Do you want to make your passion a profession? Do you love your job, or dread the drudgery of the working week?

You may find yourself in a career that you no longer enjoy, especially if you have been doing the same thing for many years.

Or you may be beginning a career and want to follow your passion rather than start a job that doesn’t excite you.

I believe you should pursue something you are passionate about, but where do you start.

Question Yourself

We often hear about aligning personal and business objectives, as we’ve seen it makes people enjoy what they do. It enables life to become less stressful, more successful, and more productive because they feel in control.

The big question is how to achieve that perfect alignment, where you are living your work rather than working for a living. Well, turning your passion into a profession takes some honest reflection, good research, specific planning, and acting now.

Here are seven questions to ask yourself to help you have a smart and methodical approach to turning your passion into a profession.

What is Your Passion?

If you are considering pursuing your passion, you may know exactly what it is and how it could become a job. However, you might also just have a hobby you think is cool and wish you could get paid for.

Take some serious time to reflect on what your passion is and be able to name it specifically. If you have multiple passions that you think could make a good profession, try to think about which one you would want to do every day.

You may have a hobby that involves creating something, like pottery or woodworking. Making something to sell is a good example of a passion that can become a profession.

Maybe you love to volunteer for charity. You should consider finding work in the not-for-profit sector, as that would allow you to make a difference for causes you care about.

A Hobby or a True Gift?

You probably enjoy many things, but not all of those are your passion.

A passion goes beyond a hobby that you find exciting and includes an element of talent or giftedness. You need to honestly examine if your chosen passion is something you are gifted at or if you just enjoy it.

If you do not have a specific talent for that thing, consider whether it is a passion you should follow.

Can You Perform the Work?

Once you have determined the activity you are truly passionate about, it’s time that you gauge your capability of performing that work.

Making a profession out of a passion means being able to do actual, measurable work in that passion. It will not be all the fun that a recreational passion is.

Examine how determined you are to do the hard work that making a passion a profession takes. A profession usually means doing something consistently and efficiently, so ask yourself whether you have what it takes to do this with your passion.

For a concrete example, painting can be a passion of yours, but to make it a profession you will need to commit to spending solid hours, probably every day, creating paintings. You will also have to find a way to sell them consistently if it is to be your income. If you need to be inspired to work, or you want to paint something every so often, you may not be able to make this a viable profession.

You also need to consider whether you are actually any good at what you think of as your passion. If you only create paintings that people say are bad, this probably isn’t the right thing to pursue.

Is There a Demand?

You may think your passion project is the most amazing thing ever, but for it to be a profession, it needs to be marketable. Other people need to also think it is amazing. Research whether or not people want what you have to offer.

Aside from the demand, you also want to assess the presence of competition. Since you are going to make a career or start a business based on your own interest, it is also a good idea to assess the presence of other companies and individuals offering the same services as you.

Maybe you want to open a gym with some treadmills and a rack of free weights, but your town already has five gyms. The demand for your specific gym is most likely not high enough unless you find a niche in the market or something special to offer beyond the traditional setup.

What is Your Market?

You will most likely be offering some type of service or product, so it is important to consider ahead of time what demographic of people you will be marketing to.

If you plan to carve canoes out of logs, you probably won’t have much of a market in the city. If your passion is repurposing old junk into modern art pieces, you need buyers with disposable income.

Ask yourself, who would pay for my service or product? Then ask yourself if there are enough of those people to sustain you.

Do You Want to Take or Make a Job?

Depending on your passion, you may want to go work for a company that offers the chance to enact that passion, or you may want to start your own business that allows you to profit from the passion.

This is a vital aspect to consider.

Due diligence in researching potential jobs that incorporate your passion will help you find out if jobs are already available or if you will have to create your own job out of necessity.

The benefit of finding a position that already exists is that it takes some of the burdens off you. There is already a specific need and you would come along and fill it. On the other hand, starting something for yourself means you get to set your own responsibilities and you don’t have to fulfil requirements given to you by someone above you.

If you are okay with still being part of an existing company and power structure, getting a job may be easier than starting from scratch. Yet, if you are tired of being part of a large organisation, a fresh start might be what you need.

A potential drawback is that if you start something new on your own, you could fail and lose a significant amount of money. If you fail at an established job, you will most likely only lose that job and have to find another.

Are You Motivated?

Turning your passion into a profession requires motivation.

Be proactive and take a step every day that gets you nearer your goal. The fruits of your labour will eventually pay off and you’ll be well on your way to doing what you love.

Your road is not always going to be smooth, so plan for hiccups and make adjustments along the way.