There is lot of stuff being written about money and
investing and I would like to change gears and direction a bit.
The question I would like to ask my readers is that if you
have enough financial security to retire in your 30’s or 40’s, how would you spend your remaining life?
What would you do from 6 am till 10 pm daily if you did not
have to really go to work?
To paraphrase it differently - what are you passionate about? what is it that you wouild love to do 12 hours a day and not feel tired? What drives you?
These are questions that are easy to ask – but difficult to
answer.
I believe that finding your passion is not a “nice to know” thing
– it is a strategic requisite as you move towards financial independence.
In my case, it is
this dream of living my life by doing what I am passionate about, that drove me towards financial independence
and now I am doing what I am passionate about - I teach.
If you can find your
passion, then you will be driven towards financial independence.
So here is the question – how do you find what you are
passionate about?
In the coming weeks, I will share a few pointers , a few questions,
a few templates. Take some time off to introspect on the questions that I ask - write down the answers– keep your notes safe – revisit
them as often as you like.
As you follow my blog for the next few weeks - you will get some sense of what you are passionate about – hopefully.
So here is the starting pointer - Do not look
for one passion.
Each one of us has a variety of passions within us –you will
have a number of dreams. You may want to be a rock star and a farmer and also be a world traveller.
You may love science fiction too. So do not restrict yourself to just one
passion. Each one of us is passionate about multiple things.
Also, do not try to define your
end goal –try to define your direction, your values instead of goals.
So here is the first template:
Make a list of ten possible passions - of these ten; put a
star against those five that seem to resonate most powerfully with you.
Make a list of ten possible values that matter to you - of
these ten, put a star against those five that seem to resonate most powerfully with
you.
I think you have solved one of the biggest road blocks to finding our passions, not looking for the "One" passion!
ReplyDeleteI remember doing this random exercise in college, born out of a typical free period conversation where we listed out the 10 things we'd do if time, money and talent (or any other resource)is not an issue. Apart from the fact it it was amazing how much it revealed about people we thought we knew (like the top geek in our class wanted to learn salsa and ballroom dancing!!), it was a wonderfully empowering and inspiring moment for me personally.
And you are completely on the dot when you said, " If you can find your passion, then you will be driven towards financial independence." coz that was one day I wanted to be really rich, not for money's sake because I realised there's so much more I can and should be doing!