7 Harsh Truths They Don’t Tell You About Finding Your Passion and Getting Paid to Do What You Love

If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you. – T. Alan Armstrong.

Pic credit: Nunoduarte, flickr.com

(This is a post by Henri Juntilla of WakeUpCloud.com).

Just a few years ago, I was miserable.

I felt like something was missing in my life, but I didn’t know what.

I wanted to follow my passion, but I was scared. I yearned to make a difference in the world, but I doubted myself. I didn’t believe I was good enough.

However, today, I get paid to do what I love, and I help people from all over the world move closer to their dreams.

I feel immensely fulfilled. Life is good.

But the journey here wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows. I had to bang my head against a solid brick wall for a long time before I figured things out.

And by sharing what I’ve learned in this article, I hope you can avoid some of them. 

1. Confusion & Doubt

It all started with the feeling that something was missing in my life.

Most people start with confusion and doubt. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn’t want to do what I was doing.

I was depressed, because I was in the fog, and there was no way out. You may be feeling the same. We all have to go through a period of confusion.

But the confusion isn’t bad. It’s a sign that you are changing. You are evolving. It doesn’t feel good, but it’s like the butterfly coming out of its cocoon. The world seems to be collapsing and then suddenly the butterfly sprouts wings.

So let the confusion and doubt be there. Don’t get involved, just live life one moment at a time, because that’s all you can do.

2. Misdirection

After I started getting some clarity, I started chasing money.

Deep down I knew what I was passionate about, but I thought that if I would just get enough money, I could finally do what I love.

Oh how wrong I was.

It took me several years to realize that I could get paid to do what I love. Now, this doesn’t mean you should blindly follow your passion, because you have to use common sense, especially if you want to start a passion business.

You have to find the intersection between what you love to do, what you are good at, and what people are willing to pay for.

But in the beginning, I was just chasing money, and it was eating up my soul, until I was finally ready to do the work. 

3. Readiness

When I work with clients, I can almost see who will succeed and who will not.

It comes down to readiness. Are you ready to face your inner demons and take action, no matter what?

If you are, it doesn’t matter what tools you have, because you will succeed, one way or another. And that was the point I reached after going through years of struggle and trying to chase false gods like money.

I was finally ready to go after my passion. 

I was ready to face my fears. 

I was ready to let go of my excuses.

Are you?

4. Patience

Even with all this energy, I was frustrated, because things weren’t happening quickly enough.

I had to learn another harsh truth, which was that this sometimes takes longer than you think. If you want to build a thriving online business around your passion, it will take time.

It’s like a newborn child. We expect our business to be able to walk, talk and dance within 6 months, but it takes longer than that.

And the same is true for the way we live life. We want things to be here, right now.

My lesson was to let it take longer, because when I started letting it take the time it took, I felt more relaxed and more at peace. 

5. Evolution

You will evolve as you travel on your passion path.

You will face and slay demons and you will grow. The more comfortable you are with discomfort, the faster you and your business will grow.

When I started, I was afraid of even doing audio interviews, so I kept everything I did very small. It took me a few years to start leveling up my game, and it may take you a few years, too.

It’s okay.

This is about evolution and taking things one step at a time.

And sometimes even if you’re willing to push your boundaries to the maximum you may not get the results you want.

Again, it takes time, and that’s fine.

6. Presence

Are you noticing that I’m telling you everything you don’t really want to hear?

This should be fast.

It should be easy.

It should be amazingly fulfilling.

And it can be, but what I’ve come to realize is that nothing outside of me can give me lasting happiness. It’s all available inside of me, right now.

I have to be able to stay in the present moment, right here, right now. If you are running away from the present moment, you will be running away forever.

The future will bring no salvation, because the future comes as the present moment.

If you have big goals, you will just set bigger goals when you reach your first set of goals. So I’ve learned to be content with what is here, right now.

Or at least gotten better at it, because I’m constantly growing and learning.

7. Heart-Centered Living

Ultimately, what this all has come down to is living from the heart.

When I listen to my heart, my internal GPS, my life flows, even when it doesn’t. I don’t have to have it all figured out, because somehow life seems to take care of me.

When I look back at my life, it seems like every significant event has been a synchronicity, an act of grace. In a way, I have never been living my life.

I have always been the observer of it.

So while I today get paid to do what I love, I’ve realized something far deeper, which is that happiness was always here in this very moment.

I will never stop growing, but I don’t have to suffer by thinking that some future situation will make me happy, because it won’t.

Only I can make me happy.

The Bottom Line..

The bottom line is that finding and following your passion can be tough, especially if you want to build an online business around it.

It’s a path full of change, which means confusion, uncertainty, and doubt. Most people believe those things are bad, and they can be if you don’t know what they are.

But they are signs that you are on the right path, because you’re doing something new.

Stop trying to make things go faster, and enjoy what’s here right now.

Let your passion business grow at the rate it does. You can’t force it to grow faster, so why not go with the flow?

All I can say is that this hasn’t been easy, but I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. I’ve grown more than I ever have, and it has been glorious. 

And if you’re ready to leap into the unknown, I’m sure you’ll come to the same conclusion.

Over to you, what’s a harsh truth you’ve discovered by finding and following your passion? Thanks for sharing this post!

Henri Junttila helps change-makers turn their passion into a thriving lifestyle business.

You may want to check out one of his most popular ecourses called Passionate Living. He also has a free report and other goodies you can grab when you join his newsletter.
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    • says

      Any time, Henri! Thanks for writing this post it’s been widely appreciated and shared even if not many have commented. Valuable lessons, indeed!

  1. says

    Hi,

    Thanks for the amazing insight. I have just recently started my own business. I too was lost until I had an awakening. I realised life was just more than getting up and making money. I needed to be happy without the materialism around me. I couldnt bare waking up another morning doing what I hated. I needed to wake up and say, “Yes! I can’t wait to start cooking”. (I’m a chef) I needed to wake up and do it for myself.

    It’s hard and taxing emotionally but worth it! I know it’s a long process, and I am really OK with this. I am at peace with the fact that my business will take as long as it needs to be where it is suppose to be.

    It really helps knowing that I am not the only one Thank you for this. 🙂

    • says

      Absolutely. Those are some great insights.

      It doesn’t really matter how much suffering we create inside our mind, reality will be what reality is. When you accept that, you relax and life changes.

      Keep rocking!

  2. says

    I agree with what you said about readiness. It took me 7 years of dreaming to finally start my business but when I did I was ready and that meant I had the strength to deal with all the ups and downs and uncertainty of starting a business. I help people heal their digestive issues and I know that I am finally ready to make an important impact on digestive health.

    • says

      Hey Angela,

      It seems we often have to go through that period of dreaming and not taking action, so we are ready to finally do something.

      Glad to hear you’re rocking it!

  3. says

    Henri – Thank you so, SO much for posting this. This is a must-read for anyone on this path. I’ve been recently dealing with 4 and 5, so it’s nice to know I haven’t somehow veered off-track, that it’s all part of the process. Just gonna keep at it!

    • says

      Yes, it’s all part of the process.

      As long as you keep moving forward, even if you make mistakes, it’s all good. The more mistakes we make and the more we learn, the better we become.

  4. says

    Great post! I too want to make a difference in the world and am trying to do that with an online biz. So much to learn, but it’s slowly taking off and so rewarding when you can actually help people and have an impact on their lives.
    You’re right on the mark about the confusion and doubt. The doubt still creeps in sometimes, but I am getting better at realizing that I’m on the right path 🙂

  5. Melisa says

    Hi Henry.

    Very great post!

    I’m now at moment:
    “like something was missing in my life, but I didn’t know what”

    And also think the same:
    “Deep down I knew what I was passionate about, but I thought that if I would just get enough money, I could finally do what I love.”

    2 week ago I have filed my resignation letter, and want I to do something with my passion. But I’m so struggling, confusing and afraid. Because I always thinking about how to get more money from my passion. And it make me drown at frustration.

    After I read your post, is like slap my face, but it so damn truth.. 🙂
    I don’t need to over worrying about future. (but still realistic)
    Just do my passion, always learn to growing from the discomfort.
    And live my life now.. This is the process and I must go trough all of this..

    thank you so much for your sharing.. 😀
    I love it so much..

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