I’ve been thinking about this question a lot lately as I look at what I’m doing with my business and ask myself if what I’m doing is really what I want to continue doing. So often I hear that what someone does with his/her life should be his/her passion, but I know many people who work at jobs or own businesses who choose to pursue their passions on the side. Is this because they are somehow not empowered to pursue their passion or is it something else?

I chose to leave the technical writing industry because I wasn’t happy doing technical writing. I was good at it, but it didn’t really fulfill me. A bad job market, at the time, also helped me make that decision. But I never quite left the technical market. I’m a social media consultant, which means I’m still doing a lot of work in the technical market. The main difference is that I’m getting to work with people directly, which is a preference I have.

But to be honest, as much as I am enjoying what I’m learning about social media and what I’m teaching other people about it, I can’t say it’s my true passion. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be, in order for me to enjoy what I’m doing with this position. My true passion involves helping other people, and I’m realizing that some of that passion involves working with people on a very intimate level to help them reach a place of empowerment in their lives. As such I’m beginning to explore some options for how I can turn this passion into a business. And I still plan on doing social media consulting, but I realize that what really brings me to life is working with other people on the problems in their lives.

If your business isn’t your passion, that’s ok. What’s important is that it somehow supports your passion. I feel that my current business supports my passion because it’s provided me time to figure what I really want to do, while also helping me realize what’s important to me in what I’m already doing. And not surprisingly what’s important to me in social media has less to do with technology and more to do with the relationships people build with each other using social media as a medium.