How I Balance My Passions and Build my Best Life

When I tell people that I am a studio art major I get one of a few responses. The first one starts like “What is that?” As many people fairly so, have no idea what that might look like as a structured degree. The other response is “Nice, that is so cool and different,” and the last often in a darker tone is: 

“What are you going to do with that?”  This is usually followed by a diatribe about how there are no jobs in the art world and that even if I were to get a job I would get paid pennies in comparison to how much my degree is worth. 

This school of thought was one that I internalized for many years concerned that maybe they were right. These limiting beliefs caused me to doubt my success and try and look for “alternative ways” I could incorporate my artistic being into my work. I felt like I had to choose to be an artist or join the “regular workforce” or whatever that meant for me. I was trying to find a balance between my passions and the life I desired to live. 

My first tip to those trying to define their career and find where the fit in their field is to take some time to reflect. When I was defining my life path I did one of two exercised to direct my course.

• I found my Ikigai. Ikigai is a Japanese term that means "a reason for being." With this exercise you look at: What you are good at, assess your needs, understand what you love, and get real with what you can get paid for. When you look at the intersections of these categories you can find clarity on your life path and where you think that you should be headed on. You can find my favorite template here (https://www.lavendaire.com/ikigai-career-sweet-spot/) 
• I wrote my life manifesto. To build your best life you should know what your best life looks like for you! In this exercise, you can take a journal, an empty google doc and just start writing about what your ideal life might look like. Some once told me that you do not need to know the exact job you want to do. You should know the type of work you want to do and how you’d like to affect others. 

When you have defined the life you want to live it becomes harder for others to discount your dreams. After all, why would you take advice about our career from a person not in your field? 

With this in mind before defining my life more clearly I found myself spending a lot of energy telling myself why my dreams would not work rather than using that same energy to create my dream life. 

Everything changed when I met designers and artists with stable careers and a fulfilling work-life balance. Seeing others be successful gave me the affirmation I needed to decide to put that same energy I had put into limiting my own success into discovering where I fit in within the world of design.

It is important to gather mentors, sponsors, and heroes. I could go on about the differences, though in this article I will give you these three tips : 

• Mentors are people that can give you advice on your career path and tell you the bumps that they encountered on their road to where they are. I would suggest finding mentors that are both already in a place you desire to be as well as mentors a few steps ahead of me. Furthermore, your mentor does not have to be in your field they just have to embody traits you find admirable. 
• Sponsors are people who will give you a chance and vouch for you or support what you're doing in some capacity. I remember when I was applying for internships in the past few years. I would “knock on doors” just hoping someone might answer and give me a chance. Having sponsors that will give you a chance and really help you get to the next stage in your self-development. 
• Heroes are people that you may not be able to ever talk to but you admire. Maybe you buy all of their books or you listen to their podcasts. Having heroes to model your behavior and path off of can help you, especially if you have found it difficult to find mentors or sponsors. Heroes can be found in any time period and any location. I personally have a ton of heroes ranging from Marcus Aurelias to Seth Godin. 

Defining your path and developing yourself is an iterative process that is complex and sometimes messy. I would encourage you to buckle in and fall in love with the process.