Mix Your Interests to Create New Opportunities

Turning What You Love into What You Do
By Patrick O’Connor

Multiple Options
Many people find themselves conflicted with what they plan to do in life/career. Sometimes this confusion is because they have many ideas, talents and interests. It is difficult sometimes to decide what interests you most and where it can take you. In our world today, this is a good problem to have as it means you have lots of options. Think of those multiple interests and talents as avenues/options you can pursue in life and change gears as needed. This will be an even bigger premium in the future. 

Solving this problem takes considerable thought and exploration. A key point is to leverage these options. One characteristic of the Road Less Traveled (RLT) alums is they have multiple interests. This blog segment examines this concept with examples of two RLT subjects: Ann Kent (Volume 6) and Joan Meggitt (Volume 19). This segment also provides a three-step process readers can follow to leverage their interests. 

Here are a few related examples to set the tone for this concept. Authors John Gresham and Michael Crichton mixed their interests and became two popular writers. Gresham has a law degree and practiced law early in his career but mostly wrote about it. Similar for Crichton, who had a Harvard M.D. but never practiced medicine. Both leveraged their interests to create another career opportunity. Debra Gould (segment 2b) took her love for decorating and matched it with her entrepreneurship experience and became the Staging Diva. Many college students double major, indicating they are mixing their interests, which most likely will result in new career opportunities. 

Two RLT alums with multiple interests
Ann Kent grew up playing piano. She was quite accomplished and had excellent opportunities to pursue a professional career. Her family was socially active. She felt a strong need to provide a voice to those who had been silenced. She wanted to use the healing power of music to help those in need. She blended her two interests and pursued a music therapy degree. She used this to launch a career as a music therapist in drug and alcohol treatment centers. After a few other stops in treatment centers, she spent several years working for Business Volunteers United. Her focus there was to assist companies to provide volunteer opportunities for their employees to support their communities. 

Joan Meggitt grew up surrounded by artistic interests. She loved music, dance and singing. These multiple interests were leveraged into a career spanning numerous positions in dance, including university professor positions. She blended all three talents/interests along with her years of experience to teach the “Yes I Can Dance” program Parkinson’s Dance Programs in Cleveland, Ohio | InMotion . This movement program supports people with Parkinson’s disease to improve their mobility and social interaction. Joan’s class includes movement, singing, music and social interaction. 

Three Steps to Opportunity
The following three-step process can be used by anyone at any time to combine interests that can result in new opportunities. A high school senior is used as an example. The process includes information from previous blog segments.

Step 1 – Lifeline Exercise
Conduct the lifeline exercise identified in Blog 3b. Identify two or more interests and look for ways to combine them. For this example, the high school student grew up around water and spent lots of time swimming, water skiing and diving. She was on the high school dive team. She also loved to take pictures. She took a photography class which led her to the high school yearbook team. Her lifeline indicated two loves: water and photography.  

Step two – Explore
She thought she would explore possibilities by combining her two main interests. She did an internet search using the words “water and photography.” The search revealed a considerable amount of information on photographing water in all its various forms including waterfalls, rivers, rain and even underwater. Underwater photography caught her attention.

Step three – Access Resources
Professional/trade associations (Blog 3b) are excellent resources to learn about specific industries and career opportunities. The student did a search using “water and photography associations.”

The following two associations came up:
American Photographers Association | American Photographers Association (apaamerica.com)
Home | Photographic Society of America (psa-photo.org)

Both associations include extensive information, networking, seminars and links to a wide assortment of opportunities photographing the world of water. The APA even has a link for “underwater photography.” She plans to review the associations and may join them. This will help her chart a path to career opportunities. She can learn what kind of college major and experiences (perhaps a few internships) will prepare her for underwater photography. She will also identify people and organizations for career networking. 

People will spend most of their adult years at work. It is important to enjoy those years. One way to turn what you love into what you do is to mix multiple interests to create new opportunities as the RLT alums have done. My next blog segment will focus on how the RLT subjects humbly live their missions in life. 

Photo courtesy pexels.com