“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, and don’t settle.
As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.“
~ Steve Jobs

Ever since I learned about the concept of financial independence five years ago, the seed of a dream had been planted. My dream: Having the freedom to deliberately choose how I spend every day - to have complete freedom of time.

As of last week, my dream became a reality.

I left my job at Amazon to start this new life chapter. I have three goals:

• To complete a triathlon
• To learn French
• To live everyday fully, as if my last

My answer to the question “What do you do?” will now be “I spend fulltime pursuing my passions.”

Personal Story

I had a wonderful job at a phenomenal company. I had flexibility, an understanding boss, and a high paying salary. I loved my job. But after 6 years of expending myself on the job, trying out various professional roles, I felt that I’d grown beyond the fixed positions available at the company.

I’m not going lie, having a lot of money is nice. Money can buy you things, nice things. However, the cliché is true - money cannot buy you happiness, and having it doesn’t mean that you are a successful person. After several years, I realized that the more money I made, the less satisfied I became. Days started to blend into one another, time flew by, and I deeply longed for something with more meaning.

Upon realizing that I was trading my time for money, I started experimenting with various passive income sources. I’ve started and ended businesses, I’ve turned hobbies into professional pursuits, and I’ve tested out investment avenues.

In the end, I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter what you’re doing. As long as you are doing something that expresses your passion, you will excel and you will gain satisfaction. I’ve also learned that starting something from nothing and watching it grow is deeply rewarding.

Through my quest to finding my passion, I discovered blogging as a platform where I can share ideas and lessons learned that are closest to my heart, as a way to serve others. For the first time in my life, I feel that I am living my life purpose.

I wanted to take this time to say Thank You for being part of this with me, and for helping me realize my dream while stumbling upon my passion.

Steps for How I Did It

I’ve learned many lessons along the way prior to leaving my job. Here are some major points and steps that have contributed towards where I am today. I hope they can be helpful to you.

Photo by Mike BG

1. Clear Vision of Result

Many of us don’t get the results we want, because we don’t know what it is we actually want. Not knowing what we want is like jumping on a random train, blind-folded. It might take us to a city we’ll enjoy, but it might not. It is completely random and we have no control over where the train goes.

Alternatively, many of us talk about wanting to be rich. But we don’t know what “rich” means, or understand why we want it, or map out a plan towards obtaining it. This pattern is equivalent to a person in London wanting to be in New York, but hops on a random train in Europe, blind-folded. The ‘wanting’ alone will not get us there.

To get what we want, we need to first have a clear vision of what that thing is. The vision needs to be defined using measurable attributes, along with dates for when you will get there. Once you have a clear measurable goal for what you want and when you want it, you can start to work backwards and map out a plan. As the saying goes, “What gets measured, gets managed.”

In our analogy, say we are living in London but want to be in New York by December 15^th, 2008. We have 4 months to get a travel visa, buy a flight ticket to NYC, look for an apartment or hotel in NYC, take time off work, pack our bags, and ask friends to take us to the airport. Before the end of next week, our plan is to have researched flights and have one purchased.

2. Understanding Why

Let’s say that you too wanted to quit your job and have complete freedom of time, what will you do with the extra time? If you don’t know, you’ll be better off staying at your job, since you’ll likely be bored and will start looking for a job soon. Make sure you understand the drive behind the vision.

List out all the reasons why you want to fulfill your vision. How will achieving that contribute towards your life? How can you use that new found freedom to help others?

3. Write It Down and Date It

I prefer to write down my goals along with a date for when it will happen. Writing it down forces you to clearly articulate the thing you want. Writing down your goals also helps by clearing them out of your mind and onto paper.

It feels just that much more real and doable once it’s in ink and down on paper.

4. Plan

If the steps toward achieving your goals aren’t clear, start listing out ideas for potential roads that can take you there.

Treat each potential road as a separate project, and work on one project at a time. Pick the project that feels the best for you and your interests.

With each project, list out the major steps you need to achieve in order to reach your goal. These steps are large milestones that are measurable. Make sure you set a target date for when each step will be completed.

For each step, break it down further into actionable tasks that can be completed in a few hours. Set a target date for each task. Adjust the target date for completing the step, if necessary.

5. Take Action

Once you set a goal, wrote it down, and planned it out, take one action immediately. Regardless of how small that action is, you are one step closer to your goal, and in doing so, it will start the momentum you need to follow through.

Let’s say that your goal is to run a website offering information on gardening that makes you $200 a month in advertising revenue. The first small step you can take immediate action on is to brainstorm for a domain name, or call a friend who knows about running websites to give you advice, or outlining content ideas, or researching demand by checking out existing gardening websites.

Make a commitment to yourself to take action every week, following the action items from your plan.

6. Adjust

Don’t be afraid of failure, if something isn’t working, so what! Just keep adjusting until something does work. Be bold and courageous, try different things. What’s the worst that can happen? If it doesn’t work out, you’ve eliminated another way that something does not work and you now have a higher chance at finding something that does work. Plus you’ve learned a ton along the way.

7. Emergency Fund

If you’re thinking about quitting your job at some point in the future, make sure that you are building an emergency fund now. Heck, you should be doing that anyway even if you’re planning to stay at your job.

If your goal is to quit your job to work on your own thing, make sure you map out exactly what your monthly costs are. This way you’ll know how much money you’ll need monthly. This also helps when building your emergency fund - how much savings you’ll need and how many month you’ll have before burning out your reserves.

8. Mentors & Models

You can jump into a new field and eventually reach your goals by trial-and-error, or by modeling after a person who is already achieving the kinds of results you want. This person is a mentor. Modeling means to do things that your mentor is doing, and taking the steps that he or she took. Most often than not, you’ll get further following a working formula that’s already proven to work for your mentor.

A mentor could be someone who you interact with in a mentor-mentee relationship, someone you don’t know or someone you casually interact with. Remember, having a mentor does not mean you need a one-on-one formal relationship with them, in fact, many potential mentors are busy people, so don’t waste too much of their time.

Be smart when contacting them. Ask clear, short, conscious questions that are quick to answer, and don’t ask too many questions. There’s nothing that will turn off a potential mentor more than sending them an essay of an email. If you’re a blogger, don’t send them emails asking what they thought of your latest post. Be considerate and respective of their time. Become an excellent observer, and observe what works and what doesn’t.

Parting Words

My purpose for this article isn’t to advocate that you should quit your job. This article was written for anyone with a dream that may have somehow pushed it behind the back-curtains on the stage of life. My message here is that achieving your dream is possible if you want it bad enough and are willing to take action for it.

Regardless of what our dreams are or what our current life story consists of, we have the choice to live deliberately, consciously and purposefully.

Keep learning, for it will give you personal growth. Keep serving others, for it will give you compassion and a sense of connectedness with others. Together, growth and contribution hold the keys to lasting happiness and riches far beyond what money can buy.

Find your passion, and then look for ways to use your passion to provide massive value for others. Try different things until you find your passion. When you find it, you will know, for you will feel it in your heart. It’ll be like breathing. Never give up.

“Forget about the fast lane. If you want to fly, just harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart and success will come to you.“

~ Oprah

What is it that you want? What first step can you take? When will you take it? Share your dreams, goals, or thoughts with us in the comment section. See you there.

Via: The ThinkSimplenow

Link: Information about BEET Language Centre

Academic Year from £564: British Council Accredited School Learn English in London for less

English Language Schools: Study English as a Second Language. Request Info from Language Schools.

Learn to Speak English: Over 200 Contact Hours! Leading University in South Africa

English Language in NY: ESL Course Promotion

Improve your English with: in London city centre. See our selection and special offers!

Go to English School: Learn to Speak English in Canada Classes now in Toronto or Vancouver

Learn English in the UK - English Courses, English Schools and …
Learn English at an English School or English Language Centre in the UK and become the best you can be. Whatever your motive - career development,

English Language Schools in the USA. Web Directory
Search 900+ American English Language Schools by state, starting dates and specialization. We offer a free consultation on-line and weekly newsletter

Language Course Finder - Search over 10000 Language Schools …
Whether you are looking for a French language school in France, a Spanish language school in Spain, an Italian language school in Italy, an English language …

English Language courses at Kings English Language Schools London …
The Kings English Language School for English courses in england. English in Britain offers English Language Courses in England, UK

English Language School
England - English courses in England. An English school in London, UK. General English, Business English, English courses for professionals and executives

English Language Schools in New Zealand
English Language schools in New Zealand, information on schools courses money travel visas and homestay

English Courses in Malta, Study in Elanguest language School in …
Learn English language with the best language school in Malta. Study the English language with Elanguest. English language courses in Malta, St. Julians

LANGUAGE SCHOOLS: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian …
The best language schools for people interested in learning a foreign language abroad. Learn English in England, Canada or Malta, Spanish in Spain,

Information

Basil Paterson Edinburgh | Book an IELTS English Examination
However, if you live outside of Edinburgh, we will do our best to arrange … Please send a cheque made payable to Basil Paterson College if you require the TEFL courses - TESOL courses - UK, Edinburgh , Basil Paterson College TEFL courses in Edinburgh, UK - Basil Paterson College … and ESL resources for teachers - TEFL courses in the UK - Edinburgh - Basil Paterson College Basil Paterson College Edinburgh Courses Classes Lessons ListList of ALL courses classes & lessons in Basil Paterson College Edinburgh. Find the best Basil Paterson College Edinburgh course & lesson from the list.
School information for BASIL PATERSON EDINBURGH
BASIL PATERSON EDINBURGH. Introduction Basil Paterson College has been been providing first-class education for over 75 years. The College is famous.

Basil Paterson College : English courses in Edinburgh , learn …
The English in Britain web site holds information on 2000 English language courses in quality, accredited language training organisations in the United The Basil Paterson College, City of Edinburgh, Edinburgh
Contact details of The Basil Paterson College, City of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, and details of any jobs / vacancies
Basil Paterson College
Established in 1929, Basil Paterson College is based in the centre of Edinburgh where students can experience the full delights of the city.Basil Paterson College - Locating and Re-uniting Old School Schools Member Listings for Basil Paterson College, helping you to locate and contact … EDINBURGH. Midlothian. EH2 4NA - View Location Map

RELATED INFORMATION

BEET is currently the only Bournemouth school to have been invited into membership of Quality English, the organisation of Britains leading independent language schools. BEET is accredited by the British Council and a member of ARELS, the Association of Recognised English Language Services. We are also members of Quality English, The International Education Forum and RELSA in Wessex. In 2001, BEET bought ITTC, the International Teaching and Training Centre, which now operates on campus in Nortoft Road.

BEET offers English language courses, Cambridge examinations, pre-university programmes and teacher training. Contact. BEET Language Centre - Bringing The World Together … Address. BEET Language Centre Nortoft Road, Charminster, Bournemouth, Dorset

Learn English at BEET Language Centre, UK. Quality English Language Schools and Courses in UK.

English language school in England (Bournemouth): BEET Language …
English language school in England (Bournemouth): BEET Language Centre courses and accommodation.

English language school, Bournemouth, England - Scotland, BEET …
English language school in Bournemouth, BEET Language Centre, England - Scotland. Courses for adults and for students. Bournemouth is renown as the most.

Education UK - Innovative. Individual. Inspirational.
Beet Language Centre. ENGLISH LANGUAGE

BEET Language Centre - Bournemouth UK - British Council Accredited …

Bournemouth - BEET Language Centre … The school which is located just 10 minutes from the town centre is a medium sized school with a lovely - BEET Language Centre - Bournemouth UK - British Council Accredited  Bournemouth - BEET Language Centre ..

Link: Information about BEET Language Centre

Manhattan Media bought 02138 from Atlantic Media, publisher of The Atlantic and National Journal, and the magazine’s young founders, Bom Kim and Daniel Loss, who held a minority stake. The price was not disclosed.

The deal was something of a surprise; Manhattan Media’s involvement had been kept quiet, and published reports said in April that Sandow Media, publisher of Worth magazine, was on the verge of buying 02138, which is named for Harvard’s ZIP code.

Mr. Kim will stay as publisher. Tom Allon, president and chief executive of Manhattan Media, said he hoped the executive editor, Richard Bradley, would also stay. The magazine will go from four issues a year to six, he said.

“We plan to launch a companion Web site that’s a social networking Web site for Harvard alumni, and sponsor a series of events, alumni events, around the 02138 brand,” he said. “We think this is a sort of new paradigm in publishing. I think people do share common interests when they’re alumni of a university.”

VIA: NYTIMES.