How to Work for Passion, Pleasure & Profit!
“As I was sitting on the train heading into London, struggling with the dreadful daily commute, something within me suddenly triggered the thought that there must be a better way to lead my life. Why was I working for other people’s visions and goals and not my own?
From that moment onwards, I decided to take back control of my life and, regardless of other people’s expectations of me, focus on work that I loved and to do what was right for me”.
These powerful words and statements are part of a life changing conversation one of my clients shared after she had ‘seen the light’ and decided she had to change her working lifestyle.
The late Steve Jobs (1955-2011 – American businessman, inventor, industrial design, co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple) made a similarly wise statement: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
The Daily Grind
Maybe you have had the same or similar thoughts as you have been doing your regular commute to work, whether this has been on a train, bus or while stuck in a traffic jam. Do you often wonder why you put yourself through the same hell and misery every morning and evening? Or, is your grind the result of just going through the same old routine to arrive at the same old office or building every day and getting the same old feelings of unhappiness and lack of fulfilment?
So, why do you continue to put yourself through the same daily routine of frustration and angst when there are so many other options for you to consider, especially an alternative working lifestyle?
Can you imagine what it would be like to regain control of your career and life and look forward to doing work you love? How great would that feel!
I’m wondering just how many of those statements above resonate with you and what emotions they evoke. I realise some comments may feel uncomfortably true. However, maybe they will stir the energy within you to inspire you to take action and make changes in your life by:
- Realising you can make the rest of your work life the best of your work life
- Being prepared to challenge your thinking about the need to have ‘a traditional job’
- Being open to using your creativity in how you work and view work for the future
- Consider the possibility of turning your interests, passions and talents into potential income streams, rather than focusing on just one option
- Developing a blended working lifestyle that provides variety, freedom, choice, meaning and fulfilment, constantly learning and doing new things
- Feeling excited, curious or intrigued by the very idea of a ‘Portfolio Career’ and the notion you can work for ‘Passion, Pleasure and Profit’
- Fuelling your interest in personal growth, expanding your horizons, and pushing the boundaries to challenge the perceived limits of the type of work you think you can do
- Creating a working lifestyle that allows you to enjoy Mondays as much as Fridays and having the inspiration to make this happen!
The power of people’s experiences
These are extracts from the Introduction of my 3rd book ‘Portfolio Careers’. It is maybe the book I’m most excited about because the sub-title ‘How to Work for Passion, Pleasure & Profit’, encapsulates what I believe we should all aspire to in our work. There has been a buzz going round ever since people started hearing about the book and it has already attracted sales from different countries in the first day since being published.
The book has certainly been a challenging but fascinating 2 year project in the making. I interviewed many amazing people; a mixture of my clients and various contacts (some from LinkedIn) from around the globe spanning the UK, USA, Australia, Singapore and India. They are people who have been on great journeys, made remarkable transitions and transformed their lives to now do work they love and lead the working lifestyle of their choice. People of different ages, from different walks of life, different parts of the globe, who have all decided to change what they do to work for Passion, Pleasure and Profit, as you can too.
This book provides an abundance of amazing real life stories of people who have successfully made changes in the way they work and live. It is a myriad of fascinating and inspirational case studies for you to consider and reflect. This wealth of information has been combined with my memoirs, formal research, learning points and different themes. My approach has been designed to provide invaluable inspiration and insight as well as providing clues to influence your thinking to create a portfolio career of your choice.
Is this the year to change your working lifestyle and create a portfolio career working for the ‘3Ps’ of Passion, Pleasure and Profit? Intrigued? You can find out how by visiting:
http://www.steveprestonthecareercatalyst.com/portfolio-careers/
