ZenHabits offers some really sensible advice on how to turn your passion into a successful career…

So you have your passion picked out? Here’s how to turn it into a living.

1. Learn. Read up on it, from blogs to magazine articles online to books to ebooks. Look for the free stuff first… Find others who are doing it well and study them closely.

2. Do. Do not put this step off for months and months while you learn. You’ll learn most by doing. Start doing it for free. Do it for friends, family. Find clients who’ll pay a small amount. Start a blog and write about it… Continue to do step one as you’re doing this step.

3. Get amazing at it. This is just more doing and learning.

4. Start charging. As soon as you can do it well enough to charge, do so. You can start low — the main thing is to keep getting experience, and to get clients who can recommend you to others. You want to work hard to knock their socks off. Slowly raise your rates as your skills improve.

5. Keep improving. Never stop learning, getting better. Use client or reader feedback to help.

6. Build income streams. This is where the money starts coming in. You can start this step at any time — don’t wait until you’ve done all the other steps. Build as many income streams as you can, one at a time. (Examples included in the original writeup)

When you think about it, that’s all you really need to do!  Yes, it takes some doing.  But it can help you go from dream to reality, no matter what your passion is.  That’s pretty powerful, isn’t it?!

The ZenHabits writeup also offers helpful pointers on issues pertaining to quitting your job, investing in office space, etc.  So, if you have ever kindled that entrepreneurial fire within you, get cracking on it…