There are people who seem to be perfect for their jobs. Furthermore, they are not only successful but they enjoy their work.

If you’ve wondered why there is a difference between their career and yours, there are probably several major factors.

First, if you’re only working to make money, loving your work isn’t really important, although it would be nice. But, if you are looking for more satisfaction from your work, try to determine your passion and then do that.

Some people seem to find work that satisfies them early in life. Maybe they have always worked in the family business and never wanted anything more. They are comfortable and are satisfied with their work. For many of us, that life is just not enough. We are restless and believe we can find something better.

Luckily, it’s never too late to find your passions and go in that direction. It’s not always easy to discover your passion, but once you do, huge possibilities will suddenly open up for you.

To find your passion, consider your life as it is today. Do you love what you’re doing? Is there something else you’d rather be doing? Do you dread going to work every day? And, most telling, would you do something else even if you made less money? Sometimes you can find a clue to your passion if you think back to what you wanted to do when you were 10, 13, or 15 years old.. Maybe you saw yourself as a mad scientist, a policeman or an engineer?

Now look at that passion carefully. What do you enjoy about that passion? Do you love being outdoors? Do you love to travel? Do you enjoy communicating with other people? What can you do that will combine those two passions? Maybe you can start a tour company that caters to people who love adventure travel.

Maybe you could do a job where you will work outdoors and that will require you to travel to different places to do your work. Is there another way you can combine these two passions into a satisfying career? There are probably several careers that would make you happy and still include these two passions.

Do you see someone doing what you would like to do? Would you enjoy the less appetizing aspects of their job? For example, if you want to lead adventure tours, are you ready to carry someone back out of the mountains if something goes wrong?

That’s probably an extreme example, but do you want to carry people’s luggage if the valet is not available? Or listen to their complaints if the weather is bad? Those are parts of the job too and you will have to deal with them at some point.

So, just because you admire someone else’s work, it doesn’t always mean you’ll be happy doing that job. Be sure to think it through before you jump into it. Most importantly, be sure you can live on the money you will make from this job. If not, you will soon hate the job.

If it really is your passion, you will enjoy preparing for the career as well as the everyday tasks that are required of you. So whether you love travel, photography, gardening or something else, if you are passionate about it, you will find a way to make it work.

Learn as much as you can about the new career before you leave your present job. If you can, volunteer or intern with someone in that field. See how things go. In the end, you may decide against making a change, but if you don’t try, you will never know. On the other hand, you just might change your life in ways you never dreamed of.