The question in life I’ve always dreaded is “What do you want to be when you grow up?” It was never an easy answer for me, because life seemed like such a big adventure with so many different possibilities and things to learn!

It took a lot of trial and error and mistakes, successes, and failures, but I can’t emphasize this enough:

The saying “Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow” is always true.

You cannot be successful in a career if you don’t have passion for what you are doing. If you drive to work, sit in a cubicle all day, and count the seconds on the clock to go home and spend the time distracting yourself instead of being productive…are you going to get a raise? Are you going to be happy? Will it be the ticket to financial freedom and happiness?

Of course not.

Meanwhile, if you work for a company that excites you to the point where you can’t wait to go to work each and every day, always looking for new ways to make what you are passionate about better than ever before, chances are you would be an eligible candidate for getting a raise or advancement. You might even be able to take your love and passion to begin your own successful business. You will likely earn more, and therefore be able to get out of debt, plan for the future, and live comfortably without worrying about money.

Do you see what a difference passion can make?

If you want a career that you feel passionate about, you need to learn how to recognize what your true calling is. It’s not as easy as most people would think.

There are two questions you can ask yourself that will likely help you get the answer. It’s best to ask yourself these questions when you’re alone and have time to think clearly without interruption. Don’t worry about what other people would think of your answers to these questions – no one has to know the answers except yourself.

Question 1: What Would You Do if You Had Billions of Dollars?

Let’s imagine for a minute you inherited a few billion dollars, a mansion, all the luxury cars of your dreams, a private jet, 2 vacation homes, and a personal maid, chef butler, and gardener. Poof! It was yours instantly. All of your living expenses were pre-paid and all of your money is invested in interest bearing accounts so you will continue to make money doing absolutely nothing for the rest of your life. Let’s assume you get that money right now, and you’re in perfect health and live a good 30-50 years to enjoy all of it.

What will you do? What activities will you find yourself immersed in with no worry about whether it earns you money, saves you money, or ends up costing you money? What will you do willingly and graciously, and crave to do all the time?

Answers will vary for everyone. Maybe you will start working with nonprofit organizations. Maybe you’ll fund medical research to cure diseases and help people be healthier. Maybe you’ll invent new technology. Maybe you’ll sew, or write, or cook, or make movies, or go travel all over the world to meet new people and experience new things.

When money is not associated with our desires for what to do with our time here on earth, it opens your mind up to new possibilities. It helps you see what you really would like to do – and it helps you create a goal, dive deep into your passion regardless of having no or little money, and work until you can make that passion a sustainable source of income.

I for example, know that no matter amount of money I have or don’t have, I will always have a need to write. That need and love for writing would exist just as strongly if I didn’t write to make money – I’d write for free.

If that question does not help you see your true calling for a career, consider this one:

Question 2: What Did You Do All the Time as a Kid?

When I was a kid, I sat at the computer and created magazines on a really awesome but now obsolete software for Mac called Creative Writer. I wrote all types of stories and designed all types of newspapers and magazines with the help of some crazy purple guy with a big nose named McZee.

That soon moved on to bigger and better things, like Adobe Photoshop and Pagemaker and writing thousands of documents in Claris Works.

I got distracted somewhere in there thinking I had to go get a real job and go to college and do all that other stuff, when all along I knew what I liked to do, which was writing, publishing and graphic design. Had I started blogging back in 2003 instead of 2007 or had considered pursuing my interest in graphic design in college sure could have saved me a lot of wasted time and energy!

There were countless other things I liked doing as a kid I would enjoy doing just as much today, should I ever get bored of writing.

My brother is another good example of someone who is doing what he loved to do as a kid. Most of our childhood was spent building castles and the like out of Lego Blocks, or if we were outside building forts. What does he do today? He works in architecture of course!

The right career or calling might very well indeed be child’s play.

Take some time and think about the answers to these two questions when you have time to think without distractions or outside noise to influence your decision. It might not come to you right away, and if that’s the case, don’t panic! It will come to you eventually.