Stop Searching For Your Passion — Invest in Yourself Instead

And now is the best time to do so.

Every time someone would tell me “do something your passionate about”, I couldn’t help but feel that there was something wrong with me.

Is it normal that I am about to graduate from a 4 year industrial engineering degree, and I still haven’t figured out my passion?

If you are also in that place in your life, then I hope you will find this helpful.

Start by taking a moment to reflect on this:

“The more you learn, the more you earn.” — Warren Buffet

When I first heard this, it didn’t really mean much to me. But once I started following the advice of success coaches, things started to make much more sense. The only thing I know is that I want to be an entrepreneur — and I know for a fact that it’s the only path for me. I did give the 9 to 5 grind a fair chance already when I completed 3 corporate internships during my engineering studies. But I am just not about that life. If you wish to know more about that experience, check out my story “3 Lessons My corporate Internships Have Taught me”.

If you dream of being an entrepreneur, you must know that no one will invest in your services or products unless you invest in yourself first.

What do you think would make people pay you if you’ve got no value to offer?

I knew that I did not want to live my life surviving paycheck to paycheck, but I also couldn’t think of anything valuable that I could possibly share with others.

The truth is that everything depends on that— from building an audience all the way to making substantial amount of profit from your business. To start off, you need a minimum amount of valuable content to grow a following that will eventually transform into potential clients for your services or products.

The more experienced you are in whatever it is that you create content around and sell products around, the more likely it is that you will have people who would want to buy that product or service.

Start By Investing in Courses

Getting that shareable experience comes from learning and mastering skills. This is something I am doing myself and I promise you won’t regret it if you do the same. If you have no idea where to start your entrepreneurial journey, the best thing you can do is to start is to invest in online courses. The web is full of options that cover just about every skill, topic, or hobby you can possibly imagine. You can find all sorts of free, cheap and quality courses.

There is no better time than quarantine to start picking up a new skill and to do so from the comfort of your home.

I have learned 10 times more in a one-hour webinar about entrepreneurship than I did in my 4 months course at university.

I highly recommend platforms like Udemy, which offers over 100 000 courses for all budgets. Here are some examples of things you can learn from online platforms and which I believe are absolutely useful to anyone planning to build streams of income online:

1. Social Media Marketing
2. Building a Website
3. Building an email list
4. Time Management / Productivity
5. Negotiating Skills
6. Sales Skills
7. Investing/ Stock Trading

There are so many options to chose from and industry experts to learn from. If you think that you do not have particular skills or experience in something, you got no excuse. YouTube alone can be a great educational tool if you prefer free content — it remains limited however.

Courses do not need to be expensive, but higher expertise often requires some sort of investment. I have paid for courses as low as 15$ and invested in programs that range between 200$ and 400$. There is always something to learn regardless of how much it costs — it really depends on what you are looking for. More expensive programs offer more resources which can include one-on-one coaching with the instructor as well as lifetime access to video lessons.

Invest in a Coach if You Have The Means

Not everyone can afford this option, but it is highly recommended if you have the means for it. Hiring a coach is not cheap as some could charge up to thousands of dollars for their services. The benefits however are undeniable — it has the greatest return on investment.

If you look at anyone who achieved great amount of success in any type pf industry, you’ll find that they have a history of working with at least one coach in their career. The main reason why people hire coaches is to get dedicated support that is tailored specifically to them.

Another powerful advantage of hiring a coach is accountability. Most of us would rise to an occasion if someone depends on us or if they are watching us. Aside from being your instructor, your coach is technically your accountability partner. Working with him will help you increase your productivity and overcome procrastination.

Also, a coach will help you identify your “blind spots”.

“Blind spots are the unknown aspects of your career, business or lifestyle that are holding you back.”

Stop Saying “I Don’t Know How”

Successful people never say this. So stop making that excuse and find out how.

If you don’t know “how”, it is not necessarily a bad thing. It can simply mean that it is a sign that you have big dreams — it means that you are actually stepping out of your comfort zone. It is all part of the process, so trust your journey and always be willing to learn more. Don’t make excuses to justify your hesitation to take that first step. As long as you are taking action, slowly but surely, you will reach your goals.

“If you know HOW you are going to reach your biggest dreams, you are dreaming far too small.”

The bottom line is this: Investing in yourself is truly what will make you successful in any field you chose to dive into.

This rule is not just for achieving financial freedom — it is true for your personal growth as well. As you read more and consume more of all the information available whether it’s courses, podcasts, eBooks, videos, online training — more opportunities will open up for you.

Every course that I invested in allowed me to derive at least a few practical ideas on how to become successful online. To say the least, it made me discover my love for writing which I never thought I had.

How much you know and how much you share is really the key to success.