Finding your passion

Don’t you wish your passion was written on your birth certificate? Ah, Kristi Waite born 9/17/90 in Livonia MI will be passionate about encouraging others. She will do these steps written out in detail below that will make that dream a reality and also bring in a sustainable income. I mean how amazing would that be?!

Some people know exactly what they want to do and who they want to be from a super young age, and I was always so jealous of those kids. Hey Jimmy, what do you want to be when you grow up? I’m going to be a mechanic. Hey Kristi, what do you want to be when you grow up? Umm, I don’t want to grow up? Does that count as a passion? I had no freaking clue! When I think back to my childhood, I loved gymnastics, candy, adventure movies, being active, partaking in anything that got my adrenaline pumping and I loved people. That was me as a kid. I guess I could’ve been a gymnastics coach who sold candy on the side? I bet when you were little you heard God calling you, showing you the life you deserve. But maybe as you got older you forgot about your dreams and decided to go after things that made you look/feel responsible, maybe make you more money or just seemed more practical. Why can’t we have both? Our passion turned career should be full of authenticity, vulnerability, child-like creativity but also help us grow, become responsible and make us money.

It’s not always so black and white. Some guys and gals, they just know. For the rest of us, where do we even begin? It seems overwhelming and we feel like we have to know right when we graduate high school. Oh, you’re going to college? Well you better pick the right degree. I mean there’s thousands to choose from, but go on, pick the right one right now.

There’s this pressure put on us that if we’re unsure what we want to do, well, I guess we’ll never figure it out. Or if you choose a degree or career you think you’ll love and end up hating it, well, I guess you’re back to square one buddy. Or if you’re getting older and still haven’t figured it out, well, I guess you never will. We feel like failures without direction. Our family and friends can give advice, but they don’t know our hearts and what makes us feel fully fulfilled. We have to really dig deep and do the hard work in order to find our passion(s). Yes, you can have more than one!

I didn’t figure out what I was passionate about until I was 26. & guess what? I’m 28 now and still working my butt off to make it a reality. If you’re just graduating high school or college or maybe you’re a little older than me, or hey, maybe you’re a grandma, you still have time to figure it out! You’re never too young or too old to find your passion(s)!

The first thing you need to do friend is quit comparing yourself to others. You heard me, quit comparing where you’re at to the girl who graduated with you, the girl down the road or the girl on social media. Your story is different than anyone else’s and God made it that way for a reason. That girl you’re comparing yourself to won’t do what you can and will do. Her calling is nothing like yours. God will bring your passion to life when the world is ready for it and guess what else? The world is going to love it and the world needs it.

So, how do we get to this so called passion? Well, let me give you a few practical steps that you can do to get the ball rolling and get you fired up. Speaking of fired up, is there a dream you’ve always had but shrugged off as something that could never happen or you could never do. Maybe it seems too far fetched, too risky, too hard, too time consuming. Well girlfriend, there’s your start! That dream that always comes back that you can’t seem to shake, that’s God calling you out! That dream is your dream for a reason! God won’t put something on your heart that He just wants you to think about and never actually do. He’s given you the spark, now you have to take the steps to turn that dream/passion into a reality.

If I were to ask you what you love most in your life, what makes you most excited to start your day, what gives you butterflies? What would you respond with? Maybe it’s kids, your spouse, animals, cars, food, coffee, running, going to the gym, spending time with your grandparents, Doritos (just me?), design, cleaning, sewing, it could be anything! Well guess what? All of those things can be a passion and all of those things can be turned into a business. A life you can create for yourself that you get to do every day! Sound amazing? Write down five things you absolutely love that make you happiest. There’s your start!

Now maybe you’re saying, “nope, I don’t want to turn any of those into a passion and then into a business” & I hear ya. My advice for you is to take the road of trial and error just like I did. Work every different job you can think of. I’ve worked in food, sales, with kids, I cleaned homes, I took care of my grandma, I started a t-shirt company, I learned to sew and sold bags, I made yarn wall hangings, & now I blog (obviously), dabble in content creation and do whatever I have to do to fulfill my passion- encouraging you guys! You can also volunteer! Volunteering is a great way to see if you’re passionate about this or that. It’s free, there’s not a huge time commitment and you’re helping others which will make you automatically feel purposeful!

Once you find that passion, the hard part is doesn’t yet. Now you have to put the time, sweat and tears into turning that passion into a business. Building any business is hard work but if it’s something you love, it’s so worth it. Will you fail? Yep. Get back up and keep going. Will you get so frustrated you want to quit? Yep, all the time. But you keep pushing forward. You learn from your mistakes. Is there any better feeling than accomplishing a goal you set for yourself? No way, friend. It’s the best. You put the hard work in, you followed God’s quiet voice to guide you, you stayed up until 3am to make a deadline, you got so mad you wanted to quit, but you didn’t. You will do all of those things because I know you have it in you!

God has given you a dream and passion that only YOU can fulfill & YOU will! Everyone’s timeline in life is different, so like I said above, don’t start comparing your goals and timeline to anyone else. God’s timing is perfect and He hasn’t forgotten about you. Your dreams and passion will become part of this world when the world needs it most. I’m going to keep repeating that. The world needs to hear YOUR story and will benefit from YOUR passion. Don’t give up. Work that booty off. Pray for guidance. Keep pushing when you want to quit. Be vulnerable. Pray for direction. Have friends who will encourage you. You can be scared, but don’t let it hold you back. You only have this one life to live, so you better leave it all on the table!

Love you!

Kristi