Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Celestine Chua of The Personal Excellence Blog. Thanks Celes!
(If you haven’t discovered your passion yet, you might want to read Finding a Purpose and Passion in Life first.)
Whenever my friends or my coachees talk to me about the topic of passion, they would often resign that their passions can only remain as a hobby. When I probe into the reason why, some of the most common comments I hear are “My passion can’t earn (much) money”, “It’s not feasible in this world” or “There are no avenues for me to pursue my passion”.
When I hear that, an internal alarm in me will go off. As someone who has walked the conventional path of corporate employment for years and subsequently branched off to successfully pursue my real passion in helping others live their best life, I have come to realize those obstacles are just a result of self-limiting beliefs.
What do I mean? A year ago, I was still in my corporate job, but was looking out for avenues where I could pursue my passion. I was checking out job directories for jobs in social corporate enterprises or organizations supporting humanitarian causes. At this time, I was already all prepared to make certain trade offs in the new job, such as relocating myself to United States or Europe (I live in Singapore), getting a 50% pay cut, starting from an entry position and so on. Despite that, I was still unable to find any job which matched my extremely loosened up criteria. It was very disheartening.
I began to relook into my passion and rethink into how I could bring it into life. At that point, I realized what the problem was – I was restricting my passion to a certain form of expression and a certain medium. I realized that pursuing my passion didn’t have to be done in just that way and there were other ways of doing it.
For the rest of the article, I will share the five simple, yet powerful and timeless steps I used which enabled me to successfully create a feasible career for my passion.
With everything that we do, there is an essence we are trying to deliver and there is the medium we are delivering it through. For example, if you are passionate about dancing, the essence of your passion may be excellence, elegance and freedom and the medium you express them is through dancing.
The first step is to identify the essence of your passion. Identify what it is you are passionate about doing. Then, identify the essence of this passion. What is it you are trying to seek/achieve? Do you want to inspire people? Help people? Entertain people? Express your creativity? To achieve excellence? This is actually the most important step out of the 5 steps, because this is where you look beyond a certain fixed way of pursuing your passion and start looking at the underlying message you are trying to achieve.
When I looked into the essence of my passion beyond working in a social corporate enterprise, a non-governmental organization or company, or a humanitarian cause, it was really to raise the consciousness of others. Everything else were just the mediums I could express them in.
In the second step, nail down the ways you will like to express your passion. Some examples can be: singing, drawing, dancing, sports, writing, educating, designing, constructing, cooking, speaking, acting, producing, and so on. Some people may have preferences towards certain manners of expression, such as singing or drawing, while some people may have no specific inclinations at all. Perhaps you like to pick out forms of expression where you already have strengths in, which is fine too. The most important thing is it has to be an expression you feel passionate about.
In my case, I didn’t have any specific preference towards a particular way. However, I was (and still am) a very efficiency-driven person, so I selected the forms of expressions which I felt I could best use to reach out to people. These were (a) writing (b) in-person coaching and (c) speaking.
Based on your passion and your preferred forms of expressions, start brainstorming on all the different mediums you can use to pursue your passion. Mediums refer to the channels which lets you reach out to others. This is where you get really creative and start listing everything possible. If you picked singing in step-2, different mediums include: a stage performer, a wedding singer, a backup singer, a lounge/pub singer, forming a band, being a solo artist, releasing an album, sharing your songs through the internet (your site/YouTube/Itunes, just to name a few), and so on.
Keep listing all types of different mediums and don’t stop until you have listed everything. One way to get new ideas is to look at the people who are already achieving success in the area you want to move in and study the different mediums they use to express themselves. The most important thing is not to limit the pursuit of your passion to certain fixed mediums. Expand to everything possible and imaginable.
Some of the mediums I listed included being a blogger, an author (book), a school teacher, a coach, a speaker, a trainer, a lecturer, a broadcaster, among others.
Based on the whole list of mediums, circle the mediums which you are most passionate about. There is no need to limit it to just one medium – you can have more than one. These would be the mediums you want to bring your passion to life.
The mediums I selected were being (a) a blogger (b) a coach (c) a speaker. While I was open to the other mediums too, I wanted to use those 3 mediums as the core channels to reach out to others.
Now that you have clarity on the mediums to pursue your passion, create your plan to bring your passion to life! Crystallize your long-term vision, break them down into short-term goals, design your strategy and create your action plan. (You may want to check out my 7-part goal achievement series on how to achieve goals successfully.)
Side note: As you work on your plan, it is important to build in a transition phase where you work simultaneously on your passion while inside your day job. When you feel you are ready, you can make the leap toward your passion.
For me, after realizing I could pursue my passion via other mediums, it became clear that it was extremely possible to embark on my dreams immediately. With that, I started building proper plans (with the new mediums in mind) toward my passion. In 2008 last year, I left my corporate job and started working full force on helping others.
Today, I help many achieve personal excellence through my blog, coaching and speeches and it feels totally amazing! 
Life has never been better and I’ve never looked back at corporate life since. This is just the beginning too – I have other plans (such as publishing my book and setting up my personal excellence school) which are already in the works and I can’t wait to bring them to life.
How about you? What’s the essence of your passion, and what are the mediums you can bring it to life via? Try out the steps for yourself and start to create the career of your dreams. I’d love to hear how they work out for you 
Celestine Chua is a personal excellence coach who writes at her popular The Personal Excellence Blog to help others like you achieve excellence. She has been featured frequently in the press and is a highly sought-after coach.
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23 Comments
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You left out number six having the discipline and persistence to keep going when things don’t initially go your way
Hey Celes, thanks for this post. I often hear this “living your passion” as an overused statement that is not always possible to work. For example, many people are passionate about playing basketball (or other types or sports), but what percentage of these people actually make it professionally (where they get paid). The percentage is not high.
But I liked how you wrote identity the essense of your passion, and this could be delivered through different types of mediums, not just one, like you said. Perhaps a person who enjoyed playing sports, can make money some other way than playing it (it might not be the same feeling, but it is close).
I think it depends what possibilities there are when you do find the essense or “why” one likes to do what they like to do. Not everybody will be able to make a career out of art like Picasso or Van Gogh, but they can try finding another mediums to doing so if they are willing to expand their view and willing to make it happen.
Fantastic guest post, Celes! This was so helpful and useful for me right now…Thank you!!
I love that term, the “essence” of your passion. You are right, it is key to get right to the heart of what drives our passions and focus on it.
Great post!
Cheers,
Dayne
Hi Celes, I do wonder. I guess it is about the essence of the passion than the passion itself. That may make the difference.
Otherwise I think there are lots of passions you can’t make money at. My favourite being a physical, christian spirituality.
Hi mate,
Found my way onto your site through Diggy’s must read sites post and I am glad I did.
Never thought I would but I have become a monk and look forward to exploring your site when I have a bit more time.
Great post. I totally agree with you and Tristan’s comments.
I loved playing soccer and wanted to be professional however that did not happen.
I satisfy this passion by coaching juniors and involving myself in the club committee.
Thank you for your comments everyone, and Jonny, another monk! Woohoo!
Like the others, I enjoyed the distinction that you made about “essence” versus the medium of expression. We can all choose to have very unique ways of expression. I believe that it is possible for a person to also express his or her essence through a corporate job if he/she so wish. Having said that, I quit my corporate job years ago to pursue living the lifestyle of my dreams.
Your post reminds me that it’s the right time for me to discover or identify what am I passionate of doing about.Great post! I learned a lot from it.
I love this post because it moves beyond simply ‘finding your passion’ in a very concrete way. I think it is so true that we can actually get stuck in only one idea or projection about what we want our life to look like. I was thinking about this recently after reading a post on manifestation/cosmic ordering which focused in on making sure you know what you want, and also creating the space to allow the universe to send you something slightly different. So I like this process of stepping back and really identifying what the essence of the passion is. Thx!
Heya Celeste and Albert!
Great post!
I really like how you address that not every passion is profitable, that the niche may be too small or irrelevant, but I do believe that you can make money with every passion. You just need to do some proper research, planning and smart marketing, and you can apply your passion to a similar niche.
There is always something that you can do, but is is really important to first establish if there is a market for what you are about to start with
Have an awesome day!
Diggy
Hey Albert, thanks so much for the guest post opportunity! I had a great time writing the post and hopefully others found it helpful
Thanks to all those who have responded!
Evan@ It’s a common misconception that there are certain passions which can’t make money. Money at the end of the day, is just a function of value. As long as you can find a way to provide value (even in terms of christian spirituality), you can earn money.
Diggy@ Hey Diggy, actually my point was every passion can essentially be profitable. Money is ultimately a function of value at the end of the day and as long as one can bring lots of value through the passion, one can earn lots of money with it. The only problem is when people get stuck in only certain ways/mediums to execute their passion and that limits them in what they can do.
My passion to help million of people eradicate their negative thoughts is my drive to be online each and every day. What a great post. Passion mixed with desire creates a destiny.
Hi Albert!
Wow this is all so amazing and I am so happy for you! Your dreams and passions seem so interesting and what a wonderful thing you are doing by actually making them your reality.
As for me, I too just left my full time job in June. Now I am doing what I love with writing and starting to do public speaking, etc. Like you I have a passion to help others and today I am living out the life of my dreams.
And one thing I find about following your passions, it just keeps getting better and better…
Hi Evita, thank you for your comment, it’s always good to have you here. Just to clarify, though, it’s a guest post by Celes, and she’ll be pleased to read your comment.
Hi Albert,
Oh how did I miss that, yes, yes now I see it right at the top. I have to say the title was so juicy, I just jumped right into it.
Okay, well in that case I am happy that Celes is doing what she loves
I did think to myself, did I miss a post where Albert explained his new changes?
Anyway, thanks for pointing that out Albert
Good morning Celestine and Albert. I thought “exploring various mediums” was insightful Celestine. Here are two things I’ve learned persoally about passion. First of all, it has nothing to do with the intellect. You can’t analyze your life and find your passion. You have to learn how to let it flow back into your world again. That’s called the “Art of Being Yourself”, and it can be learned. The second thing pertains to “exploring mediums”. If you really do let your passion back into your life, you’ll explore until you discover a way to make your living being yourself. Following your passion that is. That’ll make you rich, even if you don’t make much money. I believe this to be true, no matter WHAT your passion is. It may take a lot of trial and error seeking out venues for your passion to be released…but there IS a place in the sun for each of us. Ciao Celestine and Albert. John Duffield
Apologies for the delay in reply the server was having troubles and I couldn’t access my WP.
@ Evita: Hehe, thanks
@ John: Thanks for your comment too!
Hi Celestine. Lots of great advice there. If I may, I’d like to comment on the first point… “identify the essence of your passion”. This comment comes from my own personal experience. I spent decades trying to do exactly that. I looked at my interests to find my passion. I searched my past life for evidence of it. I asked gurus and read books. And? I found some red herrings but little else. Then luck or destiny kicked in and I discovered that fear of being judged had been blinding me to who I am and my passion. Learning how to dissolve that fear, I began “manifesting my potentials” again…following my passion. Here’s the part I’d like to contribute. Passion is like a Hurricane or gigantic Force. You can’t be unsure of it, (it’s like a Mac truck about to run you over…you won’t miss it) and it’ll DRIVE you to find a way to express it. When true passion makes itself known in your life, you won’t be saying “I can’t follow it….. for whatever reason”. In essence, passion shows you how to create your life…and giving it up is a kind of suicide. If you “think” you know what your passion is then….but it’s not pushing you to go create the life of your dreams…it’s not your passion. Your real passion is bottled up behind fears of being yourself. Passion is called “passion” because it’s big, beautiful, and absolutely unmistakable. Please keep on sending out all the good Karma Celestine….we all need it. John Duffield
I really like your approach to such a relevant subject. A great read with practical advice on living your dreams.
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show trackbacks[...] One of my favorite blogs is UrbanMonk.net and this guest post by Celestine Chua on How to Pursue Your Passion is a wonderful look at identifying and expressing your passion in life. She offers a five step plan [...]
[...] great things about Urban Monk. My most recent insightful post was a guest post by Celestine Chua on How to Pursue Your Purpose and Passion: Understand The Essence of Your Passion. Guest posts there are always spot on and this post is not [...]