried about?
- How can you lessen these worries or what solutions can you think of to combat these worries?
Remember that it’s okay to want to do something different with your life. You are not stuck in any position and the life choices you make are entirely your own. Live happily, and live passionately without regrets!
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Thank you for this very inspiring post. Currently i’m in that place of figuring out my path and it’s quite scary…
Don’t be scared 🙂 think of it as an adventure. You have your entire life to create paths and don’t have to stick to just a single one for the rest of it 😉 xo
Great post miss!! x
Glad you liked it! xo
Wow, thank you for this post. I have literally read this just after having a major cry about being super confused about what I should do. I feel like I’m creative, but not just passionate about one, single thing. Changing my ideas and plans around so much made me feel like I lack direction and consistency in my life, and it makes me sad. But it’s good to read that others feel the same and find ways to turn it into something positive <3
It’s okay to be confused :). Sometimes trial and error helps you to find that one thing that you are passionate about… it will come! xox
Fresh out of school- this is the kind of post I needed to read today. Thank you for the guidance and little boost of inspiration!
I’m glad you liked it! good luck with your post-school goals 😉
We are so lucky to live in a time where you are able to change your career path along the way, though it is very easy to forget and panic.
I would really love to be able to channel more energy into my illustrations and creative endeavours so I’m making it a point to work on it a little bit every day, whether it’s a sketch or a post or a journal entry. I’ve been documenting some of this process on my blog, which I really love doing. I miss just doing things because I really enjoy them, not because I feel like I need to. It’s a fine line to walk. But thank you for this entry, it makes me want to work on my own creative passions more! I did love your Youtube videos, i think they are wonderful <3 I wouldn't mind if you created more!
http://www.rosegoldfox.com/
“You are not stuck in any position and the life choices you make are entirely your own.” — This really resonated. Thank you!
http://www.drawntodiy.com
I am currently going through major changes in my life. There are times that I get so scared of what the future holds, but I’m quite sure that I will forever regret it if I will not take the risk. Thank you for writing this. This is very encouraging!