It is a great thing to have a large number of passions. Many people envy those who have talents in many different areas, but when you take a closer look at these individuals, you’ll realize that it sometimes makes it difficult for them to know what to pursue professionally.
It’s an amazing thing to have options, but how can you assess which of these might pay off the best? While you might not be able to look into the future to see which career path you should pursue, the following tips can help you make an educated decision.
The good news is that you can always make a career switch years into your professional life, which takes some of the pressure off of this decision.
Determine Which Passion Falls at the Top
When trying to determine your career based on your passions, you’ll have to do some deep soul searching to decide which of these passions falls at the top of your list.
You may want to reflect on time spent indulging in your passions and which hobbies you don’t mind devoting more time to. Let’s say that you enjoy playing the flute, excel at planning trips and like tutoring students. However, just because you can endure some of these hobbies does not mean you’ll want to do them for hours on end each day.
If you enjoy playing the flute but find it hard to motivate yourself to practice, then this might be a hint that you shouldn’t turn it into a career. But if you can plan trips without even realizing the hours that have passed, this might be an indicator that you could turn this into a full-time job.
Explore Possibilities With Internships or Part-Time Jobs
Prior to pursuing a passion as a career, it would be helpful to do some experimentation. If you have no prior work experience in an area, it can be difficult to determine whether or not you should pursue it as a career. Throughout your educational career, you can try finding some related internships or part-time work that would allow you to see what a job in this field might actually look like.
If you cannot find a job available in what you want to pursue, don’t be afraid to make opportunities for yourself. For instance, you can begin offering classes to others or selling your products online. This will develop entrepreneurial skills and help you determine whether you enjoy doing your hobby professionally or not.
Don’t Be Afraid to Pursue Multiple
Many young professionals are fooled into thinking that they have to choose just one career path and abandon their other passions. But this is not the case.
Although having one full-time job can provide you with certain benefits and insurance plans, you might find yourself enjoying your life more if you have a few different part-time jobs going for you.
Ultimately, you have to do what makes you happiest in your career, and if having various side hustles is what makes you feel most satisfied, then there is no shame in having different streams of income from those.