Should you follow your passion | Be Your Own Boss Series I 1/4

Follow your passion vs opportunity

Should you follow your passion | Be Your Own Boss Series I 1/4

Should you follow your passion or opportunities, once you’ve decided to take the freelance business route? Let’s find out!

Hello, I’m your host Kaycinho, I’m a digital alchemist, and this is episode number four of a module dedicated to the decision phase of starting your business. So if you haven’t seen the first four episodes, I invite you to check this playlist.

And by the way, this module is the first module of a course taking you from the burning desire to become your own boss to actually launching your business. So if you want access to the full course (videos will be added until the course is complete) by clicking here.

Now back to our topic, let’s talk about what you should go for, once you’ve decided to make this steep career change, from employee to freelance and/or business owner.

Follow your passion vs opportunity, that is the question.

Follow your passion vs opportunity: that is the question

Should you follow your passion ? Or opportunities?

Now you might say, Kay, what’s the difference? Can’t I do both? Well, it depends.
Let me share with you what helped me along my journey.

I find that real life examples are better than theories, so let’s dive into it:

Just imagine that your passion is making bubbles out of chewing-gums. All day, every day, 24/7.

Now don’t laugh, I’m pretty sure, someone somewhere is making money out of that! But I guess that person is so outstanding that he or she is the exception that makes it possible to turn into a business.

Now don’t forget: I believe anything is possible when you put your heart to it. But for the sake of this example, let’s imagine that your passion is juste making bubbles out of chewing gums, with no particular talent. Just making bubbles.

Now on the other hand, at the same time, you are really good at video storytelling, and even though no one cares about your bubbles, everybody likes the way you craft and edit your videos about the chewing gums bubbles. And at one point you are approached by a couple of companies that would like to hire you to create corporate videos for them.

Scenario 1

So, scenario 1: you could either go after your passion, making bubbles all day and be a starving artist, or go after the opportunity and make a living crafting outstanding videos.

Scenario 2

Or, scenario 2, just imagine that instead of having a passion for making bubbles, you had a passion for cinema. Then, in this case, you’d make a good living from your passion which would happen to also be a good opportunity.

See where I’m getting at?

In my opinion there is no right and wrong answer when it comes to follow your passion vs opportunity: just common sense.

Follow your passion and never work a day in your life… Really?

Follow your passion vs opportunity: never work another day in your life?

Of course, if you follow your passion and can make a living out of it, that’s great! Just imagine never having to work another day in your life … But is it always the case?

Once again it depends.

For example, there are some passions that I would love doing as a living for the rest of my life, but others that I just want to enjoy without having to deal with the concerns that are usually attached to running a business.

Going back to my previous example, if your passion is creating videos and you can make a great living by becoming a featured filmmaker, that would be awesome.

But you have to bear in mind that creating a video for yourself or for an assignment can end up being two completely different stories!

Personally, I love to think that I work in a field that I am truly passionate about. Because I know the ins and outs and can cope with dealing with assignments, deadlines and all the requirements needed to make it a real business, while still enjoying the process.

But on the other hand, I have other passions like hiking, which is completely new for me, and camping in the nature, and when I do that, I just want to do it for the love of enjoying it.

I’m not sure I’d still enjoy it the same way if it became a job.

I think having that kind of balance helps me separate areas of my life and have a safe place when I need to regenerate my creative juices.

Follow your passion vs opportunity: don’t be a starving artist

Follow your passion vs opportunity: don't be a starving artist

So to sum it up, whatever you decide, I would definitely keep one of my passions for pure enjoyment moments, WITHOUT the business requirements attached to it.

Now when it comes to business, in my opinion the best scenario is when you love what you do and can make a living out of it.

Because as Steeve Jobs said, if you don’t love what you do, what will you do when hard times come?

But on the other hand, if what you love doing can only promise you a starving artist future, then I’d definitely go after the market opportunities that match my skillset.

Follow your passion vs opportunity: be smart

Follow your passion vs opportunity: be smart

So, going back to my chewing gum example, let’s say you realize that making bubbles all day isn’t gonna cut it for the time being and you seize the corporate videos opportunity.

You get good at it and start making really good money out of it. So you are now in a position to hire talented employees and you spend less time working on corporate videos while making more money.

Congratulations: you have a business!

Now think about it, with the money (which by definition can be infinite, depending on your skillset and talent), what you really now have in your hands is TIME, which by definition is not infinite (even if you were a billionaire).

And with time, you could now either:

1) spend more time making bubbles out of chewing gums and thus enjoying your passion 2) create something that would change the way people make bubbles out of chewing gums and make another business out of it if you really wish to make a business out of your passion.

Do you see where I’m getting at?

Follow your passion vs opportunity: it really depends on your situation

Follow your passion vs opportunity: it depends on the situation

SO, I hope that this video helped you nail down a strategy for your situation regarding whether you should go after your passion or an opportunity or maybe both.

Let me know in the comments of this video if you are struggling with deciding what to center your business around, or maybe you have tips about the decision-making process that you’d like to share.

Because let’s face it, there are so many things to do in a day that if you don’t do it now you’ll probably forget.

Now if you want to brand, market and grow your business it in the Digital Age make sure you subscribe to my email newsletter so that you never miss your share of digital alchemy and tips, tools, services and case studies that can help you grow your business online

So, that’s it for today, and in the next episode in these series we’ll discuss about whether you should embrace freelancing as an architect or as a builder.

So I hope to see you around here or on the Youtube channel, and in the meantime, don’t forget to invest in your success!

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