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The thing is, life kind of got in the way of what I wanted and instead of building a career as a writer I found myself moving steadily along in the hospitality industry. Before I knew it, I was a grown up with some very grown up bills to pay and a son to take care of.
So, while writing may fuel my soul, my lack of experience in the field isn’t going to fuel my pay-cheque just yet.
I could let this get me down, and for a while it did.
I was frustrated by the fact that I was in a place in my life where it wasn’t possible to start all over again and to follow my passion - by this time, going to work excited me about as much as miso soup. And I hate miso soup.
Then I realised that I could incorporate my love for writing into the work that I was already doing.
Once I married my passion with what I was already good at I rediscovered the joy I used to find in my work and relished the fact that I was able to exercise my desire to write on a daily basis.
Is your job not quite your dream position?
- Find a way to fuse the two together. How could what you love, benefit what i is you're doing? For example, blogging for our hotel website is not only something I can add to my CV, it also helps with our website’s ranking on SEO searches.
Addicted to Facebook and Twitter? Find out if your company is open to sending you to a social media workshop and allowing you to do the social media marketing for them.
- Freelance. Who doesn’t have more than one job these days? Offer your freelancing services doing what you love, while you’re in your not-so-dreamy job and build up your portfolio in the meantime.
- Think outside the box. A friend wanted to spend more time at home with her daughter. She and her colleague work in the tourism industry and their pay is largely commission based. So, they approached their boss and agreed to take home only one salary between the two of them if they could split the time as well.
So now they’re working half the time but still managing to take home all the commission they were making before.
Once I was able to do a little more of what it is that I love each day, I found myself rediscovering the things I used to love about hospitality.
I love engaging with visitors from around the world and hearing what it is they find most fascinating about our country, which has in turn provided me with some rich material for a collection of short stories that I’m working on.
What are your tips for finding joy in your work?
