If you’re like me, there’s probably something in your life that you’re deeply passionate about. You would love to build your life around this passion, but you “just can’t.”

After all, you have responsibilities.

To your family, maybe even your children or your spouse. Maybe you have a responsibility to that bank that holds your car loan. You can’t just give your whole life two weeks notice and start living your dream tomorrow. Besides, what would people think?!

So, you continue to work at that job that pays well, socialize with the people in your life, and do the things that everyone else is doing. You figure that you’ll create a life around your passions later. When the bills are paid and the timing is right.

But you’re not happy because you want MORE.

You want a life that’s centered around the things that light you up. A life surrounded by people that you connect with on a deep level. Where you’re doing things that nurture your soul. You want to be great and live an amazing life filled with joy, passion, and fulfillment. And you also know that you shouldn’t have to wait for the time “to be right.”

So what do you do?

How to Build a Life Around Your Passion

1. Commit 100% to Becoming the Person You’re Meant to Be

The most important thing that you can do is commit 100% to becoming the person that you’re meant to be, living the life you so deeply desire to live. This means more than just saying, “I want this.” It means that you will go after this dream of yours with every ounce of energy that you have.

It means structuring your life in a way that can only support your success. You may have to work at a job you don’t like in an unrelated industry; that’s okay. If you’re ready to commit to making your dream a reality, then find a job that allows you to be done at the end of the day. Don’t look for the competitive position with room for growth; look for something that pays and lets you leave when the day is over.

Committing 100% means you don’t waste time sitting on the couch watching hours of mindless television. It means you’re reading, practicing, applying, writing, or doing something that moves you closer to your goal. It’s all about hustle, baby!

Yes, take breaks, care for yourself, but commit to making it happen by eliminating anything in your life that does not support your growth or by making the necessary changes (like with your job) so that it’s more supportive of your dream.

2. Give Yourself Proper Nourishment: Mind, Body, and Soul

It can be easy for your mind, body, and soul to be completely depleted of any energy, inspiration, or joy. Between stressing about the bills, relationship troubles, or the never-ending stream of online information and entertainment, we’ve lost sight of what’s really important to our success.

Your dream may require that you spend hours online hustling, but your dream also requires that you spend hours nurturing your mind, body, and soul. Without your physical and emotional well-being, you’re nothing. Literally. Nothing.

Making sure that you move your body, fill your stomach with healthy foods, and spend time meditating, writing in your journal, or doing any form of contemplative practice is essential to your success. Without the energy, mental clarity, and spiritual strength that these practices give you, you’ll only find yourself more stressed, lost, and out of sorts than ever before.

It is a PRIORITY to care for yourself.

3. Train and Practice…Constantly

I don’t think there’s a single great writer, speaker, athlete, artist, or other that started out at the top of their game. First, it took discovering what it is that they’re passionate about; then it takes learning how to do it; and, most importantly, it takes practice! Constant practice is the key to mastering whatever it is that you want to master in your life.

If your dream is to be a world-renowned author, you had better be writing every day. Reading books, practicing your craft, trying new things, and growing. You can’t find your voice, hone your skills, and blow the minds of this world if you aren’t writing.

If your dream is to create beautiful art and make a lot of money doing it, you had better be making art as often as possible. Capturing ideas, filling the inspiration well, trying new techniques, turning sketches into finished pieces…you have to be practicing your craft constantly.

If you want to be great and live an amazing life doing what you love, you can’t overlook the parts that require you to work hard at being the best that you can. People that are the making a living doing what they love know how important it is to constantly learn, grow, try new things, fail, and try again.

Practice, practice, practice, but also train. Train with the masters, with your idols, and with anyone who can teach you something that you need to know. There’s no sense in being prideful…yes, if you wanted to, I know that you could learn whatever it is you need to learn on your own. But someone else has already spent YEARS learning what you need to know and can literally teach it to you in a matter of hours. Let them teach you. You’ll get there faster.

4. Surround Yourself with the Right Team

It is so, so, SO important to surround yourself with the right people. If you’re trying to commit to your goals and your dream but no one in your life cares enough to check in on you or support you, then it’s time to find a new support system.

Find people that are passionate like you are, though it doesn’t have to be the same field. Find people that will understand what you’re going through as you move forward, learn, grow, and hit unavoidable bumps in the road.

They will cheer you on and keep you motivated when you’ve lost steam. They will remind you to take those necessary breaks, to nurture your soul, and to remember the end goal when you feel like giving up.

No matter how strong or independent you may be, you need this support system when things get hard, because things getting hard is unavoidable. You will hit bumps in the road, obstacles, set backs, and emotional breakdowns. You want to be surrounded by people who know how much it means to you so that they can remind you of this when you’ve forgotten it in the midst of stress.

Take Action Now

Do you have a dream or passion in your life? Have you committed to it 100%? Leave a comment below, sharing your passion along with three things you’re going to implement or change in your life to show your commitment to making it happen.


Stephenie Zamora is the founder of www.stepheniezamora.com, a full-service life purpose development, design, and branding boutique. She merges the worlds of personal development and branding to help men and women build passion-based lives and businesses. Click here to access her free Foundations for Unshakable Joy™ video training series and learn the unexpected trick to transforming your life with one single question! Connect with Stephenie on Facebook and Twitter!

*Photo Credit: HammaD.TN∞ via Compfight cc