WHY FOLLOWING MY PASSION WAS MY BEST DECISION EVER

[english, no Dutch today]

Yesterday I came across the video above from Bion, a multi-vitamine pill that helps you keep your drive in every day life. With the #ProjectMe campaign Bion tries to stimulate people to follow their passion: big or small This made me think about my own passion and what it has brought me so far: a lot! So today I’m telling you what it has brought me and why I think it’s super important to follow your passion as well.

“My blog gave me that fulfillment I was looking for.”

Zero fulfillment
Five years ago I graduated high school and had to make a very big decision: choosing a study. Driven by the thought that I needed a well-payed job to meet my future needs I decided to go to university to study social geography and planology. Although my grades were good, I got zero fulfillment out of my study. The thought of having to do this for the rest of my life, day in day out, stressed me out. So after half a year I decided to find the courage to tell my parents that I wanted to quit. It was scary, but fortunately my parents understood. They agreed with me taking half a year off to decide what I réally wanted to do.

Rare opportunities
It was around the same time that I started a fashion blog: my very own place on the internet where I could share my greatest passion with like-minded people. In contrary to my study my blog really gave me that fulfillment I was looking for. Back then I couldn’t imagine that I’d ever make an income out of my blog, I just really loved what I was doing. I loved it so much that I decided that I wanted my next (and hopefully last) study to have a connection with my blog. And so I decided to study communications: best decision ever! I apply what my study teaches me (from copywriting to social media strategy) to my blog and vice versa. Because of that I stand out of the crowd, which gives me opportunities I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. I for example often get asked to give guest lectures, have been offered cool internship spots and even a job (which I rejected, because I want to focus on finishing my study first). All because I once decided to follow my passion and started a fashion blog.

Always follow your passion
What I’m trying to say is that you’d never stand out in something you don’t like doing. You’re much more likely to succeed at something you actually like doing. But I actually think that you should always follow your passion, also when it initially doesn’t have to do anything with a career. If it simply makes you happy you should always make time for it and just do it. And besides, you never know what it will result in! I never thought my blog could actually land me a career, but now I’m 99% sure it will.