What do you think when you hear the phrase, ‘do what you love’? Do you feel that you can say that about your current profession? Or have you settled on what you feel made sense or was expected of you, but now you’re feeling discontent. Now you’re feeling like something is missing, or you’re not quite where you need to be?
This is a message for all of you that might feel like you may be floundering a little bit in your professional, or personal life! I was too when I left corporate America. I had no idea what I was going to do after that. All I knew was that I wanted to do something that resonated with me, but I couldn’t quite figure out what that would be or what my profession should look like. If you feel this way too, read on to discover how to re-evaluate your priorities to do what you love!
Take Time for Your Life
As part of my process in figuring out my next step, I read a really good book called, Take Time For Your Life by Cheryl Richardson. In the book Cheryl talks about remembering the things that you used to love, and how to ensure that you do what you love. She lays out specific steps for creating the life you want:
Step 1: Practice extreme self-care. Put yourself on your priority list and everyone will benefit!
Step 2: Stop reacting to life and take control of what gets your time and attention.
Step 3: Identify the things that drain you and eliminate them.
Step 4: Invest in your financial health.
Step 5: Identify the things that fuel you and discover healthy, new sources of energy.
Step 6: Surround yourself with high-quality relationships that support change.
The words from Cheryl’s book really resonated with me. After some introspection I realized that, for me, photography is what I truly loved. I thought back and remembered the times in my past where I felt genuine excitement, and I was brought back to the the time I spent in high school. I was always trained to learn math and science and I was pretty good at those things, but I just never felt like they were completely me.
Then I took a photography course and had my first, true aha moment! From that point on, I started to literally look at things differently in life, from a fresh perspective, through the eyes of a photographer. It was a feeling that would stick with me for years to come, even when I forgot to prioritize what I’d found truly fueled me!
Re-Evaluating Priorities: Purse Your Passion
It’s a whole different world out there once you graduate and are faced with your next step! After high school, I felt the need to fall back on what I was good at verses what I felt passionate about in order to make a living. I went on to spend years in the corporate world and I stayed kind of in my left brain side, but I never forgot that feeling I had after my first photography course. So, I made the life altering decision to leave corporate America and finally pursue photography full time!
I went back to school, I credit Arapahoe Community College a lot for helping me. My mom actually took a class there and brought it home to me, one of the best photography departments in the state of Colorado, in my opinion. That’s how it all happened and the path that led me to where I am today!
So just a reminder to remember the things that you used to love because EVERYTHING that we do in our life comes back into who we are now! Rediscover your passions and do what you love! What do YOU love? Or what would you like to rediscover about yourself?
If you would like to connect with me, or if you would like to see examples of my work, visit my website here!
