Forget Passion: The Hidden Principle to Becoming a Consistent Creator

Implementing this principle can help you resonate with your niche better and ignite your creation flow.

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What if I told you that you can create content online enjoyably and consistently without being passionate about the topic of your niche?

Sounds cheesy, right?

Well, I shit you not; that is possible. This mindset shift helped me tremendously when I struggled to connect with my core as a creator. It helped me go from a burnt-out blogger to a thriving content machine.

To portray the magic of this self-discovery principle, let me start with my journey.

Since I can remember myself, I have been wrestling to find meaning in life. I struggled to do something I could genuinely connect with.

The issue first arose with choosing what to study for a degree, then I worked in jobs without a sense of purpose and kept looking for alternatives. Even starting a new hobby was difficult for me.

It’s all about using the right self-discovery lens.

Then, even after finding my passion for creating content, I’ve still struggled to find my niche. I was just too overwhelmed by the topic of what I do. I was overthinking the specific niche that would bring me meaning.

I played chess for years, my primary hobby, so recording chess tutorials for my channel seemed natural. Creating these videos was fun and gave me some experience on YouTube, yet I still felt something was missing.

I felt numb as a creator until I found the underrated yet outrageous book “Work Energy” (Amazon) by Jim Harmer. I reviewed his clever concept and developed it further through my journey of self-discovery.

His concept is not less than revolutionary. It goes like this: instead of being obsessed with the title of the job, the hobby, or your niche as a creator, think about the nature of the work—the specific parts of the project that you enjoy doing.

Do you enjoy getting many things done or diving deep into one project and going above and beyond?

Regarding becoming a creator, your content is less important than how you do it. Ask yourself what nuances of creating content you like and what you dislike.

Do you enjoy listening to others and learning new things? Then podcasts may be your ideal platform. Do you like to know yourself better as I do on Medium and my blog, or do you enjoy spreading short and sweet stories?

Many creators choose their niche based on their hobbies. So, let’s take woodworking as an example.

Do you enjoy building wood furniture and solving problems that occur along the way, or are you more satisfied with planning the furniture? You know, scribbling and drawing how you should make the product, part by part, step by step. Or maybe you are more into challenging common art forms and being original?

While all the last examples belong to the same hobby—woodworking—the work energy in each instance differs. So, ask yourself—what is your work energy?

Then, project that in your channel, blog, or social media stories.

List your work energies

Again, the best way to discover that is by journaling. If you can’t recall your work energy, be aware the next time you do your hobby or content creation project. This time, be mindful of the vibes you enjoy the most. Then, reflect on them in your journal when you are back home.

Try to answer these work-energy questions before you move ahead.

This scheme will help you know what potential content platforms, niches, and styles are best for you.

While you still need to experiment with creating such content to know, you have previous data points from your past as an employee, student, or hobby you can learn from.

Self-reflect on those to determine your work energy and which content creation style fits you.

Now, usually, people have at least two dominant work energies. Some are more innate traits, while others were recently developed.

So, for today’s rehearsal, address at least one energy, and if possible, two or more. If you can find multiple energies, make a hierarchy between them. Which one is the most naturally dominant in you?

Then, let that energy steer your niche selection and content creation process, whether on Medium, your blog, or your YouTube channel.

Enjoying HOW you do things is where the true passion resides. The niche is just the substance. It’s less important when refining your creative online path.

My dominant work energies

To showcase what I mean by the concept of “work energies,” I will share my work energies with you.

My primary work energy is contributing new knowledge and being contrarian. This is why I excelled in my BA and MA degrees, as I was curious to contribute my unique findings or thoughts to each seminar work or paper I published. That excited me.

I can’t just explain other people’s ideas without adding my input. I have to provide my unique angle on the question in my field and, if possible, contradict the premises with my data or different solutions.

My second source of energy is teaching. The kicker is that it doesn’t matter what topic I teach. It’s the process of teaching that makes me feel good. For example, recording YouTube chess opening tutorials with thousands of views and self-discovery guides fulfilled me in the same way as I enjoy explaining complex self-discovery ideas.

My third energy is being engaging and friendly. This energy is kind of dormant within me as an introvert. Still, I recently dared to experiment with it and even published an ambitious camera confidence challenge that improved my communication skills dramatically. Yet, it’s still less dominant than my first two energies, but I believe I can become good at it too soon.

So, if you have dormant energy you want to cultivate, work on it. As you create content or while doing your hobby, projects, or other stuff, practice this energy and see how you feel about it (and what feedback is given to you).

Actionable Takeaways

Today’s key point is to incorporate your dominant work energies, no matter what your creative thing is.

Many don’t understand why they start their thing online and get stuck at some point with no results. Often, it’s because they don’t create in their dominant work energy.

If you want to understand the concept of work energy better, I’ve made a video guide with more detailed explanations and examples from my journey.

Another aspect of dialing in your work energy as a creator is unlocking your unfair advantage, a popular concept in self-improvement.

Everyone has some benefits that others don’t have. For example, everyone works hard, but fewer people are obsessed with a problem until they solve it, no matter what the problem is. So, the latter have an unfair advantage in whatever educational channel or blog they start.

They will be more likely to provide the best original steps to solve the problem because they enjoy figuring it out. That would probably help them be consistent with the work and see momentum.

While this hypothetical example and my real-life examples might not be the same as your work energies, they can inspire you to discover yours.

I hope this article inspired you to investigate your online thing and dial in your work energies. These embody a critical layer towards finding your thriving online thing.

The 2 Fundamentals to Being a Persistent Creator

Disclaimer: The information in this article is for educational purposes only and doesn’t substitute professional advice. Results may vary. As an Amazon Associate, I earn affiliate commissions from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.