Everyone wants to make a living doing what they love, but very few are ready to put in the effort that is required to make it happen.

You see, you are in charge of your life. You are responsible for how your life looks today and what your future will look like.

Now, I’m not saying you can control every aspect of your life, but I think you know what I mean. We are all responsible for what we do and don’t do in our lives.

One of the best decisions I ever made was to find and go after my passion with relentless determination.

It’s very simple, but not easy.

If you’re ready to take one single step every day, you can reach your goals and live the life of your dreams.

1. Get Clear

The first step towards turning passion into profit is to get clear about what you want.

For me, this means setting goals that are specific, realistic, and that have a deadline.

What do you truly want from life? Do you want to contribute to humanity with your art? Or do you want to travel the world, experience new cultures, and share what you’ve learned with the rest of us? You can create whatever you decide.

There is always a way to turn your passion into profit if you’re determined enough to make it happen.

2. Take Action

Next, you need to be willing to take massive action. You need to be willing to take steps every single day towards achieving your goals.

If your goal is to travel the world, find out exactly how much money you need, what you need, and how you need to do it. If your goal is to travel to Thailand and live there for a year, find out how much airfare is, how much the cost of living is, and everything else that’s essential.

Then ask yourself what you have to do to make it happen. Start executing even if you don’t know exactly how it will all work out.

Something magical happens when you take action. Never underestimate the power of the universe.

3. Model People

One of the most powerful tips I can give you is to model people. What I mean by this is to find people that are doing exactly what you want to be doing, and do what they did.

If you do what successful people have done to become successful, you will become successful. It is inevitable.

This may mean emailing someone and becoming their friend. For some people it may mean joining a training course where you can get access to people that are already living the kind of life you want to live.

Whatever it is, avoid making excuses and take action. There will be no perfect time to go after your dreams, so you might as well start now.

4. Destroy Your Obstacles

Once you have a very clear goal of what you want to achieve, take a clean sheet of paper and write down the obstacles you think you will face on the path toward your goal.

What this does is it anticipates the bad stuff that will happen, and it lets you come up with solutions before you even bump into the obstacles.

This usually eliminates most of the obstacles right away, and makes the whole journey smoother.

5. Face Your Fears

Going after your passion is not a walk in the park. If it was, more people would live a life of passion and fulfillment.

Facing your fears is a simple as being determined to get to your goals with fears or no fears.

You can either succumb to your fears and live a life of mediocrity, or you can face your fears and live a life of true freedom. The choice is yours.

6. Baby Steps

Most people underestimate how much progress they can make in a few years just by taking one small step every single day towards their goals.

When you have your plan, and you have your obstacles in front of you, it’s time to brainstorm ideas of what steps you can take today to get closer to making a living doing what you love. Nothing remarkable needs to happen; you just have to start the journey toward your dreams.

7. Patience

This journey takes a lot of patience.

You will run into a lot of obstacles, you will have to face your fears, as things probably won’t go as smoothly as you’d like them to go. It’s all a part of the journey. And none of it really matters when you love what you do.

Turning your passion into profit is something that everyone can do, but not everyone has the determination or willpower to make it happen.

It is up to you to decide whether you want to live up to your full potential or not.

Henri Junttila writes at Wake Up Cloud, where you can get his free course: Find Your Passion in 5 Days or Less. And if you liked this article, you will enjoy one of Henri’s top articles, 33 Powerful Ways of Overcoming Fear.

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: 7 Simple Steps to Turn Your Passion Into Profit

Hyped-up concepts like The Secret, Tim Ferriss’ 4 Hour Workweek, and Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 Hour Rule” in recent years all really boil down to one simple teaching: You can either sit around and wait for cool shit to happen to you, or you can take a pro-active role in opening your life up to possibility. This is something that traces back through most of the major personal development thought leaders throughout the last century: it is a central principle in all of my Most-Important Books (MIBs), in Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, in Napoleon Hill’s work in the 1920s, and probably waay before that.

Create your own luck and open yourself up to opportunities.

It’s the same reason that I am so passionate about helping people use the relatively-new power of the web to build blogs and brand themselves. This is the first time in history when we, as individuals, can easily compete with the big brands to build our reputation and authority, build businesses, and create global communities of like-minded people. I love showing people how to use blogs and social media to cultivate opportunities for themselves because they are what have empowered me to be so successful. But the web is not the only way to open up your life to great opportunities.

I subscribe to the maxim which says there is no such thing as luck, but that rather you create your own luck. And you do it by being as prepared as you can for opportunity when it arises. The wider you cast your net, the more likely you’ll be able to take advantage of those opportunities that present themselves in your life.

If you find yourself unfulfilled, it’s likely because something—your job, your relationship, your friends, the place you live—isn’t fully meeting your needs. That’s not to say your significant other or your friends aren’t great people. But you need to go out there and find fulfillment. Unfortunately, no one else is going to ensure your needs are met—we’ve all got to look out for ourselves first. If you’re lacking, if you’re unhappy or depressed, it ain’t easy and it ain’t fun, but you are responsible for going out and getting your needs met.

If we’re talking about a close relationship or a job, it’s always hard to give up the time and energy you’ve put into something you care so much about. But if it doesn’t completely meet your needs, you’ll have to risk the comfort and the years you put into something in exchange for the chance at becoming truly happy and fulfilled.

The willingness to risk the comfort of the familiar to find your true happiness is the path to living a remarkable life.

The key to living remarkably—living according to your own passions and desires—is overcoming many of the fears and beliefs that are socially programmed into us. To embark on this journey of complete fulfillment, you have to examine and question your assumptions. For example, ask yourself questions like these:

• Who says you can’t talk to people you don’t know in the bar/club?
• Who says you have to hang out with people in your age/race/income group?
• Who says you can’t leave a 7-year relationship if you’re unhappy with it?
• Who says living abroad is more dangerous or difficult than living in the town you grew up in?
• Who says you have to do what all the cool kids are doing (or follow a conventional career path/lifestyle)?

Many of us have beliefs like these ingrained in us and may not even realize it, but we allow our social conditioning to dictate how we live our lives. Ask yourself what evidence there is to actually back up these assumptions. Most of these beliefs and social “rules” are unfounded.

Anytime you see a majority of people behaving a certain way, ask yourself if it’s really necessary—if it really aligns with your personal beliefs and passions—before you jump on the bandwagon. Are you doing this because of peer pressure? (Yes, peer pressure still exists when you are 35 or 65!) Or are you avoiding doing something out of fear? Don’t let social rules dictate how you live your life.

Here are a few principles I’ve learned from making some huge changes myself, overhauling my life, and moving abroad:

1. If you feel pulled toward something, race towards it. A friend of mine was recently telling me how she feels stagnant living in our hometown and has been thinking a lot about what it would be like to live in Boston. She likes the city and has extended family nearby. My advice was to recognize that she’s attracted there and embrace it!
2. Big life changes are not as scary as they seem initially. Before I left for Thailand, I was scared shitless! Pulling up all your roots, packing up everything you own (or selling it all!), and putting yourself at the mercy of the unknown is never easy. But whether it’s a move, a breakup, or a career change, we frequently make things out to be much bigger in our heads than they turn out to be in reality.
3. Human beings adapt to new environments really fast. Whether you want to leave your cubicle to start a business of your own, establish new social circles, or travel the world, one thing I’ve learned is that you will get used to a new lifestyle, routine, or surroundings incredibly quickly. Extreme example: I adapted to being surrounded by riots, soldiers and gunfire and overcame any initial fear much quicker than I would have imagined.
4. Even if your goal doesn’t pan out as planned, you’ll still experience valuable personal growth. I told my friend who wants to move to Boston, even if she were to end up completely lonely (and what are the chances she won’t make any friends) and it’s not what she hoped for, taking action to make a huge life change that you’re compelled to make will force you to grow and develop in ways you didn’t anticipate. That’s the most fun part!

Hopefully these principles can help you in your own quest for happiness.

There always have been and always will be a small subset of the population who lead remarkable lives. They choose not to allow social conditioning to hold them back from doing big things. They examine their desires, their passions, and their needs and ask scary questions. They take action. The question is: will you choose to be one of them? Will you lead a remarkable life?

NEXT STEPS:

• Steve Pavlina has a really interesting article on getting your needs fulfilled.
• I highly recommend Jonathan Mead’s awesome Reclaim Your Dreams ebook on Illuminated Mind.
• Finally, stay tuned to Thrilling Heroics for more about overcoming fear and living the life you want!

Featured photo credit: TuTuWoN

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: Live a Remarkable Life