We have all heard the 9-5 trap and fear getting stuck in living a life full of work that we do not enjoy. I began to think about this dilemma in my final stages of University when I would then enter the world of work and “adult life.” If you are working a job or living a life that does not fulfill you. I want you to consider how much energy this is taking away from you. It is entirely okay to not know what you want to do with the rest of your life but it is also insanely important to become intentional with how you spend your time so that you can further put time into the things that fulfill you.

How do you find time for your passions while working a 9-5?

It can become hard to put your energy back into yourself when you are working hard at something that you do not love. Trust me - I know this. A lot of you want to pursue your passions and cannot find the time right now.

Your Job

I want you to examine how much energy you put into your job. Once you classify the amount, you need to separate yourself energetically from this job. Whether it is school or work, all of these institutions do a good job of convincing us that our careers are our identities. We are taught that what we do to make money, is who we are. Often times although you don’t feel fulfilled by your job, you may find yourself hustling and climbing to classify and be the best. This cycle becomes extremely detrimental to your life’s purpose and well-being. Simply put, we make money to live but then again, at some point, the thing we do to make money prevents us from living. As someone who has always tried to excel at what they do, it was hard for me to let go of this need in places I did not care to work. You have to let go of this need if it is not fulfilling you because you will never be content and you will always chase. If it is not your passion, you need to start looking at your 9-5 as a game, something that pays the bills so that you can do what you truly love - a side hustle essentially.

Fulfillment

Are you working too hard at your job? Companies actually invest money in manipulating you to care more about your job than you actually do. Not to get sociological here, but I find it fascinating how we can build insecure attachments with even our workplace. You will see companies push a loyalty agenda in which they treat you like family, encourage you to work longer etc. If you are the kind of person who busts you a** like me to please people and perform congratulations, you now feel like you need and owe your job. You have to let go of this to make space to do what you want. I am not saying it is easy but it is essential. In life, it is important to consider what relationships serve you and return that energy back. If your job sucks the life out of you, don’t spend even more of your energy compensating for that. Work hard but protect your energy.

Emotional detachment

Once you emotionally detach from your job, you begin to figure out how you work smarter and not harder. How can you maximize your time and lighten your workload? This looks different for everyone. Are you project-based, or contracted? Do you work in an office or from home? Maybe you can pitch a hybrid position? Remember that you do have some sort of control over your schedule…

How can you create autonomy in your work environment?

Talk to your boss about your schedule, time, and workflow. Having conversations is important and building out a system is essential. Once you start winning back some of this time, you want to get intelligent on how to use that time and optimize it. When I decided I wanted to pursue my passions, I negotiated an invoiced position with my boss, one in which I got the amount of work that she wanted to be done completed and invoiced her for the number of hours it took me. I was extremely burnt out but it allowed me to put momentum into my dreams and true goals in life. I never let up on my quality of work and continued to perform until I did not have to anymore.

Be intentional with your time

If you are working full time and aim to make your passion your profit, time is of the essence. Get organized. Plan your days with a calendar. This way you can organize your 9-5 but also organize the time spent on your passion. Be organized about where your time goes and what the return on this investment is. Make sure you meet deadlines and put in the work you need in the most efficient way possible. Also, think about how are you wasting your time. Are you spending hours a day on TikTok, are you going out aimlessly, are you procrastinating? Don’t spend your time escaping reality. Take back your power and be intentional!

Putting time into the things that fulfill you will change your life.

REMINDER - Let go of hustle mentality. I don’t want you taking this blog and spread yourself thin. Emphasize on the working smarter not harder and let go of the toxic money mindset. I know it can be hard to control passion and profit but this formula will allow you to hopefully one day turn your passion to profit. I have been surrounded by dreams my entire life but sadly most of them disappear. People become comfortable in their stable 9-5’s and run away from the unknown and possible fulfillment. It is not easy but I promise you that it is worth it. Focus on balance, time and intentions and you will get far. Be a student to your craft, focus on learning that craft before you focus on monetization. Cultivate a positive relationship with the things you pursue outside of your 9-5 fulfilling. How can your passion be your peace and release?

For me, modelling started off as my side hustle and quickly became my passion. I began to become a student to the art of posing, fashion, diversity, and expression. I loved it so much that I wanted to make a career out of it but the path was daunting and vulnerable to me. When I took on a full time position, I quickly became unhappy. I knew that I had a fire and wanted to make change in the modelling industry. That is when I decided to make money through my job so that I could make moves as a model. Now - I am a full time model, this is my career and my passion is my profit.