“Adapting” your passion means to craft your passion in such a way that it's relevant to the market. Of course you could pursue your passion without giving any consideration to the world at large, but you should consider your passion in a way that relates to others and adds value to their lives. Otherwise you are essentially pursuing your passion for your own ego, independent of what others want, which is no different than pursuing a hobby. If your goal is really to turn your passion into a sustainable career, you need to think beyond yourself and consider what the world wants, needs.
So how do you adapt your passion in a way that serves the market?
- What is the message of your passion? This is the essence of your passion. Some people get confused with their message and medium, when it’s their message that’s the most important. Your message should be 1. something you enjoy and 2. something that will bring a positive impact to the lives of others.
- Identify who you want to reach out to with your passion. Identify your target audience (TA). This is the group you want to reach out to, and will impact the most through your passion. Your TA should be a group that you are passionate about reaching and isn’t too narrow (don't finish up in a Passion, Skills, but no Market scenario). Be aware that when you restrict your audience too much, you are preventing more people from watching you set the world on fire. Target as many people as you can while not diluting your message.
- Identify career mediums to best reach them. A medium is your vehicle to express your message and reach your TA. You should pick mediums that are used by your TA (you should have gained some ideas during the research phase). Chosing 3 different mediums gives you a variety of ways to reach your audience. Even if your goal is looking for a salaried position, you can still use different mediums. Even if you don’t have the right skills yet (which is normal), you can build your skills later if you decide that this is indeed the path you want to pursue.
- Identify the change you’re going to make in their lives. What is the change, the difference, your TA is going to experience when they come in touch with your work? This change can be anything, from an improvement in their happiness level, to an increase in their knowledge, to an improvement in their lifestyle. This should be a change that your TA is looking for and is relevant to their lives.
- Create your ideal career vision. Based on all of the above, what is your ideal career like? Who would you be serving? Who would you be working with on a daily basis? How will you reach out to them? What would you actually be doing every day?
Notice how in each step, you are being asked to think about what’s relevant to your TA, the market? That’s what it means to adapt your passion to the market. You want to ensure that you are doing something that will create an impact in others’ lives, while staying true to your passion.
Even if your passion is seen a very niche, you can still create a relevant passion career — by detaching yourself from its form and focusing on the message. For example, maybe you love drawing but the industry for drawing is not big. Understand your motivation behind your passion in drawing: what is it? Perhaps it’s to express your creativity and yourself, and to help others do the same (so here, drawing is the medium to achieve this message). By being clear of your message, this suddenly opens up a new host of mediums (drawing, writing, music, graphic design, public speaking) for you to pursue your passion.
