How to find your real passion!

Part 2 of the series: How to start your own business

In our last article, we underlined why passion comes first and business second. Today we will cover basic principles to get you started. These are used by fascinating people I have met over time and myself too. However, this is not a one size fits all approach so there might be other solutions which work better for you, BUT: Understand principles, to create your own tactics. 

Sidenote: The ones so damn sure about their passion and vision, the ones that feel physical pain when they do not start solving the problem right now, go straight to www.pando-ventures.com or shoot a mail to [email protected]. - Together, we will accelerate your vision into one of tomorrow’s game-changer! 

For the other 95% of humans, we will start right where you are. This could be an inflection point in your life but not a point of no return. You do not have to quit your job, leave your family or alike. You will design a life that fits to you, and, at some point, you might realize you should quit your current occupation and start your own business. 

The kick-off

Therefor do not expect to be able developing your purpose and passion in a 20-minute brainstorming. These questions might help you to kick-off your journey and get a grip of the direction you will be heading: 

? What are you great at?

? What do your friends say you are great at?

? What do you do on a Saturday morning before everyone else is awake?

? Which global problem would you like to (see) solve(d)?

? What would you do If you knew you could never fail?

? What is the purpose of life?

? What makes a joyful and well-lived life? 

Start to chat with your friends and take your time answering the questions. 

Important: To stay on track and improve your effectiveness in finding yourself, go back to these questions on a frequent basis in the following weeks. They should act as a compass whenever you review your status and progress or you struggle to make a decision. 

Start journaling and reading

I recommend you to start journaling and put the answers on the first pages of your journal. Choose any format of journaling you like, digital, by hand, anything. The combination of reading for inspiration and journaling has helped me to calm myself, appreciate more, learn and from that identify actions I want to take and changes I need to make. You might choose to follow the famous structure of the “five minute journal” or come up with your own. The structure may alter over time as you proceed your journey. In addition, my personal suggestion is to create a morning routine for yourself and implement journaling and reading. (“Tools of Titans”, by Timothy Ferris is a great book, as the small bits of inspiration fit perfectly into a morning routine) 

The primary goal at this stage is to understand yourself better. In order to do so, start noting down activities and environments you feel engaged and energetic. These are moments you are in a state of flow – when time seems to fly by. 

Me, as an example, I actually focus most of my work time on those moments and often head home more energised than when I got to work. This task is not limited to your worklife, also focus on other parts you perceive as important such as family, leisure, health etc. Finding your passion and work you are really engaged in is done by transforming each part of your life to have them fit to one big puzzle. 

Apply these habits

Alongside this process I would like to give you a few habits I follow to stay on track prolonging towards my own niche. 

? First and foremost, be genuinely curios and have a taste for interesting problems. Do you get bored doing certain things and find them to be a waste of time? If the answer is yes, it is a good indication you are onto something.

? Secondly, develop a bias to try new stuff. Constantly taking action and inhaling the habit of trying out new things, ultimately evolving into a newer, better self.

? Along your journey you will encounter a lot of critiques as you break existing patterns. Keep evolving. You should constantly reframe proxies and problems.

? Fourth, get a mentor and join a community of like-minded. Benefit from their experiences. (At some point you will start advising yourself and enjoy giving back) 

When you do it right, a couple weeks in, you should begin to adapt a “Hell yeah or no” mindset when making a decision. Actually, this is a great principle for anyone to check whether one spends too much time on mediocre stuff which does not leave space for the real thing. I would even go so far and say the people telling everyone they are too busy and have tons of work are not actively taking control of their life. 

At this stage of your life aim for experiences of extreme performance and/or satisfaction. Do not settle for less until you find your niche. 

Your dreams coming true

Time warp…3+ weeks are magically passing…with that I mean actually do this for more than three weeks!

The following gives a prospect : 

After journaling and applying the habits, it is time to brainstorm and throw crazy ideas about your life design around. Set everything to zero, revisit your answers from the very beginning and try to design a lifestyle in terms of what you dream of having, being and doing once and on a routine basis. Then talk to your family and friends about it and get feedback. For each part of your life choose a smart (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time based) short-term goal and identify the next step you take today. 

Done that and eager for more or questions to get started? Shoot a mail to my account [email protected] and I will be happy to take it from there. 

From here on, we will go into more business specific insights in our newsletter. Sign up to get exclusive and first-hand insights for your journey - business or personal. Take action, now! - See more at: pando-ventures.com/blog