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They say that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life, but breaking into a field that you love isn’t always the most natural thing. If you’re tired of working in a dead-end job or slogging your way through at a nine-to-five that you hate, here are some tips and tricks to help you find the position of your dreams doing what you love.
Think Like Your Inner Child
What did you want to be when you grew up? Take some time to think about what you wanted to be when you were a child and didn’t know how hard it was to be an adult. Even if becoming an astronaut or dinosaur might be out of reach, it can give you a good idea of what your passions are and what you might enjoy doing for the rest of your life.
While you’re at it, take some time to think about your heroes – the people that you’ve looked up to since childhood or the ones that you look up to as an adult. Learn about how they got where they are today, and think about how you can adapt that to your own life.
Take A Look At Your Talents
What are you good at? While learning new skills can be exciting, capitalizing on what you’re already good at or enjoy doing can be a little bit easier than going back to school. If you like baking, consider a career as a baker or open a custom cupcake shop. If you enjoy working on cars, find a job as an automotive engineer or mechanic.
Turning your talents into a career can be a fantastic way to do what you love as long as you’re sure that it’s something that you want to do until you reach retirement age.
Pick a Good Company to Work For
Following your passions is excellent and all, but hobbies can only carry you so far without a good company to back you up. Many careers can take off when you start your own business, but for others – like those in the automotive field – it helps if you have a good company backing you up.
Do some research. Talk to people who have worked for the company in the past or still do in the present. Take the time to figure out what you want to do in the industry – if we stick with the automotive example, this could mean that you want to sell parts, build cars, repair them, or design them, to name a few options.
It’s never too late to start following your dreams and making a career out of your passions. Start by doing some self-reflection and figuring out what you want to do with your life. Once you’ve figured out a plan, find an excellent company to work for – somewhere that offers the kind of paycheck, benefits, and opportunities for advancement that you’re looking for. You don’t need to spend your life working toward retirement in a job you hate. Find a job that you can enjoy for the remainder of your working life.
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Photo provided by the author.