How to find work you love, with Leo from Roadside Stories!

Leo is a small town guy who grew up bored with routines. Out of boredom he developed curiosity which in turn transformed into a never-ending case of wanderlust. Leo runs the Digital Nomad website Roadside Stories, and on his quest to be location independent he has so far lived in 6 countries and travelled to more than 60. He’s here to inspire you to find the work you love, and to make your someday today!

Some people are blessed enough to have grown up with a career idea that they are
incredibly passionate about.

Others aren’t as sure about their direction from a young age and follow the routine that’s most commonly laid out by society.

Inevitably at some point in our lives we will all ask ourselves the same question:

Am I fulfilled by my work and the direction my life is heading?

I know the feeling of being stuck in a position that didn’t lead me any closer to
fulfilling my personal aspirations.

That’s why I took it upon myself to find work that I would love.

And here’s what I learned along the way.

Expand your network and surround yourself with people who love what they do.

Ever heard the phrase ‘You are the average of the 5 people that you spend the most time with’?

It’s a statement that holds true to the point almost every time.

If you are following a weekly routine that is aimed to simply live for the weekends and curse Monday mornings by the end of it, chances are most of your friends and acquaintances follow a similar pattern.

We like to surround ourselves with people who can relate to our situation – whether that’s a positive or negative one.

So if you should find yourself at a point in your life that seeks a career change, I suggest you do the following:

Expand your network and surround yourself with people who love what they do.

Think of one person that inspires you and make an active effort to spend more time with that person.

Join groups on Facebook, tumblr and reddit.

Connect with people who have similar outlooks and passions in life.

If you surround yourself with people who live life differently and are passionate about what they do, it will inevitably have an effect on your outlook for what is truly possible.

When I looked for a lifestyle change, I attended conferences and events at home and overseas to connect with inspiring people.

I messaged a boatload of of inspiring entrepreneurs and freelancers on Instagram and Facebook just to inquire more about their lifestyles.

I was dedicated to surround myself with like minded individuals to the extent that I booked a one way plane ticket to a foreign country to get the most of the connections I already had bonded with online.

Changing my surroundings has been one of the most powerful steps I have taken to change my belief systems of what work and life should look like.

Maybe you should try it too?

Create a vision map.

Once you have an idea of what your ideal career and work surroundings will look like, it is important to take the time and write down what you plan to accomplish with it over a definite period of time.

What do you want your life and work environment to look like in 1 year from now?

Do you want to become a travel photographer and collaborate with international brands to show off the world’s most unique locations?

Do you want to launch your own digital marketing agency, have the freedom to work whenever from wherever you want and scale your business to 6 figures within the first 2 years?

Sounds cool!

How are you going to get there?

The above mentioned examples sound pretty fantastic and maybe even unattainable if you are just getting started.

But if you break these long term goals in a variety of smaller goals and milestones measured by monthly and quarterly time frames, the whole process will appear a lot more attainable and motivational along the way.

Lets roll with the travel photographer example for now.

Your vision:

I want to become a travel photographer and collaborate with international brands to show of the worlds’ most unique locations.

Now ask yourself, which measurable milestones do you want to achieve along the way?

Which skills do you already have as a photographer? Did you freelance before? Are you good at portraits? Are you a post processing bad ass with landscapes?

What will you use as your portfolio? Do you have your own website? A curated Instagram account?

How will you reach out to brands? What acquisition channels will you be using? Cold emailing? Engagement on Social Media? Do you have a sales funnel set up for your potential clients to go through?

Mapping out the whole process will make it easier for you to track your progress and stay motivated as you tick off one milestone after another.

Hold yourself accountable.

Finding work that you truly love will require one essential ingredient – an exorbitant amount of work. Or hustle as we millennials like to call it. Hustle. Fail. Trial and error.

Eventually you will succeed.

What’s next you ask ?

Rinse repeat.

Building a career that you are passionate about and proud of will not be an easy feat to accomplish.

But it will be a million times more rewarding than sleepwalking through life in a job that you solely do for the paycheck.

 

My last piece of advice:

Set up an accountability structure.

Remember the like minded people I was talking about?

Create accountability groups with them which you will use to regularly follow up with each other on your latest milestones.

Having somebody who frequently checks in on your progress will make it easier to stay on track.

Just like in the corporate world where you will have project manager nagging for the latest deliverables, having an accountability structure with your new found connections will help you to be more productive.

What are you waiting for?

Go and seek the job you will love.

Make your Someday Today.

Leo, Roadside Stories

You can find out more about Leo on his website, Roadside Stories.

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