How to Make a Living Doing What You Love – [5 Simple Steps]

And with that, the crowd rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation...

Here’s a picture from the event.

I’d just gotten paid more than most people make in a month, to spend a long weekend on stage as an emcee/speaker in front of 400 women who were looking to better themselves.

“I can’t believe they actually paid me for that!” I thought to myself.

Think about that last statement for a moment; it's one of the "master keys" to unlocking a life you truly love.

What’s the thing, for you, that if you were able to do it and get paid for it, you’d think to yourself...

What “job” (notice the quotes) would you do for free if money was no object?

What topic(s) do you love discussing so much (or what task(s) do you love doing so much), that you could get so lost in them you forget to eat?

What if you could make more than enough money to provide for your loved ones by spending your days doing what excites you?

Well, that’s what we’re going to explore in this article; the step-by-step process for how to make a living doing what you love, and in turn, create a truly fulfilling life on your terms.

And that’s the point I want you to remember as you’re reading this. For anything you want in life, there’s a step-by-step process. You’ve only got to figure out what those steps are (that’s the "sexy" – i.e. the essence – of this article).

Many people think that to follow your passion, means to settle for a life without monetary success or financial security. I wholeheartedly disagree.

Question…

How did you get started in your current profession?

Was it part of a plan, or did it sort of happen by accident?

Is it what you love, or is it just what you do to get by?

Maybe you went to college like you were told to, and you got your degree in something that your parents told you was “secure” (notice the quotes). Sure, at the time you relished the idea of pursuing a field of study that you thought would make you successful... but if you’re being honest with yourself, it's just not something you were ever in love with. 

Or maybe, you fell into your career by accident. This was the case for me in the early 2000’s...

A family emergency forced me to make a career shift and I became a car salesman so that I could bring in more income to help my family.

Did I feel I was put on this earth to sell cars? No.

Did I enjoy my work days with every fiber of my being? No.

But, surprisingly, I had a knack for it; and once I found out how good the money was, the level of financial comfort I felt made it hard for me to leave.

But eventually, I had to get real with myself and make a decision as to whether I wanted to follow my passion, or stick with the comfortable paycheck. 

Here’s the point…

Whether you fell into your current profession by accident, or you pursued it full-out early on (but now have a change of heart as to what you want to do with your life)… you won’t feel fulfilled unless you LIVE YOUR LIFE ON PURPOSE.

There are waaayyy too many people making money doing what they’re passionate about for you to not realize that it IS possible to do the very same (no matter how weird or random your passion is).

It IS possible to take your passion, run with it, and create a life you love.

This is true whether your passion is to live out an entrepreneurial dream, work for a giant Fortune 500 corporation, or work for a non-profit and change the world. 

I know this for a fact because I see it every single day.

Heck, if you’re reading this article on DevonBrown.com, then I’m living proof that you can make money doing what you love.

In addition to traveling around the world and edutaining audiences from the stage as an event emcee and speaker, I also wanted to create a fun and profitable website that gives people practical insights to simplify the process of creating life on YOUR terms.

And wouldn’t you know it, you’re on that site right now!

Two points for me. 

I had the courage to do what the vast majority of people won’t do - take a chance on living the dream that was inside of me.

Will you do the same?

Making money from your passion may not be the norm in society, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it happen for yourself.

And if you’re thinking to yourself, 

… then you’d probably be wrong.

For example, I recently read about a man who had a passion for both weed (marijuana) and writing.  This dude is now getting paid thousands of dollars to smoke weed and write about it.

Does this sound insane?

Probably to most people… but this guy took what he loved and ran with it. He incorporated his writing skills into his love for weed, found the right outlet, and is now living his dream as a marijuana critic for a newspaper.

Or, maybe you heard about the woman who had a passion for baking and was constantly making cupcakes for her family and friends? Candace Nelson was a talented baker and would commit all her free time to whipping up new recipes, using anyone she knew as guinea pigs.

Before she knew it she was getting orders from restaurants, party planners, and hotels, with a demand that had her outgrowing her home kitchen. That slowly but surely led to her obtaining her own shop, (which was the world’s first cupcake bakery), and now she has one of the largest cupcake bakeries with locations all over the world. Sprinkles, anyone?

Now, this isn’t to say that everyone who sets off to follow their passion ends up making millions of dollars. But there is proven success in doing what makes you happy (if you take the time to do it right.)

And just to hit the point home even more that you CAN make it work… you don’t even need to be an adult to follow your passion and turn it into a career.

Her passion to create a product that helped the ecosystem and the human digestive system was a hit.

Fast forward to the present day, and this young lady’s lemonade stand has gone from the corner of her driveway... into Whole Foods nationwide.

You may be thinking, lemonade? A 12-year-old?

Well... YES and YES. And for her, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

How do you turn YOUR "unrealistic" (notice the quotes) dream of profiting from your passion into a reality?

The answer: Follow the 5 steps below.

But remember, nothing will happen unless YOU first have the courage to take action.

Enthusiasm is a large part of turning your passion into profit, but all the enthusiasm in the world is pointless without having a crystal clear idea of what you want.

The problem with most adults is that we’re too busy telling ourselves what ISN'T possible.

When what we should be telling ourselves is...

...and then getting our happy asses to work.

So, here’s what I want you to do...

Get crystal clear on what you want!

• What is your heart really calling you to do? 
• What do you love?
• What do you excel at naturally (a.k.a. what's your superpower)? 
• How would you spend your time, day in and day out, if money were no object?

As you’re getting clear on what you want, make sure you do NOT censor yourself.

Do NOT go searching in your mind for reasons your idea can’t/won’t work. If I catch you doing this, I’m gonna punch you in the face (lovingly of course).

Just do us both a favor and pretend that what you really want is feasible.

Pretend like you have Aladdin’s genie, and he can grant you this one wish of spending each and every day doing what you love (and getting paid handsomely for it).

Did you do it?

Great!

Now picture what your perfect day would look like doing this “job” (notice the quotes) that you’d probably do for free. The idea here is to get clear on what your life looks like doing what you love.

Literally picture in your mind a full day (from sunup to sundown), and what it would look like.

Did you do it? If not, then what is the point of you reading this article?

Making a living doing what you love does not come from passive reading. It comes from taking ACTION on what you're learning.

So... did you do the exercise?

Great!

Now let’s move on to the next step.

A quick five-minute Google search will allow you to find damn near anything you can think of.

Is your dream to have your own pickle business (this 10 yr old did)?

• Then do a Google search for: “How to start a pickle business”.
  

Are you big into fitness and want to start your own blog teaching moms how to lose their baby-weight after pregnancy?

• Great! Then do a search for: “How to start a blog teaching weight loss after pregnancy”.

Want to learn how to make money on Social Media by posting content in Facebook groups?

• Great! Then do a search for: “How to make money with Facebook groups”.

Want to take your love for writing and your love of weed and turn it into a full-time career?

• Great! Then do a damn search for: “How to make money writing about weed”.

Did you notice how my Google searches weren't brilliant?

I’m L-I-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y just searching for what I want and seeing what comes up.

The point here is to find a person who is already doing what you want to do. Once you've found that person (or persons), start doing your homework on them. This person is proof that you can make money following your passion.

Here’s a question for you…

Are you in love enough with the idea of profiting from your passion, that you’d be willing to work for free (or work on it in your spare time) for a year or two to learn all of the ins and outs?

If the answer is no, then you may need to find something you are more passionate about.

Here’s why...

The fastest way to get from point “A” to point “B” is to find someone who has already figured out the path, and then just model what they’ve done. Not doing this was the biggest mistake I made when I first started my journey as an entrepreneur.

Modeling someone who has already done what you want to do, gives you an EXACT step-by-step process for accomplishing your specific goal.

Your job is to get as close to them as possible!

Along any journey, there are going to be speed-bumps and roadblocks. The person already doing what you want to do can help shave YEARS off of your learning curve.

Turning your passion into a full-time income is probably not something that will happen overnight (because it’s not supposed to happen overnight).

It’s OK to start off slow.

Keep your day job, of course, and begin by putting in work in your spare time. You must practice patience. Just know that over time your efforts will compound.

Giving up because the pace is not what you expected is not the answer. Stick with it until you have a solid perspective on whether or not it will be worth it (to you) to carry on to the next phase.

The problem is that in the 21st century, everyone wants everything “microwave-fast”; and we give up at the first sign of things being harder than we’d hoped.

Stop that shit.

This is your dream. A little patience and persistence will go a long way.

And let me go ahead and save you the suspense…

IT WILL BE HARDER, TAKE LONGER, AND LOOK DIFFERENT THAN YOU THINK IT WILL!! (Here is an article that explains what I mean by "look different".)

But trust me when I tell you that if you are passionate enough about it... it will be worth it!  

Once you've proven it's possible, step up your game.

You've put in time... You've made significant progress... You are making more money with your passion venture than in your day job… Now is the time to go all in on your passion.

Here’s the general rule of thumb I use…

Once my new venture is making me as much as my regular job for a MINIMUM OF 3 MONTHS IN A ROW… then I can consider (notice I said “consider”) doing away with my regular job.

Whatever you do, don’t quit your day-job until you’ve proven to yourself that you can make your new venture pay you consistently (unless of course your new venture is a new job – like in the case of the weed-writer who got a job at a professional newspaper).

The fact of the matter is, and always will be, that the person who works both hard and smart will win the day. So go hard at doing what you love... But be smart about it.

Let’s do a quick re-cap (and put all the steps together in the form of an example), so that we can see how this might look in real life.

First…

You come across a few different people doing something similar to what you’d like to do, so you decide to follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

(Side Note: Just because someone else is already doing the thing you want to do, doesn’t mean you can’t/shouldn’t do it. Saying: “But so-and-so is already doing my idea” is not an excuse to stop pursuing your passion. There’s plenty of room for everyone and plenty of money to go around).

In the meantime, you purchase a home-study course on how to make money blogging, and you also reach out to one of the mommy fitness bloggers who really resonates with you. Because you want to get close to her, you ask her if she needs some accounting/bookkeeping help, because it looks like she’s doing well.

You’re 100% up front with her as to the fact that you love what she’s doing and you want to learn from her. You two become fast friends, and you help her out with some basic bookkeeping stuff and, in turn, she shows you the behind-the-scenes of her business, and all the ins and outs of mommy fitness blogging.

For the next year, in your spare time, you work on building out your website, finding products to sell, and creating the exact kind of site/resource that you wish someone had created for you after you had your child and couldn’t lose the baby weight.

During that year, your mommy-blogger friend/mentor also introduces you to some of the other moms in the mommy-blogger community. You end up doing bookkeeping for five or six of them as well. This is super easy work for you, and the money they pay you goes straight into building your new business.

When the time comes, you launch your new “Bye-Bye Baby Belly Fat” blog. And because of the friendships you’ve created with all of the mommy-bloggers, they all tell their followers about you and your new website.

Before too long, you’ve got thousands of followers and your passion is now making you a full-time income.

After six months of making about as much with your blog as you do with your normal accounting job, you decide to quit your job and spend your time at home with your kids. Also, when it fits your schedule, you travel and speak to moms around the world; teaching them how to stay in shape and lose that baby weight.

#AwesomeSauce #GoalAchieved

Well, now all that’s left is for you to follow the steps I’ve laid out for you in this post.

Turning your passion into a career requires focus, action, and consistency. Be proactive and take a step every day that gets you closer to your goal. Continue to tell yourself that all of the time and energy will eventually pay off, and you’ll be well on your way to doing what you love and making money from it!

Keep in mind, 78% of people don't have the courage to live the dream that is inside of them. 

Like the saying goes:

So... if you're committed to following your passion and making a living doing what you love, let everyone know in the comment section below.

If you're planning to make a living doing what you love, then there's a better than 80% chance that one of the foundational pillars to your success will be your ability to effectively - and confidently - communicate you ideas.

Public speaking, whether you realize it or not, is a skill you'll need to master if you want to the sky to be the limit.

If you're ready to master this foundational success skill, simply click the image below

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