So in this paradigm, anything and everything in your environment affects you, some positively and some negatively. He talked about ways to reduce the negative energies and pull in more of the positive energies.

Immediately I was struck by how important it is to surround ourselves with the people, places, and things that make us feel good, and to try to remove as much of the people, places, and things that negatively impact our energy or cause us to feel bad.

For example, if you’re going to a job you hate, every single day, you’ll likely notice your energy is drained. You may even dread going to work. On the other hand, if you’re going to a job you love with coworkers you adore, you’re going to get a lot of joy and positive energy out of going to work every day. It will be an uplifting experience.

Or if you have a stagnant relationship or you’re having difficulties in your relationship you’ll start to notice that you dread coming home to your partner. That’s a drain. But if you have a super loving relationship with a super compatible person, you’ll derive great positive energy from interacting with them.

If you make a list of all the people, places, and things that impact you and then you make a quick evaluation about their effect on you, you’ll get a good idea of what’s bringing you down and what’s raising your vibration. Then you can take conscious action to improve a negative relationship or situation, or eliminate it if it can’t be altered.

When I looked at my connections, they were 90% positive. There are very few things bringing me down in life right now. Literally the biggest “bummers” in my life right now are a malfunctioning dishwasher, carpets I can’t seem to get clean, and a housekeeper that causes me more aggravation than I’d like. In the near future, I will take the steps necessary to correct these situations so I can move throughout my day without constant aggravation.

But the other aspect of the Love principle is more proactive. Who or what would you like to connect with more? Is there anything missing from your life that you’d like to add that would uplift you or raise your vibration even higher? At the workshop, we made a list of what else we’d like to attract into our lives that we know would make us feel more loved and loving.

For me, it was two things. I’d like to attract a loving relationship with a partner. It’s been 2 years since I separated from Steve and I’ve been really enjoying being single. It’s filled me with a sense of independence and freedom I can’t ever remember having. But now I feel ready to enter into a new relationship with a loving partner. So I wrote that down as something I’m ready to attract.

The second thing I wanted to attract was more involvement in providing emergency services during disasters. If you’ve been connecting with me on Facebook or through the forums, you’ll know I have a passion for emergency preparedness and being able to assist my community or individuals in times of disaster.

And so it was, on Day 2 of CGW I could not attend because I was signed up for the Red Cross Class: Chapter Response to Disaster, which is the prerequisite course I needed to take in order to be certified to respond to a disaster on behalf of the Red Cross. When I got to the classroom there were 12 other students there ready to take the course. The instructor had us introduce ourselves, our background, and share why we were taking the class. It was at this time I completely internalized and understood the power of the principle of Love.

Every single person in that room was there because they wanted to help their fellow man. Every person in there had a day job or was retired, and simply wanted to give back to their community. They were compassionate, caring, and selfless. I had never been in a room full of people so dedicated to helping others, for free, on their own time. It literally sent a wave of love chills up my back to be surrounded by others all committed to the same thing I was.

So that’s when I realized how much I’d been missing this vital connection in my life. While I sat there chatting with everyone, I realized they just got me. They completely understood my love and desire to help others, to provide comfort and relief to those suffering. I didn’t have to explain it or justify it. We were all on the same wavelength. It felt fantastic.

I felt something similar when I attended the I Can Do It conference put on by Hay House. It was like finding my tribe. I didn’t have to explain about being intuitive. Everyone there was completely comfortable with the concept. There was no explaining or defending or shying away from discussing things like chakras, astral projection, and the paranormal.

Do you surround yourself with people who plug into the aspects of your life that you care about the most? Do you have people around you who mirror, reflect, or share the passions you also have? What does it feel like?

Or are you surrounded by people who just don’t get you? How does THAT feel?

If you love the wilderness, do you go hiking with others who share that love? If you love cooking, do you surround yourself with others who love to cook and co-create something together? If you love skiing, do you belong to a ski club or group? Do you love a certain tv show? Do you have someone you can talk to after the show airs, someone who shares your passion and can talk about the characters and plot for days without getting bored?

When you bring loving connections into your life, it just makes your life better. You’re more fulfilled, you’re understood, and you get to share your passion with others who get it.

I hope you have a ton of these passionate connections. If you don’t, I urge you to try to bring them into your life. Make a list of your passions, hobbies, desires. Then figure out where or how you could connect with others who share your hobbies. You’ll be amazed at the joy it brings you, and how much more fun your life becomes.

So I asked her if she knew how to quilt. She brightened up and said, “Oh yes, I’ve been quilting for years. Practically my whole life. I’ve made more quilts than I can count.” Interesting. So I went back to the guides and asked them what quilting had to do with her career path. Was she supposed to make and sell quilts or what?

The guides conveyed that just making quilts and selling them wouldn’t be lucrative enough for her. They downloaded an entire business plan to me. This is what they shared with me and what I then shared with her: “They’re showing me you creating an online magazine related to quilting, sewing, and other home economic tips. They’re also showing me you creating an instructional video related to quilting, and information products also. They’re showing me you selling patterns and ideas for patterns, creating an online discussion community, and also offering a ‘quilts for sale’ kind of board like an ebay. They’re telling me also that you used to do some writing and that an online magazine would actually be easy for you to operate. Is that right?”

She was speechless for a moment then said, “Yes, I took a lot of writing classes in college because at one point I wanted to be a journalist but abandoned that idea in favor of something more stable in the tech industry. I never really thought to do anything professional with it, but I’ve dabbled here and there with writing articles, and I’ve also tried blogging about my personal life but it didn’t work out for me as I had no traffic.”

Then I asked her if the quilting business idea resonated with her, and she said, “Absolutely it does. I never would have thought I could make money with a hobby. I thought the only way to make money quilting was to sell quilts and I don’t have the time and energy to do that like I used to. But teaching others and providing a learning forum, and writing about it would be so awesome. And now that you’re telling me this, it just makes so much sense. Plus I could work from home which I would really love to do!”

We spent the next 15 minutes making a solid business plan for her. She realized she could start almost immediately. She added plans to let other people contribute to the magazine so she wouldn’t have to write all the articles herself, she was going to add an expert panel to do some Q&A, and get an outline going of what departments she wanted her magazine to have. She was elated. She was stoked. She had a plan that resonated with her and would make her happy. And her guides explained how she would start this on the side while she still had her current tech job, and once it could replace her income, she would quit her tech job.

And this happens ALL THE TIME in the readings I do with clients. People don’t always realize or see that the things they do for fun – their hobbies and passions – can be turned into a new career. This woman was in her late 50′s. She’d been quilting and sewing for decades. She had no idea that her knowledge and experience would be of significant value to others who were just starting out. She didn’t realize she was an expert.

What skills, knowledge, or experience do you currently have that make you an expert to those just starting out? What’s under your belt?

When I first started my spirituality blog in 2006 I thought, “Who is going to want to hear about my paranormal, astral, and lucid dreaming experiences? Who would want to hear what I have to say about compassion and love? How do my intuitive experiences help anyone?” Five years later, my blog gets more than 100,000 visitors per month and I earn a solid living providing intuitive counseling and spiritual guidance to others. All I’m doing is sharing what I know with those who are seeking.

If you’re in a career that isn’t making you happy anymore, think about the skills, hobbies, and passions you have. Think about what you know that you could pass on to others who are just starting out. Is it of value? Could you construct a business around it that would offer something of value to others?

Think outside the box. Be creative. Don’t discount anything. Are you really good at hiking? Who might want to learn from you? Are you really good at giving advice to your friends? Who might benefit from your wisdom? Are you great at self-defense? Who could you teach? Are you awesome at attracting women? Might there be people out there who would kill or die for your knowledge? Are you extremely healthy and fit? Could you teach others how you got that way?

You’re an expert. At something. And there are people coming along the path behind you who would happily pay you to teach them what you know. It can shave years off their learning curve. Start thinking about who you are and how you got there, and see if you can find a way to help others find what you’ve already found.

Hear me now. You did not incarnate to spend any portion of your day doing anything that makes you feel hate, anger, anxiety, dread, or resignation.

You do not have to work for money. You can work for love.

You do not have to work to pay the bills, take care of your family, or have nice things. You’ve been conditioned to think you do.

So why did you incarnate then? And how are you supposed to feed yourself, take care of your family, and have nice things?

The answer is super simple. Do what you love in a manner that helps other people achieve their goals or solves a problem for them, and you will receive value in return. This is the path to happiness.

Instead I encounter people in my readings who do what they’re good at so they can earn money so they can do what they love on evenings and weekends. This path leads to dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and dread. It sometimes leads to anxiety, anger, and health problems.

If you are just reaching adulthood and are trying to figure out what to do to earn money, I implore you to instead find a way to do what you love in a manner that provides value to others.

If are already in a job you hate, I implore you to rediscover or admit to yourself what you’d really love to do with your day, with your time, and find a way to transition to it in a manner that provides value to others.

It’s not enough to just do what you love. You must find a way to turn what you love into something that is of value to others. They will then pay you to do what you love. Doesn’t that sound better than doing something you hate so you can pay the bills so you can have fun on weekends?

You don’t have to quit your job tomorrow, but you do need to get in touch with your passion today. If it’s been so long that you don’t know your passion, or if you want some help figuring it out, read my article, How to Find and Ignite Your Passion.

If anything on your life path is causing you distress or unhappiness, you must recognize it and find the path that leads to happiness. It is always there, but you must be willing to look for it and walk the path when you find it.

How long will you trade your soul for a paycheck? Until you retire? You deserve better. Your soul deserves better. Don’t leave your soul at home when you go to work. Instead, let your soul sing. Share your love and passion with the world. It’s better for everyone.

Are you living congruently with your purpose, or are you going out every day to a job that just pays the bills but isn’t aligned with your purpose or passion?

Do you even remember your song?

When we are children, we are often asked what we want to be when we grow up. Think back to all of the times in your life you were asked that question or even thought about it yourself. Did you follow your dream? Did you get derailed? What happened?

The number one question clients ask me during readings is about making a career transition to something more aligned with their purpose, passion, and path. Sometimes they know exactly what they want to do and sometimes they don’t. When I tune in to their guides, I hear their “song” and I know where the intersection of their purpose, path and passion lies.

For example, I recall a reading for a client who was a computer engineer. I knew he was not a vibrational match for that career, so when I tuned in I was shown an image of my client leading adventure tours in strange, exotic locations. It was a far cry from his current job, but when I told him what I saw he gasped and told me that’s what he’d always wanted to do. So I asked him why he hadn’t followed that path and instead became a computer engineer. He told me that his parents pushed him in that direction so he’d have stability and a good salary. His song died in college when he gave up his passion and chose the path his parents suggested for him.

Is this similar to your story? Did you give up your passion for security? When did you stop singing your song?

I spent the rest of the reading helping him map out a path that would lead to his passion. By the time we were done, he had an action plan he was comfortable with that wouldn’t cause him financial hardship, but would eventually lead to the career of his dreams in a relatively short while.

Tune in to your song. What are the words? What does your heart sing about? Personal power? Compassion? Leadership? Communication? Teaching? Helping? Experiencing? Exploring? Don’t tune out your song. Listen to the words. They contain clues to your passion.

It’s never too late to sing your song. It’s never too late to follow your passion. It’s never too late to take a leap of faith and go after a dream. What is the song in your heart? Sing it!

Or as Dr. Wayne Dyer says, “Don’t die with your music still in you.”

Our first team was named the Cowboys and we represented the West Valley. We were up against the East Valley, North Valley, and a few other teams in the area. We were a great team and were doing quite well … that is, until we played North Valley.

North Valley was another story entirely. The girls on the North Valley team were from an economically depressed area of the valley. They were amazing athletes – tall, fast, and fierce in their dedication to the game. When we played North Valley we got trounced every time. I don’t just mean trounced like a score of 50-42. I mean buried alive. Usually we were lucky to score 1 or 2 baskets against these girls while they would easily rack up 60-80 points. It was pretty demoralizing to play a game whose score was often 80 to 2. Our coaches, including my father, tried to negotiate with the North Valley coach to get his girls to ease up a little so we could all enjoy the game, but no quarter were we given. There was no “easy” to be had. We were told that many of these girls’ only chance to go to college would be to win a sports scholarship, and their dedication really showed. They were in it to win it. We started to really dread our games against North Valley because we knew we were in for a beating. But we persevered.

I remember one particularly brutal season where the North Valley players decided that it wasn’t enough to win the games, they had to also make us wish we had never showed up to play at all. They played very aggressively and often our players were intentionally injured during fouls. I remember one game we had to forfeit because we ran out of able-bodied players! Luckily that year our coach was a paramedic so he used to bring his little black bag and fix us up as we got sidelined with injuries. A plea was once again made to the North Valley coaches to ease up, but again we were told if we couldn’t take the heat to get out of the kitchen.

For five years we played North Valley with no hope of winning. Not once did we ever come close to winning or even making it challenging for them. It was like a mouse trying to defeat a lion. Then we all went to high school.

My sister and I immediately joined the high school basketball team. My father was invited to act as our assistant coach. Life was good until we had to play Kennedy High School, which is where all the North Valley girls ended up. It was like Wolf 359 (or for you non-trekkies, it was a slaughterhouse). Now our rivals were taller, fiercer, and even more athletically gifted. Kennedy was undefeated and had a history of going to the city championships. We had no hope of ever beating these girls or this team. Or did we?

One day our coaches took us aside and gave us the pep talk of all pep talks.

“Do you girls want to beat Kennedy?”

“Uh yeah, sure… maybe. That would be nice,” we replied half-heartedly.

Coach said, “No, I mean it. Do you want to beat them? Yes or no?”

“Yes, we want to beat them. But it’s been years. How are we supposed to do that?”

“First you’re going to change your attitude. You go in with a defeated attitude and you’ve lost before you ever get out onto the court. Second, we’re going to change up how we run our plays, and we’re going to play to our strengths, keep them totally off guard about what we’re doing. We’ve been studying Kennedy and we’ve found some areas where they’re weak and we’re going to exploit those weaknesses. Third, I’m going to ask each of you to work harder than you ever have on your basic skills like shooting, dribbling, and passing. And fourth, you’re going to spend an hour every day improving your fitness, endurance, and strength. I’ll tell you this right now, you CAN beat Kennedy. But you have to want to win and you have to believe you can.” We were in!

For the next several weeks we were totally focused on our goal of beating Kennedy. We worked harder on our skills, stayed later at practice, took it upon ourselves to practice on the weekend when we could have been out partying, and went jogging voluntarily to build our endurance. We designed all new plays. We worked harder at rebounding and assisting. We were dedicated to our goal. We started to imagine what it would be like to actually beat our biggest rivals. And we started to believe it was possible.

When the day of the big game arrived we walked onto their court not with an air of expected defeat, but with intensity, focus, and concentration. We decided that every time we had the ball we were going to score a basket. And every time they had the ball we were going to work our hardest to make sure they never made their shots. We were going to stay present and in the moment and make every second count.

Basketball games start with a jump ball to determine who gets possession. I stood face to face with my biggest rival and decided I was going to jump higher and stronger than I ever had in my life. When the ball went up, I leaped into the air like Superman and tipped the ball to my point guard. I don’t think we had ever won a jump ball in any of our games. We were off to a great start.

We played exactly like we practiced. We snapped the ball super fast, passing at least 6 times before even attempting to take our shots. We positioned ourselves strongly under the basket and pushed out our opponents with our butts in order to get the rebounds (totally legal as long as you don’t use your hands.) We cherry-picked the ball down the court to our point guard who positioned herself under the basket early in case we got the opponent’s rebounds. Our fast breaks were lightning fast and well coordinated. We ran our new plays, used double screens when we could, double-teamed their ball handlers, kept our hands in their faces to make it harder for them to shoot the ball, and moved powerfully under the basket. Our shooting averages were up, our foul shots were going in, our passes were connecting where they needed to be. We kept the pace fast, never letting up, which we could do now that we were all in better shape physically.

The game turned super intense. Kennedy’s coach actually got up out of his chair and started yelling at his players to get on the ball. Time outs were called as the other team tried to adjust to our new strategy. But it was too late for them. They didn’t know what we were going to do and didn’t have a defense ready. They started playing more fiercely and aggressively, and we endured the pain but didn’t crumble or go down.

I have never felt more in control, confident, and focused as I did on the court that day. We could taste victory. Throughout the entire game there was never more than a 4 point spread. As we neared the end of the game, we were tied. When the buzzer rang, we were tied. We went into overtime, tired, but still completely driven. The crowd in the bleachers was going wild. They had never seen the Kennedy girls so challenged. We played through overtime and were tied again when the buzzer rang. So close! We went into sudden death. Whichever team made the next shot would win.

And so it was, in the final moments, as we pushed and pressed and passed and took shots that… Kennedy made the game winning basket.

But something very strange and unexpected happened when the final shot was made. Our team started hooping, hollering, and high-fiving like we’d just won the NBA Championship game, and the Kennedy girls looked… defeated. That’s right. We didn’t win the game that day, we won something more important. We won a moral victory. We proved to them that we could take them, that we were a real threat, and that they couldn’t walk all over us anymore. More importantly, we proved to ourselves that with determination, teamwork, concentration, and focus, we could achieve anything! What we used to think was impossible was now totally possible. We walked off the court that day as winners in heart, body, mind, and soul. The Kennedy coach shook my father’s hand and said, “I’m not going to wish you guys luck anymore. You don’t need it.” We sang “We are the Champions” on the bus all the way home. And we celebrated our victory long into the night.

You see, in life it’s not about the score. It’s about how you play the game. Are you giving it your best effort? Are you improving your ability to succeed? Are you challenging your limiting beliefs? Are you adopting beliefs that serve you better? Are you improving your “game?”

If you want it, you can have it. Believe it is possible, adopt a positive attitude, set your goal, take action, persevere, and don’t give up until you achieve victory.

So… what do you want? And how are you willing to improve your skills to get it?

During my sessions with clients, I am often able to tune in to their passions.  There’s this big aha moment when I dig up something they long thought buried, and then outline the steps they can take to leave their old passionless job and step into a career that excites them. 

Recently I did a reading for a woman who was at the top of her game career-wise, making a mid-six-figure income, success all around her.  But she wasn’t fulfilled, so she was about to quit her job and go into consulting in the same industry she’d been working for for years in an attempt to at least have some freedom.  She wanted advice on her new chosen career path. 

But her guides wouldn’t go there with her because she was not on the path with passion.  Instead her guides showed me a scenario where she started a foundation to help impoverished women and children in third world countries, which was not even close to what she was doing today. 

I reminded her that before she went to college this is what she wanted to do.  She agreed that was accurate; that that had been her dream long ago but she didn’t think she could accomplish it so she went the corporate/law route, and rose through the ranks in a very large, well known company.  Her hope was that she could convince this company to be more charitable, but it never happened as she got lost in the corporate shuffle of earning profits or else. 

When I tapped her back in to her compassion and outlined the steps she would take to make this foundation a reality she was really quiet for a moment and then got really emotional and said, “I would love to do that more than anything on the planet.  Thank you for reminding me who I really am.  It makes so much sense now.”  On the bright side, her power, contacts, and connections in the corporate world are now going to assist her with manifesting her dream.

So what are you passionate about?  Do you remember?  If you’re not sure, here are some steps you can take to tap into the passion you buried long ago or are putting to the side until “later.”  Get some paper or open a Word document.  You’ll want to keep this handy for “later.”

What makes you giddy with excitement?
Think about all the things in your life you love to do.  Whether it’s skiing, reading, hiking, socializing, going to parties, making videos to upload to YouTube, playing poker, or just meditating quietly for hours.  Just make a list of all the things you would feel eager to do if someone told you to take the day off from work and just do what you wanted to do.  “Hey so-and-so, why don’t we blow off work today and go ________?”  Fill that blank in with a list of things you’d rather do than work.

It doesn’t matter if it seems wasteful on the surface.  One of my friends goes nuts over video and computer games.  He’s a gamer, pure and simple.  There’s nothing he’d rather do.  He went to college to learn computer science because it seemed like a likely choice for himself career-wise, but he really wasn’t into it.  Now he works as a game tester and gets to play games all day.  He rose through the ranks quickly and is well-liked because he is excellent at providing constructive feedback that will make the games better.  If he keeps at it, he could potentially create his own game one day or be on the design team.

Another friend of mine loves movies and television.  He spends a lot of time watching both and getting excited about upcoming new shows and movies.  He’d be excellent at creating a new television series, which is something he is now looking into.  But before I suggested it he thought it impossible.  His day job is at an accounting firm where he daydreams and imagines new characters, stories and shows in his head.  The talent and passion are there, he just has to take action on them.

Once you’ve got your list of the things that excite you, really consider how you might segue into a career that allows you to do that all the time!  Think hard and be creative.  You don’t have to quit your job today, just start thinking about ways that other people are earning money doing what you love, and see if you can find your way into that same arena.

What breaks your heart?
When you look around the world today do you see people suffering?  Do you see things that are wrong with the world that you’d love to see fixed?  What breaks your heart?  Starving children?  Abused children?  World politics?  The homeless?  War and conflict?  What breaks your heart is often a clue to passion.  If you were ignited and believed yourself capable of making a difference in the world, where would you turn your attention?  What problem would you tackle?  No one is saying you have to end world hunger overnight.  Just tap into your heart break and see what’s there.

Make a list right now of all the things that really break your heart.  I’m talking about the things that really tug at your heart strings or ignite you with passion and zeal.  Once you’ve got your list, see if you can figure out a way to take action on your heart break.  This doesn’t have to be something you do for a living, but maybe it’s something you start doing on the side, which will eventually lead to expertise, progress, and job offers.  There are people out there who earn a living tackling world problems, such as politicians, movie producers, and bloggers.

What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
What I hear most often from those who know their passion but aren’t taking action on it is, “But I don’t know how.”  No one knows how when they’re first starting out.  Not knowing how to do something is not a good enough reason not to do it.  You learn how.  You either find someone who is successful doing it and learn how they did it, or you go through your own trial and error until you figure it out. 

On your sheet of paper, write down the phrase, “If I knew I couldn’t fail I would …”  and then make a list of what you would do.  Think big, really big.  The sky’s the limit.  Here is my own list:  If I knew I couldn’t fail I would want to help people remember that we are all connected, that we are all One, and that hurting others only hurts ourselves.  I would teach people about compassion and kindness towards their fellow man.  I would empower others to awaken and take action in the area of their passion.  I would teach acceptance and love.

Now think about it, there are so many ways to accomplish the items on my list.  I could be a motivational speaker, a diplomat, a politician, a counselor, a writer, a coach, a screenwriter, etc.  As long as I stay tapped into my message, the medium is my choice.  What could you do with your list?  Make a list of all the careers or jobs you could have where you could make progress on your “If I knew I couldn’t fail” goal.  See what emerges. 

What makes you feel like you’ve contributed?
Another way to determine your passion is to ask yourself to finish this phrase, “At the end of the day, I feel best when I’ve _________” and fill in the blank.  Do you feel best when you’ve solved a problem, helped someone who was suffering, had an impact, made a change in your life, challenged yourself, organized an area, gotten all the kids to after-school activities on time, made a nice dinner for your spouse, taken time out for yourself, meditated, communed with nature, etc?  What gives you that nice sigh of contentment and the feeling of a job well done?  Could you earn money doing that for a living?  You bet you could.  Even if you feel most content sitting in a hot bubble bath or getting a massage, why not open a spa and sell that contentment to others?  What if you’re a stay-at-home-parent who is super organized and you feel great at the end of the day if everything is in its proper place and all the children are well fed and clean?  Write a book to help others who aren’t as good at it as you, or start a blog, or do workshops on it.  Don’t discount contentment and contribution.  If you love it, chances are other people would love it too.  Help them find it if they don’t have it and you’ve got a new career.

***

Your passion is in you somewhere.  Remember it or find it.  Then turn your passion into action. Find the road that leads to success with your passion.  You can do it!  When you combine passion with skill and contribution, success is not far behind.  Don’t spend another day doing something you hate. Find and ignite your passion today!

Erin:  The guides are telling me that you’re in a tech field, like software engineering, but you aren’t at all happy anymore.  The work is totally draining you.  Is that right?

Sitter:  Yes, I’ve been a programmer for 12 years but my heart’s just not in it anymore.  If I have to do this another 12 years I’ll go crazy.

Erin:  Okay, they’re showing me that you became a programmer because it was what you were good at and you knew you could make a good living with it, but that what you really wanted to do was become a therapist and help people who were going through emotional traumas in their lives.  Is that right also?

Sitter:  Wow, yes, that’s exactly true.  When I got out of high school I was planning to become a psychologist but I talked myself out of it because I figured I would get too emotionally tangled in people’s problems and couldn’t cope.  So I went into programming instead.

Erin:  You let your head decide your course instead of your heart.  And now you’re unhappy, but you have a stable, secure job.

Sitter:  Yes, I have a wife and children to support.  I can’t just stop what I’m doing.  Can I?

I’ve run into hundreds of people who have been knocked off course by their own logic or fear. 

“I always wanted to be a writer, but figured I wouldn’t be successful.” 
“I wanted to be a personal coach, but who am I to help people with their problems when I can’t even help myself?”
“I want to open a bakery, but I don’t know anything about business.”
“I love working with kids, but figured there’s no way I could earn enough money to support my family, so I became an accountant instead.”

Listen to your heart first, logic second, and fear never.

Discover and identify your passion.  If you had all the money and time in the world, what would you still do?  For me, it was studying and learning about spirituality and the paranormal.  That passion and interest has been with me since childhood.  It’s in my blood.  What’s in your blood?  What excites you?  Figure that out first.  Lock it down.   Set it in stone.

Only after you’ve identified your passion should you then figure how you want to earn a living around it.  Let’s say you love animals.  You could be a:

• veterinarian
• animal intuitive
• animal trainer
• zoologist
• marine biologist
• tour guide at a wild animal park
• animal shelter worker
• dog groomer
• animal rights activist
• vegan business owner
• author whose books are about animals
• animal charity worker

Be creative.  There are many ways for you to express your love and knowledge of animals.  List all the jobs or careers you can think of that allows you to express your passion for animals.

Next come up with your secondary list of needs.  This is where you get to use your logic. 

• It can’t require a long time in school 
• It has to give me flexibility to work when I want to
• It has to have the potential to earn at least six figures a year
• It has to be physically safe
• It has to contribute positively to society
• Etc.

Go back to your first list and see which career ideas match your secondary list most closely.  Eliminate the ones that are not a match.  For example if you don’t want to go back to school, that eliminates becoming a veterinarian.   Keep running your career ideas past your secondary needs until you have a list that satisfies your passion and your needs.

Then rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 and see which one comes out on top.  For example:

Author who writes books about animals
     No schooling or training – 5
     Flexibility to work when I want to – 10
     Potential to earn big money – 9
     Safe – 10
     Contribute positively to society – 7
            Total Score = 41

Animal Intuitive
     No schooling or training – 5
     Flexibility to work when I want to – 6
     Potential to earn big money – 4
     Safe – 8
     Contribute positively to society – 9
            Total Score = 32

And so on.  Tabulate the points and see what comes out on top.  If you need to, you can prioritize your secondary needs and weight them differently.  For example, maybe the most important need is that it has the potential to earn a six figure income, and a career idea must rate a 7 or above in that area or it’s a no go.  Play around with it.  Come up with something that satisfies both your logic and intuition.

Don’t let fear get into the game though.  He’s not welcome. 
“But what if no one hires me?” 
“Who’s going to pay me to do that?”
“I don’t know how.”
“What if I fail?”
“No one’s ever done it that way before.”

Fear and the ego are there to protect you.  You can acknowledge your fear, but don’t let it stop you from doing something you love.   Find a way around it.  It’s like a tree that suddenly topples into your path.  Don’t just sit there in front of it saying, “Oh shoot, where did that tree come from?  Now how am I going to continue down this path?  There’s a frakkin’ tree in my way.”  Climb over it, go around it, chop it down.  But don’t let it stop you.

You deserve to be happy.  If you’re spending 8 hours a day working for a living, make sure you’re doing something you enjoy.  If you used to enjoy your job but you don’t anymore, it’s time for a change.  You don’t have to quit tomorrow (unless that’s the only way to get you moving in the right direction).  Make a plan, start working on it, and quit your old job or career when you’re ready.