Have you heard the quote “Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life”?
Whether you believe the quote above to be true or not, it’s worth giving some consideration to.
Here are 5 indicators that tell you that you’ve found your passion as a career:
1. You tap dance to work. This was a phrase that Warren Buffett uses to describe his job. He used it even before he got rich. A great indicator of your success is jumping out of bed in the morning. You cannot even wait to get to work. You are enthusiastic about your job and love every part of it. You work with only people you love.
2. Money is awesome, but you do it regardless of the money, and the money comes anyways. You are so delighted that you actually make money from this. Not just a little, but a lot. You love what you do and are great at it, but your primary motive was never for the money. You end up making a lot of money anyways because of the passion and extra work you put into it.
3. Your happiness and energy rubs off to other people. You are super motivated by what you do. Your energy motivates others to be more happy and work harder. It’s infectious and it’s a compound effect that bounces off everyone.
4. You strive for absolute excellence not for validation or acknowledge, but for the craft. You hold your skill and standards to the highest of levels. But it isn’t based on what others think. It isn’t based on awards you will get. And you will hold to them even when you know no one is watching. Your intrinsic motivation comes from the best source possible: your own internal drive to be the best you can.
5. You would do it for free. Heck, you would pay to do what you did. You still cannot believe you’re paid to do this. You know that saying “I can’t believe I’m paid to do this.” That is you. If you were given decent food, drink, and housing, that’s all you would need. You love it so much that you would do it without being paid.
These clues will guide you towards moving towards your passion. Like Warren Buffett says, you will probably not find your dream job on your first try. But if you keep moving in the right direction, you might be surprised at how far you have come.
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Will Chou has spent thousands of hours studying the world’s most successful people. Learn more about him here.