Finding your Passion and Purpose before beginning your business

“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, and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking, don’t settle.” -Steve Jobs

Successful people find what they are passionate about and make it their living.

If you don’t know what your passion is then ask yourself the following questions to help guide you through the process.

• What you would be doing if you had complete financial freedom? If money was not an object, what would you do with your time?
• What do you desire to do?
• What do you think is important to do?
• What comes naturally to you?
• What excites you and drives you?
• What are you good at?
• What do you care about?
• What do you spend hours reading about?
• What do you love doing?
• What are your strengths? Ask yourself this question as well as the people close to you.
• What are your hobbies?
• Do you feel fulfilled while you are doing —–?
• Have you experienced being in the “zone”? What were you doing?

You can go through a brainstorming process to explore what drives you. Alternatively, you could have a professional conduct psychometric assessments to help you. Whichever route you choose, it is crucial to perform the exercise of finding your passion.

What is your purpose?

Purpose is the reason, or the why behind what we do. The Japanese have a term -Ikigai that which gives your life worth, meaning, or purpose.  Ikigai is unique to each person and involves the pursuit of something one cares about with a deep connection of service to others. It is “the reason you wake up in the morning”.

John Coleman says that you don’t find purpose you build it. It’s not purpose but purposes we are looking for — the multiple sources of meaning that help us find value in our work and lives. It is an evolutionary process of reflecting on your gifts,     your values and what you want to contribute. The four reflecting questions to ask are:

1. How will the world be better off, thanks to you having been on this earth?
2. What are your unique gifts?
3. Who have you been when you’ve been at your best?
4. Who must you fearlessly become?

Finding your passion and purpose is directly connected to what brings you happiness.

Whatever you do with Passion and Purpose will give you the drive and the energy to succeed. As an entrepreneur it is highly likely that you will encounter some bumps along the way, and it is your passion and sense of purpose that will help you overcome these challenging times. When you do what you love you will inevitably spend more time involved on the project and you will have high energy levels.  Additionally, investors will be interested in your product if they see how passionate you are about it.

When you align your purpose, your passions and your talents then success is bound to happen.