Turning your hobbies into your work seems like a dream. After all, who doesn’t want to do the things they love all day long?
However, figuring out ways to make it happen is always challenging. Only a small minority of people ever manage it, so it can be difficult.
That’s where this article can help. It looks at some of the ways to incorporate your hobbies into your work so you can find more fulfillment on the job.
Here’s what you need to know:
Teach Or Share Your Passions
One option is to get out there and start teaching or sharing your passions. Many people are looking for instructions on how to gain more skills so they can get better at their hobbies and enjoy them more.
Think about sailing. Many people own boats, but only a few of them know how to take them to sea without a crew. That’s where you could come into the picture. You could teach them how to make the most of their passions and get out on open water.
The same goes for almost any hobby or activity you can think of. You could teach people to cook, learn Spanish, or fire a bow and arrow.
Find Overlapping Skills
Another way to thrive is to find overlapping skills. For example, you could look for a job that requires (in part) the things you’ve learned by pursuing a hobby.
Let’s say for instance, that you love DIY around the house. You fancy yourself handy with a power saw and electric drill and know you can help others. It doesn’t take a leap of the imagination to see yourself setting up a handyman business, fixing things for other people. After all, it’s something you love.
Or what about cooking? These days, there are all sorts of chef jobs that let you turn what you like doing into a career. Or if you’re really inventive, you could develop your own restaurant.
Freelance
Another option is to freelance. Taking gigs based on your skills and hobbies is an excellent way to get your name out there and start earning customers.
For example, if you are a creative writer, you could do gigs helping local students with their English exams. Alternatively, you could teach driving lessons to students based on your car racing days.
Whatever it is, there are usually opportunities to make money when you put your skills to use. You can try it piecemeal to test the waters before turning it into a full-time career.
Network With People Like You
Another way to make your hobbies a part of your work is to find people with similar interests as you at your company. This approach is subtle, but it can grow significantly.
For example, let’s say that you love five-a-side football and play it every weekend at local clubs. That’s fantastic. But if you can find other people at your work who enjoy the same hobbies, that’s even better. You can team up with them to start a club or a society at your work where they can all get involved. It could become a regular fixture of the working week, perhaps something you all go and do on a Thursday evening just because you want to.
Sometimes when you adopt this approach, you can find unexpected job opportunities related to your work. For example, if you’re someone who loves singing, your marketing department might ask you to do the soundtrack for the company ads. You never quite know what’s going to come up.
Suggest New Roles And Responsibilities
Another proactive approach is to suggest new roles and responsibilities for your work that involve your hobby. For example, if your hobby is coding, you could craft yourself a role where you create new integrated systems for your firm. These could link up different apps, giving colleagues holistic oversight of company processes and their tasks for the day.
You could also use any design skills you have to develop pitch ideas for your team. These could create a theme that they use for advertising and other outreach methods, allowing them to connect with more prospects. You could see holes in their current approach and how to improve them.
Turn It Into A Business
Finally, you could explore the possibility of turning your hobby into a full-time business. Chances are, if you’re interested in it, someone else will be, too.
Therefore, start small-scale and see what works. Then, continue scaling your enterprise until it becomes something unique and formative.
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