You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
The reason you are drawn to this post is that you have a desire to do what you love, but you do not know how or when.
Money and societal expectations makes our world go round. This is why we see so many people abandoning the things they love doing, for the things that provide a more steady lifestyle.
And, if you are like me you realise after a while what really speaks to your heart.
When you stop doing the things that you love, you bury a part of yourself. You teach yourself to be comfortable in a mediocre and monotonous life. Some of you might love painting, but you give yourself the excuse of time and responsibilities. This numbing of your desire to paint can cause you to not be at your utmost happy self.
From now on, we are going to refer to what you love doing as Bliss.
Not following our bliss in some, or the other way, makes us stray from our purpose, and then we compensate for that by showing off things and relationships to our peers.
It is always our bliss that brings the most happiness and contentment to our life.
These ways have helped me in writing my book ‘Live More: Magic begins with you‘, being the production manager for TMD Storyteller (Production House) and also creating yoga and well-being YouTube channel, Città Space.
So, if you are in a day job and cannot find time to work on your craft or you are already in one profession and trying to make a switch to the other one. Here are some tips, to help you pursue your passion with a full time job.
1. Find your Motivation
We never give priority to anything, which makes us feel uninspired. Therefore, you need to find a sound reason to reason to work on your passion. Though, the word passion in itself means that you don’t need an additional push to work on it. But, if we are out of touch with our craft, it takes time to get back into the groove and start working towards it.
Find your answers to the following questions:
How do you feel when you are working on your bliss?
Are you a happier person when you are working on your bliss?
Why do you feel the need to pursue it?
2. Take one day at a time
I would not suggest you to work on it each day if you are beginning after a long time. As it may feel overwhelming, and your excuses may make you give up on it once again. So, if you are only beginning, set aside an hour per week, in which you will be alone with your bliss. Work, read, or learn more about your passion during this one hour.
If you are working on it on and off, but can’t find the time to create something, then, create a reminder which you would be looking at each day. You can use a sticky note and write, Work on ____ today, stick it in a place you visit repeatedly (bathroom mirror, refrigerator, or wardrobe).
3. Invest Time
It doesn’t matter how strongly you feel about your passion, it does not help unless you invest time in it. You have to dedicate at least 30 minutes each day to your craft. And, if you think that you do not have those 30 minutes, then put your phone aside, and you will definitely find some. For anything to prosper, you will have to give it time. Treat these 30 minutes as an investment in yourself.
4. Be Consistent
Apart from giving it time, you will have to make sure that you are consistent. You cannot wait until one specific day to do the things you love. It is the same as Exercise the more you work out, the easier it gets for you to give one hour to exercise. Whether you are giving it one hour a day or a week, stay consistent.
5. Educate yourself
Take up an online course, read articles and books to know more about your Bliss. Learning more about your passion opens fascinating possibilities, it helps you sharpen your skills, and it also presents more challenges to your mind. You can enrol in classes if your schedule allows. This learning will further help you in being more confident about yourself.
6. Avoid pending work from Full-Time Job
You do not want any additional stress when you are managing your passion with regular work. It is necessary to not miss any deadlines or to wait for your deadlines to approach and worry about work, out of your working hours. These are the instances where you can lose your balance between the profession and passion. We need to minimise these situations by being punctual at our full-time job too.
7. Plan your leaves
Since you are in a full-time job and your leaves are accounted for, do not waste them on Monday Blues. Do not take leaves just because you feel like. Instead, build a schedule around your days so that you can utilise your leaves for the days you really need them or spend them with your bliss.
8. Be Present
The essential part of balancing two separate types of work is to be in the moment. Do not think about what you will do in the time you give to your passion while you are at work. Do not think about your Job at the time assigned to your bliss. You may come up with ideas throughout the day, write them down, on your phone or journal, and look at them at the start of the time you dedicate to your Bliss.
9. Share it with Close ones
Share your Bliss with the people close to you and ask them for feedback. Closed ones have an unusual way of reminding us of what we are supposed to do with our time. Even little questions like, “ Hey! How’s the writing going? “ can make a difference. The people close to us can motivate us to work on our desire because, unlike your day job, you do not have a manager or supervisor to tell you what needs to be done or to give you the deadlines.
10. Start right where you are
We spend so much time thinking that we are not ready enough to start it yet.
Once I get that promotion, I will have more money to pursue my passion.
Once I lose weight, I’ll begin working on my bliss.
As soon as I have more time…
Just start! Go ahead. Start working on the things you have been waiting for.
I hope you find the above tips useful. I have been able to finish a book, with a full time demanding job because of these methods. Let me know the Bliss that you are waiting to work on in the comment section below. If you have more useful tips, let me know.
Do the thing you love the most.
