How to Pursue Your Passion While Working a Full-time Job

You know one thing we all have in common? Dreams. The aspiration to grow and achieve more is part of what makes us human. It's who we are. Too often, responsibility and “realism” are all that holds us back.

For the last year, I've built a growing businesses I enjoy while working a full-time job.

Before accepting a leadership position within Chick-fil-A, I worked for a non-profit campus ministry for nearly a year and a half. Both jobs have been great, but neither satisfies the craving I know in my soul—the craving to do more.

In the midst of the noise, distraction, and busyness of the modern world, doors have opened up. Doors that were once closed and that would allow you to influence the world in a way never imagined before.

Within your heart, you have embers of change. Only you can fan those embers into flames that refuse to go out.

If you know your passion, you can pursue it—despite what other trials keep you busy from day-to-day.

Step 1: Dream it

You already have a good idea of where your passion lies, but take the time to paint a future where your passion and career are the same.

Think of people that you admire, and what you know of the life that they live. Articulate the details on paper, and use that to fill a narrative of the future you describe in your dream.

Oh, and before you keep going, here's the most important part of this step:

“Choose to believe that you can become what you already dream you could be.”

Step 2: Design it

Once you're clear on your dream, you need to take stock of where you currently are, today.

Make a list of what you need to learn or accomplish, to bridge the gap between where you are and where you dream you could be. Create a basic timeline, plotting your tasks out along the years, months, and weeks it will take you to make the complete change.

Become an expert in your dream-field, and start establishing your platform right away.

Step 3: Do it

You know your dream, and the path to make it happen—the key is to start walking that path.

Make dream-chasing part of your daily routine, and work on it step-by-step every day. Focus on tasks with the highest yield, and be careful not to bite off more than you can chew.

Life is hard, and there's always lots to do—but don't let the hard work get you down.

“Pursue your passion every spare moment, and those moments will soon shape your life.”

Question: What could you do—today—to start chasing your passion and dream?