Find Your Ikigai or Calling - 13 Ways to Do What You Love for a Living

We believe that our work is where we express our passion and purpose. It is our creative outlet and, therefore, is who we are. Living a life with meaning and value can make you happier, more content, more resilient through hard times, and more likely to influence the lives of others.

By thinking creatively about how you can pursue your passion while still making a living, you’ll get closer to finding your calling without losing financial stability.

Whether you’re a new professional or an experienced businessperson, working in a job you don’t love can take a toll mentally. On the other hand, working in a profession you love can fill your life with joy and result in a willingness to work long weeks. Your dream job doesn’t have to remain a fantasy. Follow these 13 tips to find your ikigai and to do what you love for a living.

Make excuses to follow your dream

When you’re in a job you dislike, it’s easy to stay put and accept the steady stream of incoming paychecks. Leaving a company includes an element of risk, and it’s easy to compose a mental list of excuses why you shouldn’t pursue your dream. In the end, these reasons only lead to more frustration and dissatisfaction in your current job.

Instead of focusing on reasons why you shouldn’t leave, start finding excuses to pursue your dream career. You only live once and do not want to live in regret.If you have the burning desire, take the leap and see where it leads you.

Make time to make it happen

Once you’ve determined a passion you want to shape into a career, it is critical to take the steps necessary to turn that idea into a reality. Schedule time in our calendars to come up with our plan to get there. The plan must be written down, even if it’s broken out into tiny baby steps. 

Discover how to profit from your passion

They say if you are passionate about something, you will happily do it even without getting paid. While that is true, it will not be feasible and sustainable in the long run, as there are still bills to pay.

By thinking creatively about how you can pursue your passion while still making a living, you’ll get closer to reaching your dream job without losing financial stability. This would be a good time to think outside the box and consider where passions could be applied in ways that aren’t immediately obvious. The beginning will be the toughest part and you may not get the momentum for the first few months or even years. Find ways to capitalize on your passion on the weekend or after work, and this will allow you to pursue what you love while still having the financial support from your full-time career.

Be realistic

It’s OK to make a major career change, but you also need to be realistic about it. Our advice is not to assume doing a job you love is going to be a utopia.

Treat it like a job and work twice as hard as you ever have before. You’ll need to, but you also won’t mind because you really believe in what you’re doing. I’ve seen too many people branch out to pursue a passion without realizing they are now entrepreneurs and will be wearing several new hats that might not fit quite so well at first.

Surround yourself with supportive people

We know firsthand what it takes to make the switch to a true calling, having left her corporate job to become a wellness and nature related entrepreneur, we believe the key is surrounding yourself with like-minded and supportive people. The support of friends can make people feel less alone – and much braver.

Because your colleagues may feel just as trapped and scared, a dynamic can evolve where they can actually contribute to holding you back. Don’t let people, especially who you may respect or who you believe know what they are talking about, tell you it can’t be done. Often they will tell you it can’t be done, but it is only because they don’t have the courage to try it themselves.

Find mentors

When you’re trying to pursue a career you love, network and seek out mentors to help you in the process.

Identify people in your network and beyond who hold your dream job – or something close to it – and ask for an opportunity to speak to them. If you don’t know people well, initiating conversation via LinkedIn is a great way to start. Tell them you are making a career change and conducting research and due diligence to make a well-informed move.

Attend these events, if possible, or watch them online for some inspiration. Join activities or volunteer for a cause you believe in, as this will be an opportunity for you to meet the right people that may lead you to something else. You’d be surprised at how generous people are with their time, particularly when you are asking them to talk about themselves and how they got to where they are today.

Focus on yourself

As you attempt to follow your biggest career aspirations, there are going to be detractors who belittle your goals or voice their doubts. To be successful, you need to block out the negative noise and focus on your personal journey. 

You’re going to get a lot of people in your life who think it’s very cool and exciting. You’ll also have people who think it’s dumb and that you’re wasting your time. Watching these people make a lot of money in traditional careers while you scrape and suffer for the first couple years is going to be difficult. You have to have emotional toughness to deal with this.

By worrying about your path and happiness, rather than the success of other people in more traditional careers, you’ll be better off. Speak to your close supporters and think positive thoughts.

Don’t wait around

The longer you wait to make a career switch to something they love, the less likely they are to ever do it. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, then you should act quickly. Open the business you have been dreaming of, because as you get older, you are less likely to take risks.

Start slow

It’s smart to act quickly, but that doesn’t mean you need to jump into the deep end of the pool from the start. There’s no shame in getting your feet wet, building your skills and preparing for a deeper dive.

Pursue your dream on the side to start. This allows you to validate that you actually love it as much as you think you will, while also building up your network [and] portfolio before jumping into it full time.

Take classes

Before jumping in with both feet, those of you whoa re interested in switching your careers to something they love should take some classes or get some professional instruction on the industry. This helps you confirm that the career and industry suit you.

Invest in some coursework or professional training in that area in order to gauge your talent and endurance.

Adopt a new lifestyle

Your lifestyle and even the people you hang out with may change. You will learn along the way how to be independent. Get into the habit of relying on yourself wherever possible. Whilst it’s necessary to lean on friends and family for moral support, being able to cut out the middleman when it comes to more practical matters, such as building a website, is highly beneficial, both financially and in terms of personal development.

A minimalist lifestyle may hold the key to realizing your entrepreneurial dreams. learning to place less value on physical possessions and enjoying the simple things in life instead can help to gain sharp focus and mental clarity.

In business terms, minimalism translates into streamlined processes and optimal productivity. So it’s easy to see how a stripped-back lifestyle forms a solid foundation for entrepreneurship.

Find ways to validate your decision

Sometimes, coming to terms with the decision to start a new career path or business can be the hardest part, so it’s important to look for ways to stick by your choice.

When you first start your side business, you may have a hard time believing that you could do it. It helps act the part. Get a business cards made and write up a new resume or LinkedIn profile with your new title are ways to go about this.

Start telling everyone about what you do and believe it will ultimately help your business. You will attract the right people by talking about it. When you believe in what you do, others will start to as well.

Be patient and have true grit

A person with true grit follows through, works hard at their goals to achieve them, has a strong work ethic, and persevere to get the project ahead, even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success.

“You have to have a lot of passion for what you are doing. The reason is because it is so hard, and if you don’t, any rational person would give up. And you have to do it over a sustained period of time, so if you don’t really love it or don’t have fun doing it, you’re going to give up.”, said Steve Jobs.

Know you will make mistakes and have failure points along the way, but keep your head up, forgive yourself fast, and keep moving forward. Progress, not perfection.

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