90) How to have a passion-led Business and Life as a Digital Nomad

I think you deserve to life a passion filled life, but what if you don't know what you passion is? 

If you are the kind of person who doesn't know what your passion is or how to make a dream digital nomad life career out of it this episode is for you. Many of us feel stuck in unfulfilling jobs, craving a lifestyle that offers location independence, financial freedom, and work that truly inspires us. Today we dive deep into how to identify your passions and transform them into a sustainable career through remote work, helping you move closer to your dream of becoming a digital nomad.

In this episode:

• Uncover practical exercises to help you identify your true passions—even if you currently feel disconnected from them.
• Learn how curiosity, consistency, and taking small steps can lead to building a passion-driven career.
• Gain insight into how to create a "lowercase i" impossible life where you have the freedom to live and work anywhere in the world.

Resources Mentioned:

• The Art of Impossible by Steven Kotler
• Episode 73: Shadow and Light Work for Digital Nomads
• Episode 84: How to Become a Digital Nomad in 2025

CODEWORD:

• DM @christabellatravels the keyword “roadmap” to receive the 12-week roadmap to become a digital nomad

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to the Digital Nomad Life Podcast
• 3:03 Meet Your Host Krista
• 32:14 Understanding Passion in Your Career
• 1:07:33 Why Your Passion Matters
• 1:39:49 The Common Struggle of Finding Passion
• 3:02:38 Ranting About Societal Expectations
• 3:41:15 How to Explore Possible Passions
• 20:42:15 Building a Business Around Your Passion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey there and welcome to the Digital Nomad Life Podcast. I'm your host, krista, also known as KristaBelletTravels on social media. I always say my handle at the beginning of every episode because I want you to know where you can DM me If you have any questions about the content of this episode, if you feel inspired by it or if you just want to share your story about how maybe it's been a passion of yours to become a digital nomad. Okay, I just slipped the word passion in there. I didn't actually even mean to do that, but that is the concept of today's episode. It is all about finding passion in your life and, specifically, your career.

Speaker 1: 0:38

I believe that my brand, which is all about being a digital nomad, really attracts people who maybe you might not be living a passionate life in the moment, but you desire to be living a passionate life and I think that you deserve to live a passionate life. Personally, I live a passionate life every day, and I have for a decade plus now, and it's just the best living a life that you love. So that really is my mission. That really is why I'm here recording this episode for you, faux free. I just want to make sure that, whatever the perspective is I have in my brain. I want other people to be able to experience that too. So the reason why I'm making this episode is because, well, first of all, there's a book that I've been reading and I'll tell you all about it in a moment. But also, I've had this conversation with so many people over the years and I don't just mean the years that I personally have been a digital nomad, which, by the way, has been more than 10. But yeah, so, over my decade plus of being a digital nomad plus several years before I even started living this lifestyle I've just always had people remark to me that I sound really passionate about what it is that I'm talking about, or what it is that I'm doing or what it is that I do. And people usually say, wow, krista, that's so cool that you have so much passion for this thing that you're doing. I wish that I had that. And then I talk to them a little bit more and I asked them what are you passionate about? And so many people I can't even tell you so many people respond with I don't think that I have any passions, or I don't know what my passions are, or I've never really been passionate about anything. Well, if that is you, listener, if you are the kind of person that feels like you are out of touch with what your passions even could be, then this episode is for you.

Speaker 1: 2:32

Even though usually, whenever I do these episodes, I actually just wing it and just see whatever it is that comes out of my mouth, I do intend on covering several things in this episode. So one I want to talk about what passion is and what it isn't, and the misconceptions that we have around passion, and also how I think society and the matrix keeps us all from, you know, feeling like we actually have passions, which keeps us small and it keeps us stuck in the system. So I just want to give you a little bit of a rant about that so that, hopefully, you feel convicted enough to go forward with your new passion as fully as possible. And when I say new passion, I also have some exercises up my sleeve that you can do in order to get in touch with what your future passions might be. If you tell me that you don't have any passions right now, I'm going to believe you and I get it. But I know that you're listening to this episode because you want to live a passionate life and you want to have a passionate career. So I think that it's time for you to explore what possible passions are out there for you. And, of course, you know I am a business coach and the reason why I'm making this whole podcast in the first place is because I don't just want people to live a life that they feel happy and passionate about, but I also want them to be doing work that they feel passionate about.

Speaker 1: 3:59

We spend so much of our time at work and that's true whether you are working a nine to five or whether you have your own digital nomad business Like, even though I have a lot of free time in my life, I still spend a lot of time and effort and energy thinking about my business, working with my clients, etc. And I just think that it's so amazing that the hours that I do put into my work, they're like fun hours, like I enjoy thinking about my business. I actually love thinking about my business because I'm passionate about my business. So, yeah, that really is my intention of this episode. It's just to set you up for a lifetime of passion and a career that you are passionate about. It's a very, very, very small percentage of people that can say that they are passionate about their work. I'm one of them and I want you to be one of them too, to be one of them too. So, without further ado, let's get into how to have a passion-filled career and life as a digital nomad. Let's get into it.

Speaker 1: 5:13

So I think the best way to drop into the content of this episode is to share with you what actually initially inspired me or kick-started me coming up with the content here, and that is the book the Art of Impossible. I always listen to books, actually, so when I say I read, I'm listening. But I'm reading this book called the Art of Impossible by Stephen Kotler, and this book is all about achieving a quote impossible life. Personally, I think that I live an impossible life, lowercase impossible, and we'll talk about the difference between lowercase impossible and capital impossible. But yeah, I think I live an impossible life. I mean, if you asked me 15 years ago where I thought I would be in my mid-30s, I never, ever, ever, would have told you that I would be living on a tropical beach with an adorable rescue dog, in a beautiful three bedroom villa with a volcano view, surrounded by entrepreneur friends having a multiple six figure business, traveling to almost 70 countries at this point and absolutely loving what I do in my career Having basically a three-day weekend every single weekend, sometimes four, sometimes five, if I'm honest, and being able to go to sleep at 1am and wake up at nine because that's just what my biological clock asks me to do.

Speaker 1: 6:37

Going to the gym at 11am, 2pm, 5pm, whatever day that I want. Spending my weekends dancing to my favorite DJs at these amazing beachfront clubs, attending full moon ceremonies with my spiritual quote sisters, and still being able to have a beautiful relationship with all of my family members. Because I can fly business class all the way to the other side of the world every single year for two months at a time. I could throw in lots of other things that make my life sound impossible, but you get the picture. So I've always had this desire to live an impossible life. But the thing is, if you asked me 15 years ago, I would not have been able to think of this impossible life, because I literally didn't even know that it could exist. And now we're actually talking about this concept of impossible.

Speaker 1: 7:27

So before, when I was still in college, right when I was looking forward to my future, thinking, okay, what is it that I could do? I wanted to have something beautiful in my life to manifest and I thought, okay, well, what are all the options that are out there and which one can I choose? That would just be the best of the best. Well, I knew I wanted a career that I loved. I knew I wanted to make a lot of money. I knew I wanted to travel the world. So I knew that I wanted to have all these things. But I just really didn't see that I could also be living abroad as an expat, that I could have all of these things at the same time. It wasn't until I met other people that were doing this kind of lifestyle too, that were living as digital nomads, that I even had the awareness that I could potentially strive towards that kind of impossible life. This is one of the reasons why I'm so passionate about sharing my life on social media in this podcast, because I just want people passionate about sharing my life on social media in this podcast, because I just want people to know that it's possible.

Speaker 1: 8:28

So in this book, the author talks about lowercase I impossible and capital I impossible. A capital I impossible is something that literally no human has ever been able to accomplish and that we currently do not see any path to making it possible. For example, a human landing on Jupiter. We might think is impossible. Jupiter might just be too far away. Jupiter might just be too far away from the sun, might not have any possible qualities that a human could live under, etc. But it might be actually lowercase impossible for a human to live on Mars. I mean, currently nobody has done it yet, but we actually are starting to develop technology and systems and dreams to make that lowercase I goal of impossible possible.

Speaker 1: 9:26

So I just wanted to lead with that concept because as you move through this episode and you start to think about what are the things that you would like to do in your life, are they actually capital I impossible or are they lowercase I impossible? And personally I think the concept of a lowercase I impossible and personally I think the concept of a lowercase I impossible is actually so empowering Because when you remember that something is lowercase I impossible, your brain immediately starts to think about okay, well, how could I make it possible for me? That's another important distinction is that a lowercase I impossible thing means that it is technically possible. You just might feel like it's impossible for you, but if you can acknowledge that it is possible for somebody else, it could be possible for you, and I think that that is so empowering. There needs to be some sliver of possibility for something to be possible in order for us to pursue it. Otherwise, we definitely would just think what is even the point of this, and then we would give up. Now the question you're probably asking yourself is okay, got the impossible concept, but how does this tie into passion and why was I reading this book and why is it all relevant? So in this book again, the author it's called the Art of Impossible, and the author is talking about how to live an impossible, a lowercase I impossible life, and the author says that passion is one of the things that is a key, critical ingredient to creating an impossible life.

Speaker 1: 11:02

Your impossible life whoever you are listener, I'm assuming has something to do with you having a lot more freedom than you currently have. Am I right? This extra freedom that you are longing for? Yeah, it definitely could be location independence, freedom for you to be wherever you want, to live wherever you want, to travel whenever you want. It could also be freedom of your time. You might want to have freedom to again go to the gym during the middle of the day, take an extra long weekend, take a mental health day whenever you want. You might want to be able to just say yes to an amazing festival or opportunity or a wedding that you just got invited to. Time freedom is such an important aspect of freedom and you know what else is is financial freedom. You could have all the time and the energy and the location independence in the world, but if you don't have financial freedom to say yes to the things that you want to do, to pursue the things that you want to do, well, you're pretty much on the same level as someone who's hermiting in the woods, who's living off of the land, and that's cool.

Speaker 1: 12:14

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that dream, but I feel like if you're listening to the Digital Nomad Life podcast, which is a whole lot about entrepreneurship, you probably want time freedom, location freedom and financial freedom, and I want you to have all those things too. I want you to have all those things too, because I have all those things, and by someone else around me having those things, I don't get triggered by it, I celebrate it. I get excited when other people have the same things as I do. But do you know who doesn't get excited when other people have the same things as I do? But do you know who doesn't get excited by you having all these amazing things? Are people that want those things but believe that those things aren't possible for them Because that makes them feel disempowered. And disempowered is a terrible feeling, because when we feel disempowered, we want to give up. And what happens when we give up? All kinds of bad stuff, depressing things, depressiveness, and I don't think we want to bring that vibe into this episode.

Speaker 1: 13:12

This episode is about high vibe, looking forward, looking into the future, believing in the impossible. So let's say that your impossible life involves location, freedom, time freedom and financial freedom. Well, if you want to have all of those things in that impossible life, you've got to have something that you are passionate about, to have the energy and the motivation to keep moving forward closer to that dream impossible life. And now, don't get disempowered by this if you don't know what your passions are. First of all, let's define what passion is not.

Speaker 1: 13:53

One thing that passionate is not is being good at something. Now, I know that you might think that if someone is passionate about something, it will look like they are good at it, but that would mean that they are talented at it. And this may sound obvious, but passion and talent are not the same thing. You can be passionate about something and still be absolute shit at it, but I bet you, if you ask the average member of our society, they will define someone who is passionate about something as someone who does that thing all the time, every day. They think about it, they dream about it, they practice it, they give all their free time to it. So naturally, many people think that if you're passionate about something, you're going to be good at it. But the thing is, passion doesn't just pop up overnight. Talent might, but passion no.

Speaker 1: 14:54

A passion could develop very quickly if you find that you have some hidden talent. Like if we take a career example, let's say that you have never written anything professionally in your life. But you start your first business and now you need to write your first sales page or the copy for your first website, and you realize that actually these words just flowed out of you like water. It was just. They came out of your brain, went onto the digital page and then, poof, you had this perfect text and you realize that actually you might have a talent for writing sales copy. Now that talent, if you're like, oh, I'm good at this, I want to try more, let me see if I can get even better that might help you cultivate a passion for writing sales copy. But just because you're good at it, just because you're talented at it, doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to love it. We do tend to enjoy things that we are good at, but not always so it is important to draw that distinction.

Speaker 1: 16:01

But do you know what? What could happen in developing the passion for writing sales copy, for example, could be that you take your first stab at writing the website for your first business and it comes out okay, but you're not super happy with it. And then you go to a workshop and you ask ChatGPT for some support and then ultimately, it ends up becoming way better after you get a little bit of help from someone else, and that causes you to think, oh, interesting, like when it's good, it's really good and I wonder if I could try to get better at it. So you take more workshops and you ask more questions and you try and try again. Maybe you even start offering this service to people for free, because you just really are so curious about how to write a really, really amazing sales page.

Speaker 1: 16:50

In this process that I'm describing here, that person is not talented at it, but they are passionate about it, whereas the other person the first person that I described they might be talented at it, but not passionate about it. So I go into detail about that to reassure you that you can still be passionate about something even if you aren't good at it. I think that the big issue that a lot of people have when they say, oh, I'm not passionate about anything, is that actually they do have passions, but they're just feeling insecure about sharing it with other people. Because if you say, oh, yeah, I'm really passionate about playing tennis, then someone will say, oh great, we should play. Like, my friend is really good at it. And then you have to go with your tail between your legs playing a sport that you're actually not really good at but you really enjoy, and then other people are going to question you and say, how are you passionate about it when you suck this bad at playing tennis? And that can be embarrassing and, again, it can be really vulnerable. So I think that a lot of people just they have convinced themselves that they don't have any passion, when actually they do. The thing is, they just don't have a talent.

Speaker 1: 18:07

I think that expecting someone to be talented at something is really unfair, especially in the world that we live in, like I'm talking about the system that we live in, the matrix that we live in, the matrix that we live in asks people to give up their entire schedule, and basically their entire life, to the schedule. For example, the schedule that you are supposed to abide by in the matrix is that, from the age of five years old, you go spend this many hours at school and then, once you're done with school, you go spend this many hours in a job and it pretty much dominates your entire life, like the hours that you work or the hours that you're studying. It's the majority of your day, and it's not just the majority of your day, but it's the vast majority of your best energy. We get two days a week to indulge in whatever it is that we want to indulge in Saturday and Sunday but Sunday usually we're gearing up for Monday, and Saturday we're recovering from Friday, so it really doesn't leave us a lot of energy to indulge in our passions or in enhancing our talents. Most people, if you ask them if they have a hobby, they're going to say no, because they feel that if they have a hobby, that means that they need to be putting in a certain amount of time or energy into it in order for it to air quotes count, and that's so unfortunate, too, because we just really are not given much free time in the matrix that we're living in.

Speaker 1: 19:39

I hope that you're seeing this cycle and this kind of self-fulfilling prophecy that so many people are being sucked into, which is that you believe that passion looks a certain way, that passion looks like talent. But in order to develop a talent, you need to be putting in time and effort and energy into it. But because we're not given time, effort or any energy left over to dedicate to developing our talent, we think that our quote hobbies where we would be building our habits don't count and therefore we don't have any hobbies, we don't have anything that we are passionate about, and that's just bullshit. That's sad and it just ain't right, and I want to get you out of this cycle. So here's the thing. What I want you to do because I love giving you homework exercises in these podcasts is I want you to write down a list of your passions, and if you find yourself looking at a blank sheet of paper again, you are not the only one. You're one in 99.99% of people. You're just like everybody else who's out of touch with your passions. So that's okay.

Speaker 1: 20:49

Here's what you're going to do instead with your passions. So that's okay, here's what you're going to do instead. You're going to make a list of things that make you happy, and everything belongs on this list, right. Like it could be playing peekaboo with your child or with your niece. It could be trying new foods at a local ethnic restaurant. It could be that rush that you get when you book a plane ticket. It could be playing ball in the backyard with one of your friends. It could be that rush that you get when you book a plane ticket. It could be playing ball in the backyard with one of your friends. Could be reading nonfiction books or fiction books. What are all of the things that bring you joy? And please do this exercise and take this exercise seriously.

Speaker 1: 21:25

I'm specifically talking to you. If you are listening to this on your way to work and you don't like your job, I want you to have a list in your phone today and every time that you feel like, oh, I wish I weren't here. I want you to go to that list and I want you to find something, anything that makes you happy or has ever made you happy. If you are in a disempowered state, this list is going to be hard for you to create. Okay, so just know that, like, if you're resonating with this episode, if you clicked on this episode because you feel you don't have any passions, it's going to be hard for you to come up with a big list of things that make you happy. That's normal, that's natural, and we just have to accept that. That might be the situation that you're in. It's okay, kid, we're going to get you out of this.

Speaker 1: 22:15

I want this list to be something that you keep with you over the course of the next month. Okay, so don't put too much pressure on yourself for having to fill out like 50 things on it in the first 10 minutes. If they're just rolling off your tongue and just falling out of your brain, then probably you're not so out of touch with your passions. This is an exercise for people who are out of touch with their passions. So, again, just like, don't expect this exercise to be easy. Don't expect it to be quick. I want you to just be keeping this list with you for the next month and again, anytime that you think of something, remember something that ever made you happy, write it down on that list.

Speaker 1: 22:56

This exercise of creating this list is an example of light work, by the way, and if you don't know what that is, I have episode 73 called Shadow and Light Work for Digital Nomads how and why to Do it Again. That's episode 73. Little Nomads how and why to Do it Again. That's episode 73. And this is all about cultivating your mindset and overcoming your fears, your limiting beliefs, your procrastination, your worries and anxiety that you have about creating your dream life and, yeah, just moving through it. So if you're finding that this list is really challenging for you to create, go listen to that episode again 73, and then come back to this one and finish the rest of the exercise. So, yeah, you've hopefully now by now you pause this episode, but now you have written down all the things that have ever made you happy.

Speaker 1: 23:50

What I want you to recognize and acknowledge is this list of things that have ever made you happy are a bunch of seeds. Yes, imagine a packet of seeds okay. Seeds like that little plants grow out of okay. So these seeds not every single one of them is going to sprout into a little sprout. Many will just live as seeds forever, and that's fine. But some, if you water it the right way, if it's in the right soil, if you're patient with it, and even if you do that trick that people say, when you talk to plants, the loving voice, they grow better and faster. You do that trick that people say, when you talk to plants, the loving voice, they grow better and faster.

Speaker 1: 24:35

If that is the way that you are nurturing your seed, it could turn into a full-blown passion and talent. And if you're passionate and talented at something mark my words, kid you're going to get paid for that thing and you're going to be able to create a business around that thing and you're going to be able to leverage that thing into your lowercase I impossible life. But how do you nurture the seed of a passion plant? Well, I think the first thing is curiosity. So you have all these things that make you happy right Now.

Speaker 1: 25:11

I want you to look at that list and see are there any items on this list that, if you learned a little bit more about this thing, that you could actually take this thing to the next level, whatever that next level might be Like. If it's playing peekaboo with your niece, maybe taking that to the next level could mean figuring out why kids react so strongly to the game of peekaboo. Or if it's the rush that you get when you book that plane ticket, you could take that to the next level by thinking about okay, well, what's the physiological or scientific or psychological reason why I get this rush? Or you could take it to the next level and say okay, I love booking flights. How can I book more flights with less money? Or how can I learn about flight hacking so I can do more of this without a financial burden?

Speaker 1: 26:04

If it's playing ball with your friend, maybe you take that to the next level by figuring out how to catch the ball 100% of the time. Or how to get your throw to go even farther. Or maybe you throw two balls at a time and then that ends up turning into learning how to juggle. Do you see what I mean? Like these are all kind of weird, silly, everyday examples, but the challenge here is to look through that list and think about how can you get curious about taking each and every single one to the next level. So this next list is going to be getting creative and getting curious about all the things that have ever made you happy. This is you basically planting all of the seeds of your passion. Now, once you go through the process of thinking about how can I take each of these things to the next level, whatever that means, define it however you want Once you get curious about each one of these things, you're going to look at that list and you're going to say, huh, which one of these things sounds the most interesting or fun for me to explore? And you might find that if your options are learning the psychology of peekaboo, learning how to flight, hack or juggling those are three pretty different things and you might find that there's a really obvious answer for you which one of those is most interesting to you specifically.

Speaker 1: 27:33

Don't go here with what you think is most monetizable. Don't go here with what you think is the most practical or leverageable. Passion is not necessarily something that is logical. Passion is a feeling, in fact. So you're merely going to go off of the feelings and emotions that you get and feel when you look at your list of the curiosities of each of the things that make you happy Effectively. What you've just done is come up with a whole list of action items that you can go through one by one, by one, to start figuring out.

Speaker 1: 28:09

What is it that you are passionate about? Now, remember all of these things. You might not be a natural talent at any single one, and that's okay. Talent does not equal passion. Talent simply just means that you're naturally good at it. And again, you might find that something that you're naturally good at you might quickly develop a flaming passion for, and that's awesome. But for most people, that's not how it actually works. For most people, the passion and the talent are something that you cultivate over a long period of time. Now back to the book right, the Art of Impossible.

Speaker 1: 28:51

I loved, loved, loved this example that the author was giving about Michael Jordan and Einstein. When we think of these two people, we think Michael Jordan, passionate and talented at basketball. We think Einstein, passionate and talented at art and science. But here's the thing about these two exceptional people, people that are exceptionally talented and passionate it's that they were not born that way. They were not born being one of the best basketball players of all time. They were not born being one of the most genius scientists and mathematicians that's ever lived.

Speaker 1: 29:29

What happened for each of these people is that something happened when they were probably pretty young that made them happy. Maybe it was a day that Michael Jordan picked up his first basketball and he dribbled it a little bit because someone showed him how and he realized that he actually could bounce this basketball up and down pretty well. And then he was like oh interesting, I wonder if I can also shoot a hoop. And do you think that he got every single hoop when he was really young? No, he was a little kid. He didn't have height on his side, he probably was not very coordinated. His muscles weren't fully developed. Of course, he was not going to be the Michael Jordan that we know he is today. He was just a kid who was curious and interested in getting better at this thing. That made him happy With Einstein. He probably had a moment when he was pretty young where he realized that there was something so satisfying about solving a math equation that that feeling of satisfaction made him feel good, made him feel happy, and he thought, huh, interesting, it feels even more satisfying, it feels even better when I do a math equation that challenges me even more. And he got passionate about solving harder and harder and harder math equations. But he didn't come out with the E equals MC squared right when he was first discovering mathematics. He only was able to achieve that accomplishment because he had the passion to continue pursuing his ultimate talent.

Speaker 1: 31:02

Now, again back to the way that I think society relates to the concept of passion and talent is that if you say that you're passionate about something, people expect you to be at the Michael Jordan or Einstein level, and that's just simply not fair and it's not possible. You can claim the fact that you are passionate about something even if you're shit at it. The thing that makes you passionate is that you are curious about it. To stay consistent, learning more, that is what makes you passionate. That passion is what ultimately will breed a talent that you might not innately have but is possible for you in the long run. So in the long run, if you want to have a career that you absolutely love, that you are good at, that the world needs that you enjoy.

Speaker 1: 31:55

You're ikigai right? You've probably heard me talk about the ikigai I-K-I-G-A-I it's this Japanese concept. If you want to achieve your ikigai, if you want to live a life of passion, you got to know what your passions are and you got to be patient with yourself in developing your talent, in your passion, and you can't be afraid of what other people think when you say that you are passionate about something. Now, you might not believe me on this, and you know what I get it Like. I have exited from the matrix. I don't live in that world anymore. I live on a little island where I'm around all kinds of people that dream big and live lowercase, I impossible lives.

Speaker 1: 32:37

But I know that whenever I go back into, I guess, the world that I came from, I hear the judgment, I hear the criticism, I hear people being skeptical about the things that I say, about the way that I live my life, and I know that it doesn't feel good to be a black sheep. It doesn't feel good to be isolated, it doesn't feel good to believe that you're alone in the way that you think. Just isolation is one of the worst feelings. So I understand why you might be hesitant to tell people that you're passionate about something that you're actually really just curious about. So if that is the case for you, my solution for you, if someone ever criticizes you and says, oh, you're passionate about that, but you're not even good at it. Oh, you're passionate, but you just started.

Speaker 1: 33:22

I invite you to share with them this episode and challenge them on that, ask them what their definition of passion is and open up a conversation with them about how it's actually really hard in life right now to develop a passion because of the way that our society, the way that our system, the way that the matrix is set up for people. It's set up for people to fail at discovering passions. It's set up for people to fail at developing hobbies. It's set up for people to fail at having the energy and the motivation and the drive to continue pursuing their passion or exploring their curiosity, because we're giving our whole schedule, we're giving all of our energy to a job that probably we're not passionate about. We just took because we were in a state of scarcity and shame. Wow, okay, I did not think that this episode was going to take that turn.

Speaker 1: 34:17

Like I said earlier, I never know what's going to come out of my mouth in these episodes, but I actually do want to talk about that for a minute. So, yeah, this concept of taking a job because you're in scarcity and in shame. I know that sounds really dramatic, but this is actually the way that our world is set up. So when I say shame, what I'm referring to is the energy of I'm not enough, the energy of I don't know if I'm doing the right thing, the energy of I should be better, I should be farther along, I should do what they're doing. When I tune into that energy of all those statements, I see myself kind of like hunched over, like my back is protecting my heart, my head is down. I just don't feel good about myself. I don't feel empowered.

Speaker 1: 35:03

A lot of us take jobs because we feel like we should be working, Otherwise people will criticize us. We should have a job that makes a certain amount of money, otherwise we're clearly not good enough. We feel like we should have a certain role or responsibility, otherwise we're not up to par, we're not keeping up. We feel like we should be working a nine to five because that's what everyone around us is doing. All of that again is the vibration of shame and it's scarcity as well. It's not thinking about how actually there are infinite possibilities of different ways to make money. There are infinite businesses that you could create, infinite jobs that you could get, but we're in such a rush and we're in competition and we're scared of criticism and judgment, so we just take usually the first thing that we can get. That makes us feel like we're doing the quote right thing and not the wrong thing. And that's how so many people end up selling their souls to the matrix, selling their schedules, selling their energy, and in exchange for what? Relief from the feeling of shame.

Speaker 1: 36:11

And then you try to go pursue your passion, you try to develop a hobby, and then people around you tell you that, oh well, if you're not doing this hobby every single weekend, it doesn't count, or if you're not good at it, you're clearly not actually passionate about it. Who are you trying to kid? What mask are you trying to wear? All this is just so low vibe I just can't even trying to wear. All this is just so low vibe I just can't even my friend listener, look, I know there are things in your life that have made you happy and I know that, no matter what those things are, there is a way for you to get curious about it, to take it to the next level, and I understand if you feel that you don't have any passions.

Speaker 1: 36:47

I understand if you feel that there are no hobbies that are out there for you, and I understand that that is all just a way that you have been conditioned to stay in the little matrix, serving your little role as a peg on a wheel. But you can exit. You don't have to be a part of that system. But what you do have to do if you don't want to be a part of that system, is you need to know yourself and you need to be a passion-filled person. So I just gave you a very clear, straightforward exercise that you can do to start identifying your passion and just know that of course, there's going to be a road ahead of you in order to get to a Michael Jordan or an Einstein level or the level that I'm at.

Speaker 1: 37:31

But staying optimistic and staying curious, these are the secrets to you uncovering your lowercase I impossible life. And remember that, whatever your lifestyle, it is that you desire, as long as you're not trying to actually become a unicorn or an alien, it probably is a lowercase I impossible life. People have done wild things. They have become rich and famous, doing all kinds of crazy shit, and all of them, all of their passions, started with one simple thing that made them happy one day. That's where it begins, that's the seed of passion. So make that list, see what seeds you have and just get curious and then just take action on that curiosity. Learn something, read something, practice something, buy a ticket to something, ask someone something, do it in your own time, do it on your lunch break, do it consistently over time. Oh, that's another thing that I wanted to mention.

Speaker 1: 38:33

Another really really really important point is this topic of consistency, right? So I do think that it is a little bit valid when people are like oh, you say that you're passionate about this, but on the weekends you're not spending any of your time doing that. Well, yeah, if you want to develop a passion, you do need to put a certain amount of energy towards exploring that passion. But, as I already ranted about before, we don't usually have a lot of spare energy to give. So I want you to know that, even if you don't have every weekend to dedicate energetically to your budding, passion or interest or curiosity, even if it's once a month, I still think that that counts. There's this famous saying or concept, I don't know, but it basically says that, out of 100%, if you have 100% to give, great, you've given 100%. But if you actually only have 20% to give, and you give 20%, you've given 100% of what you have to give. So I think I actually want to give you another exercise now.

Speaker 1: 39:41

So, once you've identified all the things that make you happy and all the things that you can do to take each one of those happiness things to the next level, and you've identified a couple of things that you're extra curious about and you've started learning whatever it is that you decide you want to start exploring and learning more about I want you to come up with different percentages of effort that can go towards that thing. So let's say that you are curious about becoming a really good copywriter. That's the thing that you think you might be passionate about someday. So, to become a really good copywriter, maybe if you're giving 100% of effort and energy into indulging in this passion, maybe what you're doing is you're taking an online course or you're attending a conference, or you're sitting down and writing every single day just to get better at it. That might be you giving 100% effort, and I think if you give 100% effort, anybody at all could look at your actions and say, oh, wow, that person must clearly be passionate Look how much effort and energy they're putting into this but the thing is, you won't always have 100% of energy to give towards that passion that you are developing.

Speaker 1: 40:59

Sometimes you just have 50% to give, sometimes you just have 20% and sometimes you just have 5%. So, once you have identified something that you think you could become passionate about, I want you to get really clear on what it would look like to give 100% energy, to give 50% energy, to give 20% energy and to give 5% energy. So, again, like, if you want to become a really good copywriter and you think that you could become really passionate about it, maybe if you are just giving 5% energy towards this, what you're doing is looking at someone's Instagram bio and just saying, oh, I like this copy, or oh, I don't like this copy, and that could be a 5% effort that you can give. But let's say that you do 5% effort over a long period of time. That still does amount and it does add up to something really significant. Okay, you might not be giving 100% effort every time, but you could be giving 100% effort once in a while, 50% effort once in a while, which a 50% effort could be listening to a podcast about the topic of interest, 20% effort could be reading a page in a book. So do you see what I mean? Like when you can get clear on the percentage of effort required to indulge in this passion. Even on those days, on those weekends when you're like, oh, I just like, don't have almost anything to give, you already know what 5% would look like and hopefully you can manage just 5% of consistency moving towards your passion and with that consistency, that is what's going to keep you connected to your passion, or to your budding passion, which will ultimately create a passion overall. Now, the final layer to this whole conversation about passion is how do you take that passion and actually start making money from it. How do you take this passion and turn it into your career or a business? Well, that, my friend, is a whole other conversation.

Speaker 1: 43:10

I actually have so many episodes all about how to build a business. The most recent one, and most relevant one, would be how to become a digital nomad in 2025. That is episode 84, how to become a digital nomad in 2025. And in that episode, I do talk about the method that I think is the best way to create a business and create a career around your passion and, just as a little hint, it is to create a small service provider business, at least to start off with. But do you know what? I actually go way more into detail about this in some of my trainings, and I think the best one that would be relevant to this conversation is my 12-week roadmap to become a full-time digital nomad. So if you want to go a little bit more in depth about business than the podcast episode that I just described, you can actually send me the keyword on Instagram roadmap and then I will just send that training straight to you.

Speaker 1: 44:13

This training covers my quote no brainer business model strategy. And it's no brainer because it's simple, it's cheap, it's easy and quick to start and it can be applied to literally any passion or interest. In this training, I'm also going to give you tons and tons of examples I think there's actually 24 examples of people who took really random passions and interests and turn them into a business that they could actually run from anywhere in the world. Trust me, I never thought that I would be able to turn my passion for talking about digital nomadism into a multiple six-figure business. But here I am and I just am realizing that I didn't even tell you about what my business is, so if you're listening to this episode, maybe you'd be interested, maybe not, but either way, I have a business called the Digital Nomad Life Academy, also known as the DNLA, and in this business what I do is I help people go through the process of discovering what passion they have that could be relevant to a digital nomad business. I help them actually take that idea and turn it into a solid business model that they can run from anywhere in the world.

Speaker 1: 45:25

There's over 100 people in the program. We have multiple calls every single week to go over the different stages of business, foundations and marketing. We have networking opportunities so that you can meet other entrepreneurs who are also on the same page and have the same frame of mind as you. We have tons of workshops where you can learn about new things in entrepreneurship, like AI, money mindset, etc. We're really really big on character development and personal development in this program as well. It's one year that you get access to it and there's like four coaching calls every single week.

Speaker 1: 46:00

So if you really break it down, you just can get so, so, so much out of this program if you participate fully and you will learn a little bit more about that program at the end of the training that I just shared with you. Again, if you want that, you're just going to slide into my DMs on Instagram at Christabella Travels with the keyword roadmap and I will send it straight to you. So I would say, if you are at the end of this episode and you are curious about creating a passion-led business that you can run from anywhere, you've got to watch this training. It is going to go so into detail, but it's so clear because I'm actually able to use slides and share concepts with you in a more visual way that I think just resonates so much better. It's just a better learning experience in general. So, yeah, slide into my DMs on Instagram at ChristabellaTravels with the keyword roadmap and I will share all about how you can take any passion, any passion at all, and turn it into an amazing business that can give you all that time, location, freedom and financial freedom that I know that you desire.

Speaker 1: 47:06

This is a lowercase. I dream that you have, as long as you don't want to be an alien, as long as you don't want to be a unicorn. Whatever your dream is, I promise you, I promise, you promise, you promise you. As long as you have passion and a simple business model to follow, you're good. You can quit your job, you can ditch the commute, you can go live wherever the hell you want to live. You can go plan your day however you want to plan your day. You can go take a three day weekend every weekend, if you want. It's just anything that you want. It's yours, it's yours. It's yours, it's yours.

Speaker 1: 47:42

This lowercase I impossible life is yours, but you gotta get tuned into your passions and follow the right business model. Boom, that's all you need to do. Okay, I hope you got a lot out of this episode. I can't wait to see you in the next one. I think I will do another episode soon that is a bit more business focused. So stay tuned for that and I'll see you in the next episode. Thanks so much for listening. Bye.