0:00:00 - (Kevin Lowe): You all right, my friend? Let's get real for a moment. Is what you do something that truly lights a fire in your belly, or is it just a means of a paycheck? Inside of today's episode, we're exploring exactly what it means to align what you love with what you do. Yeah, it's possible, and that's why we're talking about it today. So if you have ever had the desire to have a job that does more than just fill up the bank account, but instead kind of leaves you fulfilled, has you realizing that what you did today actually made a difference in the world, and it made you happy along the way.

0:00:50 - (Kevin Lowe): Well, this is for you. I welcome you to episode 271. What's up, my friend? And welcome to grit, grace, and inspiration. I am your host, Kevin Lowe. 20 years ago, I awoke from a life saving surgery, only to find that I was left completely blind. And since that day, I've learned a lot about life, a lot about living, and a lot about myself. And here on this podcast, I want to share those insights with you.

0:01:19 - (Kevin Lowe): Because, friend, if you are still searching for your purpose, still trying to understand why, or still left searching for that next right path to take, we'll consider this to be your stepping stone to get you from where you are to where you want to be. Here's the deal. Inside of today's episode, we're going to be talking about how you can actually align what you do with what you love. Because, well, I want you to realize that life, you can combine work with pleasure.

0:01:54 - (Kevin Lowe): And that is why today we're diving into the stuff that gets you excited, that really has you looking forward to the day. Because I want you to wake up in the morning on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and to be excited about the day, to not dread what lies ahead. I want you to go to sleep at night, excited about tomorrow, thrilled with what happened today. My friend. It's not a dream.

0:02:25 - (Kevin Lowe): It can be reality. And I want it to be reality for you. So if the thought of clocking into work tomorrow morning makes you groan, well, friend, you need to stick around, because this is for you. Now, before we dive in, I do want to remind you of a special invitation inviting you to work on your own personal development. This podcast is big on personal growth and development as we all go through life.

0:03:00 - (Kevin Lowe): This podcast is there with you through the challenges, the good times, and the bad. And I've made an awesome tool to help you along the way. It's called the rise and thrive personal development tracker. It's totally free and I made it just for you. To help you along your own journey of becoming the best version of you. You can simply text the word rise ris. Again, just text the word rise to the phone number 33 seven. Seven seven.

0:03:36 - (Kevin Lowe): Or you can always just click the link inside of today's show notes if that's easier for you. So with that said, let's really dive into today's topic, because who, baby, it is time that we align what you love with what you do. So the first step in our process today is having a little heart to heart with yourself, with trying to figure out what you're even passionate about in the first place. The questions you want to think about are, what gets your heart racing?

0:04:11 - (Kevin Lowe): What is something that you could do all day, every day, and I love it. What are the things that you do that makes you totally lose track of time? Now, here's the important part. Picture whatever that is and bring that into something that you do Monday through Friday. Imagine if you could align that with your career, with your own business, with your own ideas for the future. It's possible. That's what we're talking about today.

0:04:46 - (Kevin Lowe): We're taking what you thought was impossible and making it possible. Now, I want you to realize that finding where your passion intersects with your profession, it's possible. Sometimes you just got to get a little bit creative to figure it out. If you've listened to this podcast for a while, well, you've heard examples of so many people who have done this very thing. They found something that they love, that they're passionate about, and they turned it into a business.

0:05:20 - (Kevin Lowe): I mean, goodness gracious, it was just last episode, episode 270 with Morgan McCarver, an amazing woman who realized that she really had a love for pottery, and she turned it into a career. She's now a potter. Now she has her artwork in multiple studios, and she combined that with her own faith and wrote a book called God the Artist. Morgan is a beautiful example of what it means to intersect your passion with your profession.

0:05:58 - (Kevin Lowe): If you need more examples, well, just go back through the episode library of this podcast. You will find so many stories of people who oftentimes have had something happen in their life that shaken them, that made them look at life a little bit different and made them realize that, you know what, this life is way too short. And if I'm ever going to do something I really love, well, this is the time for me to do it. And so they do it.

0:06:29 - (Kevin Lowe): And now they're here sharing their story to inspire you to do it, too. In this topic. I think one of the hardest things that may be the case for you, as I know it is with a lot of people, is trying to figure out what is our true passion anyways. I mean, I don't know if you're like me, but, I mean, there's a lot of things I like to do, but to say I'm passionate about it, well, I don't know. That's kind of taking it to a whole nother level.

0:06:57 - (Kevin Lowe): And so I think for you or for me or for anybody who we're trying to identify, our passion is you got to do a little bit of soul searching. You got to really spend some time reflecting on not just the things that you like to do, but the things that truly light you up, the things that make you get out of bed early, the things that literally cause butterflies to start fluttering around in your stomach, in your belly because you are so darn excited.

0:07:29 - (Kevin Lowe): What are those things? Because chances are those are the things that you are passionate about. So if we can figure that out, well, then we can stand a chance at aligning that with either our current position, our current profession, our business, our career. Or maybe we want to make a career change. Or maybe it's just something you're going to do on the side. Maybe you're perfectly content staying at your current career, and that's fine.

0:08:05 - (Kevin Lowe): But maybe this is something you do after work, you do on the weekend, because, well, it's not only something that you're passionate about, but now you've figured out how to turn it into a business for the person who isn't totally sold on what your passion truly is. Well, I got a few steps to help walk you through this idea. First step, we got to experiment and explore. You got to try some new things. You got to do some things to figure out what that is.

0:08:36 - (Kevin Lowe): And you know what? It might not be what you're even thinking. Maybe you're thinking as you listen to me and you're only picturing, I don't know, things that you do for fun, things that you do on a Saturday with the family. But maybe it's deeper than that. Maybe it's when you're at church and you volunteer in the. I don't know, maybe the kids program at church. Maybe that's something that just really lights you up, is to get to work with the kids.

0:09:09 - (Kevin Lowe): Or maybe it's you taking part in activities at work. Maybe it's a softball league that your company has, and that is something that you just look forward to, like you never realized you would before. Those are all little signs of things that I believe you're truly passionate about and things that maybe if you get a little bit creative, you don't just do them on the weekend, but maybe they become part of your everyday life.

0:09:42 - (Kevin Lowe): Wouldn't that be amazing if we could take what we did on the weekend and turn that into something we do all the time? My gosh, is that not what life is about? That, my friend, is what I consider living life to the fullest. Another idea to help get you started on this idea of turning your passion into your profession is to look at others who have done the same. If you look at many different people who have their own business or maybe their own side gig, talk to them, find out how they did it, how they came to do what they're doing.

0:10:22 - (Kevin Lowe): Because quite honestly, the more examples you get of people who have done this, it's going to make it easier for you to realize how it's truly possible for yourself. And of course, there comes time to take action. And that is, once you figure it out and you're sold on the idea of man, it's time for a change. Whether, like I said, you're starting up a side gig or you're totally done with your current job and you are ready to tell the boss, Cyanora, because you got your passion to chase in a whole new endeavor, whatever it is, it's time to take action.

0:11:07 - (Kevin Lowe): Because, my friend, as I said earlier, sometimes we realize in life that tomorrow is never guaranteed. We realize how short our time here on earth really and truly is. And so if there's something that we want that we dream about, well, we darn sure better start taking action today to make it happen. Because if not, well, then what are we waiting for? What are you waiting for to turn your passion into your profession?

0:11:41 - (Kevin Lowe): Now, one important mindset that I want you to go into this process with is the realization that this is a marathon and not a sprint. And quite honestly, along this marathon, there may be obstacles that you experience, but if you know that ahead of time, then you can already predict them. You can already see them coming, or if they come up unexpectedly, well, you got the mindset to handle it because you already know that Kevin told you it's going to be a long journey to get there.

0:12:18 - (Kevin Lowe): It's going to have some bumps in the road, and that's okay because it's just a bump in the road. I got to keep my eye focused forward, and soon that bump will be in the past again. Take your time with this. I want you to take action, of course, but realize that some things, the best things, they take time. The finest bottle of wine, well, it's the one that sits in the cellar the longest. I want you to remember that.

0:12:51 - (Kevin Lowe): And I want you to realize that if it's something you really love, you're really passionate about, well, then you're willing to put in the work. You're willing to do the hard stuff day after day to make this whole idea come true. As I wrap up today's episode, my hope with all of this is to get you thinking, of course, this podcast, it's not just the one thing that's going to be like, okay, yep, Kev told me to do it, so I'm doing it. I hope that you do a little bit more thinking, a little bit more research, but I hope to be the spark that lights a fire in your belly to say, you know what?

0:13:39 - (Kevin Lowe): I think I'm worth more. I think there's more for me out there and makes you realize that living, it's more than just clocking in at the job Monday through Friday. You don't have to live a life just like that. It doesn't have to be something that is draining on you, that's taxing on you, that has you coming home at the end of the day, worn out, exhausted. No, it doesn't have to be like that. I want you to be sure that what you do, it lights you up.

0:14:16 - (Kevin Lowe): That makes you feel fulfilled at the end of the day. That's what this is all about. So maybe you're already doing it. Maybe it's a different position at the company you are with. Maybe it doesn't take starting your own business. Or like I said, maybe it's you starting a hobby on the side that maybe can turn into a business, a side hustle. And then, who knows? Maybe it takes off, and that becomes your full time gig.

0:14:48 - (Kevin Lowe): The possibilities here are endless. I just want to be the person who puts the idea in your head in the realization that where I am is not where I have to stay. My friend. My name is Kevin Lowe. This is Grit Grayson, inspiration. Always here to be that source of positive energy, to hopefully light up your day, to make today a little bit better than yesterday, and to give you the mindset, the tools, the inspiration to get out there and make this day yours, my friend.

0:15:27 - (Kevin Lowe): I'll see you next week. Get out there and crush it.