Self Made Guy

This post is inspired by another blogger who is trying to define her career.

I’m known to show passion and enthusiasm for many different subjects, so I thought defining my real passions would be easy. My indecisiveness in regards to “what I want to do” hasn’t helped either.

I’ve made lists, spoke with friends and family, and even blogged about my goals and interests. What I found most difficult was defining exactly what I am passionate about. I kept things simple by narrowing down using common denominators.

For each REAL passion I discovered, the recurring themes were: I have studied the subjects (school). I have consumed and enjoyed them for many years. They are subjects I can discuss for hours without losing a breath, and have no problem displaying my knowledge of the subjects.

I initially thought marketing was one of my passions, but the reality is that I can’t talk marketing for hours and I don’t have a large body of knowledge on the subject.

In no particular order, I have narrowed down my REAL passions to the following:

• computers
  - seriously, I think I was born to type. That probably explains my poor handwriting. I’ve always had a natural attraction and ease with computers. I can probably count on my fingers the number of days I spent without using a computer. Scary!
• motorcycles
  - there’s no way to explain how much I love motorcycles and all things related to them. I’ve even crossed an ocean just to see a MotoGP race. Twice! One of my biggest achievements in life was conquering my fear of actually riding one, and still enjoying it many years later.
• mixology
  - I know this might paint a bad picture of me, but it’s not in the form of alcoholism (abuse). I’m an advocate for moderation and enjoying alcohol for the taste, heritage, creation process, and the other good feelings it brings. Ever since I was of legal drinking age (18 in Quebec), I had a fascination with being “the bartender” and using my creativity to wow my friends with fantastic tasting beverages.

In the end, I don’t think there’s a real recipe to discovering your real passions. Some things simply re-surface without a conscious effort. If you can’t figure it out on your own, it might be fruitful to use the view from someone on the outside.

Good luck!

As mentioned in my “About” page, I have a so-so job and no post-secondary degrees or diplomas. On the other hand, I’m probably smarter than 83% of university graduates where intelligence is defined by your capacity to understand and adapt to change.

When I finished high-school, I was accepted into a Computer Science program in college. At the same time, I was learning other subjects outside of my required coursework. After 1 year of beating my head on the desk, I decided to stop attending class because I was offered a job doing exactly what I was studying to become: A programmer. I chose work experience over school. This worked out well because PHP was much more fun than COBOL.

I’ve read tons and tons of books throughout the years. At first they were mostly computer-oriented: PHP, C++, JavaScript, Networking, Linux… but with time I developed a growing interest for business-oriented books: Marketing, entrepreneurship, sales, management…

Despite not having official post-secondary papers, I must point out the importance of knowledge and education. If it weren’t for the hundreds of books, eBooks, tutorials, HowTo’s and other sources of information, I would not have sustained the life I’ve had up to now.

I’ve had a lot of help along the way, mostly from friends, family and people I’ve stayed in contact with throughout the years. Being a self-made guy requires you to maintain positive interactions with everyone you meet, while offering help to anyone who may need it.

I would love to hear from other self-made people, women too. Feel free to share your story in the comments below.