Are You Doing What You Love?

Life is Short – Do What You Love

by: Adam McFarland

Life is short. Are you doing what you love? Are you living your passion? If not, why? I am guessing most people will answer that question with “I have a mortgage, a spouse and three kids to support, and $20,000 in college loans to pay back. In the real world people have responsibilities. They have to make sacrifices. You aren’t supposed to be happy with your job but you do it because you have to.”

With all due respect, they are wrong. You can take care of your responsibilities and be happy with your job. We spend over 1/3 of our day, at least five days a week performing our jobs. This is a lot of time to be wasting on something we don’t enjoy, is it not? Why not spend that time doing something you truly are passionate about for 50 hours a week instead something that lacks meaning?

I think there is one main reason people don’t follow their passion – fear. Fear of how others will react, fear of failure, and fear that they can’t do it themselves. I think the first part is for people realize that they can conquer their fear. You will fail at times and others will think you are crazy at times, but if you believe that you will succeed than you ultimately will.

I always tell people that it’s a three step process. First, figure out what your passion is. Second, figure out how to make money doing it. Third, do it. It might seem simple. In a way, I think it is.

Step 1: Figure out what your passion is

Everyone is passionate about something – sports, dancing, painting, roller coasters, computers, family, religion, politics, etc. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what that passion is. Pretend as if money is not an issue. Whatever you would spend your time doing is your passion. I love to quote office Space (one of my favorite movies of all time) when I talk about this step. Peter makes the statement “Our high school guidance counselor used to ask us what you would do if we had a million dollars and didn’t have to work. And invariably, whatever we would say, that was supposed to be our careers. If you wanted to build cars, then you’re supposed to be an auto mechanic.” What would you do if you had a million dollars?

Step 2: Figure out how to make money doing it

Corkscrew at Cedar Point, the first roller coaster with three inversions. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Whatever your passion is, I guarantee you can make money doing it. If your into roller coasters then get a job at a company that designs roller coasters. If you are into computers, consider starting a business building computers or designing websites. Now, if your passion is music, you may not be able to be a concert pianist, but you could sell pianos or give piano lessons. Whatever skills you have, you can find a way to make money. At the very least, you can start a blog like this one and make money from advertisements. You can syndicate your posts as articles across the web to drive traffic to your site. That pretty much covers any topic imaginable and requires very little technical knowledge.

Step 3: Do it

Without a doubt this is the hardest step. I’m not saying everyone should run out and quit their job today. It takes planning to do it right. The key is that you are planning. That you have started working towards that goal of living your passion. One of my passions happens to be sports collectibles. So, as a senior in college I started SportsLizard.com. At the time I graduated, I wasn’t making enough money from the business to live so I took a job as an engineer. I am working toward being able to live my passion full time but for the time being I need the income from the job. Again, the important thing is that I am doing it. I have goals set and each one that I achieve brings me closer to being able to focus my life on the things I am passionate about (SportsLizard.com and other things).

I understand that it is not easy. I am in the middle of going through it right now. But understand that there are other people out there who have been through what you are going through and can help you immensely. They have failed, been ridiculed, and come out on the other end extremely successful. They are living proof that you can do what you love.

Source

Related articles

• 10 Reasons Why Some People Love What They Do


• Book Giveaway and Author Interview: 52-Week Life Passion Project


• Taking it One Day at a Time or…The Power of Now


• Leadership and Passion- Is there a connection?


• The Roller-Coaster That Is The Startup World


• Passion


• Let’s End The Year Off Right – with Bill Walsh


• They Come with Passion or Money. Seldom Both. How to Turn Passion into Dollars


• Passion


• You like roller coasters?

Robert Recommends...

• Abundance – I


• The Myths of Career Change


• The Benefits of a Team


• To Fear The Darkness


• You Gotta Have Passion


• Tips for Saving your Money

The post Are You Doing What You Love? appeared first on Robert JR Graham.

Myths About Following Your Bliss

Follow Your Bliss Myths

by: Stacey Mayo

The term Follow Your Bliss was made famous by a book by the same name. People have generalized that statement to mean many things, some of which are inaccurate, so I thought I would give you the real skinny on this topic and dismantle some old myths.

Let me start by saying I think it is very important that you get in touch with and follow your passions. Life is too short to spend your time doing something that is not fulfilling, especially if you work 20-60 hours a week, year after year. And when you do what feels good, things flow more easily. All of this is true. I am a living example of it. When I coach people and they have breakthroughs and begin to create a life that they truly love, I get all warm and fuzzy inside. Even after 10 years, it can bring tears to my eyes. Okay, so I am a little sappy. That’s okay. My life is very rewarding.

But here are some myths that I would like to dispel:

Myth #1: You cannot do what you love and make good money too.

If that’s true, then how come I am doing it? What about Oprah? What about Elton? Why not you? There are people in nearly every profession who are barely scraping by, others who are doing okay, and others who are highly successful and prosperous. You get to choose where you want to be on that scale. And the best way to get to the high end of the scale is to learn from people who have done it. Take a moment to think about who is already doing what you want to do and doing it successfully. How can you learn from them? Perhaps they teach a course or have written a book, or you could do an informational interview to learn more about how they did it. Maybe you could even hire them as your mentor coach. There are many ways. Choose the way that works best for you, but do it. Myth #2: To follow your bliss/purpose you have to be saintly like Mother Teresa .

Following your bliss means doing whatever you are passionate about. For some that is service, for others it is using their creative talents, for others it is pursuing adventures. It is different for everyone and there is not any one way it should look. What is important is that it lights YOU up. Stacy Allison , the first American woman to climb Mt. Everest, followed her bliss. There was nothing saintly about it but there was plenty of passion. About it, she said, “Climbing is where my spirit soars. When I am climbing, whether it’s a sheer rock cliff or a mountain, I belong in no other place. I am absolutely where I should be. It’s where I feel the most connected to this Earth and the most at peace, even if I’m in an absolutely dangerous challenging situation. “

Myth #3: If you follow your bliss, the money will follow

As stated in #1 above, you can create money in alignment with your passion but it just isn’t as simple as the statement above. You also have to know what your natural talents are and combine those with something you are passionate about and do it in a setting that is conducive to your personality. (If you don’t know what your natural talents are, you can take the free self-assessment at http://ift.tt/1eojGae). Additionally you have to take inspired action and implement strategies in alignment with your dream and you need to be visible. Using the example of Stacy Allison again. She became very visible as a result of being the first American woman to climb Mt. Everest. As a result she was offered book deals, speaking engagements, etc. Over time, she honed her writing and speaking skills, which enabled her to make a living in alignment with something she was passionate about — climbing.

She also had to get past huge obstacles including an abusive marriage and a failed first attempt at climbing Mt. Everest. Something most people won’t tell you is that when you get on your path, all the old patterns and ways of doing things that no longer work for you will come up for you to heal or grow beyond so you can be the kind of person who can live out this dream. That is why getting support is so important.

Myth #4: If you follow your bliss, everything will be easy and just flow

This definitely has some truth to it. But again it is oversimplified. If you are doing what feels good to you AND do not have any doubts about your ability to succeed and are not worried about whether it will work or not, and don’t stress out when things don’t go perfectly according to your plan and timeline, et al THEN things will flow. You have to learn how to focus on what you want and not on what you don’t want and to manage stress differently so you can relax. When you do this, things happen with more ease and less effort. Learning how to do this is a journey, not a quick fix. Trust me on that. But it is oh so worth it.

So, what is the bottom line of this message?

Definitely follow your bliss, but understand that it is Step 1 in a multi-step journey toward making your dreams come true.

Source

Related articles

• Art Made from Mt. Everest Trash Exhibited in Nepal


• Follow your bliss


• Why You Can’t Get to Bliss By Reaching For It. ~ Kevin Macku


• FitnessBliss Web App Introduces New ‘Custom Exercises’ Feature


• Turning Everest waste into art


• Trash to treasure: Turning Mt. Everest waste into art


• Do you know how to follow your bliss?


• First Armenian women climbing Everest


• It ain’t cheap to climb Everest


• What to do on Mt. Everest when you’re dead

Robert Recommends...

• Arrogance Spells Disaster


• Are You Doing What You Love?


• How To Find Your Life Purpose In 3 Simple Steps


• A Common Paradox


• Reasons Why We Judge


• An Uncommon Passion

The post Myths About Following Your Bliss appeared first on Robert JR Graham.

How to Make Your Wildest Dreams a Reality

by: Craig Lock

According to Bill Gates there are 3 keys to success in any new venture:

1) Being in the right place at the right time. (You could well be already there!)

2) Have a vision of where the industry/business you’re working in is going!

3) Taking Massive and Immediate Action! (It is time to act!)

“The future belongs to those who believe in the quality of their dreams.” Was it Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, the famous German poet and philosopher who said those wise words?

Here are my 15 steps to fulfilling my wildest dreams…

1. KNOW YOURSELF. Know and accept your weaknesses and faults (we all have them), but even more so your strengths, abilities and gifts. Build on your strengths and try to minimize or improve on your weaknesses. An honest, objective analysis of yourself is the first step in preparing you for success and realizing your dreams. Celebrate you for just being you, a unique creation.

Aim for mental clarity about what you most want out of life. Think about it and write it down. If it’s happiness, what do you mean by happiness: a sense of belonging, recognition, independence, love, money or security? If you don’t know where you are and where you want to go with your life, how will you ever get there? Aim at nothing and you’re sure to hit it.

2. GET PASSIONATE. Don’t apologize for getting passionate. What excites you the most? If you are not enthusiastic and excited about what you’re doing, your path in life, you’ll never get others to share your dream. Once you find your passion, you will have found your POWER, MEANING and PURPOSE in life.

3. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE PASSION. Always be aware. Negative people will poison your dream faster than anything else. Motto: “If you can’t be positive, shut up!” Try and stay positive…even in the face of negativity.

4. ACCEPT FROM THE START THAT YOU WON’T PLEASE EVERYONE. You’re going to be misunderstood, misquoted, hurt some feelings, perhaps even lose some friends (for the time being). Motto: “What other people think of me is none of my business!” Repeat this statement to yourself, especially when you doubt or feel discouraged.

5. ALWAYS BE YOURSELF. To thine own self be true. (Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, act I.3.) This is supremely important, no matter what the world may think of you. The masses are conditioned to mediocrity and other people’s success can make them not feel inferior for their own insignificant little lives.

Accept yourself. Learn from others–but don’t be intimidated by them, or pretend to be someone you’re not; because… “We are most effective when we’re being ourselves.”

6. DON’T BE SCARED OF MAKING MISTAKES. The only real mistake is one from which you learn nothing. Motto: “Far better to try something and fail, than try nothing and succeed!”

Pink Mountain Tops (Photo credit: `James Wheeler)

7. ACCEPT THAT IT WILL NEVER BE EASY. Realizing your dream may be the hardest, most uphill thing you’ll ever do. A truth … “You can’t coast uphill.”

The key ingredient in success is never giving up. Keep on keeping on with your quest. It has been said that “success is 99% made up of failures”.

8. STAY HUMBLE. (no matter how successful you may be.) Don’t ever think you’ve made it and arrived–there’s always a lot ahead, more to do, higher mountains to climb. Motto: “The greatest way to do our thing has yet to be discovered!”

9. DON’T UNDERESTIMATE YOURSELF. There is incredible power in yourself (in the form of the unique human mind), but far more so in the forces of the Universe. Make them work for you by living your life in harmony with these natural forces. Like positive energy attracts like.

Enough “spiritual” thoughts! Back to the “real world” and you. Avoid developing an inferiority complex (Who am I, a ‘nothing’?”). Don’t be filled with feelings of self pity (“nobody likes me”), or think “I can’t do it”. These thoughts will steal your dream.

10. HAVE FUN. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems–don’t get too solemn, or serious or too downcast when things go wrong (as they surely will from time to time). Take a leaf from Thomas Edison’s book: “I never did a day’s work in my entire life: it was all FUN!”

Laugh at life’s funny moments… and there are plenty of them. “The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does.” -J.M. Barrie

11. DEVELOP ‘THE WILL TO LIVE’. There will be plenty of times when you’ll face the death of your dream. When failures, disappointments, and criticisms come you need the will and faith to keep going. Remember: We learn far more from our failures than our successes, because failures show us what doesn’t work. So, failure is just one step closer to ultimate success. Often the difference between failure and success is trying just one more time, picking yourself up off the canvas after being knocked down time and again.

12. DEVELOP ‘THE WILL TO HELP AND SERVE OTHERS’. Success on its own (i.e., for its own sake) will pollute and corrupt you–it’s a dead end street unless you have meaning in your life. The years of struggle breed fortitude and character. The gold may be an inch away from the seam, where your fellow miners have given up. You need to succeed for a reason, a purpose, a cause that’s bigger than you! and IF (a very big if) you’ve fulfilled all the above requirements…

1

Mountain Lake (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

3. ALWAYS BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR OPPORTUNITIES. They are all around you. There are no permanent problems–only solutions, possibilities and opportunities. The Chinese word for ‘crisis’ means ‘danger’ + ‘opportunity’.

14. If you truly believe in what you are doing, DEVELOP THE ‘WILL TO SUCCEED’ with absolute commitment. It is not enough to just survive, aim at being the best you can possibly be! Keep your dream big, bold and even outrageous–don’t water it down or settle for mediocrity… even if others think you are crazy! Trust in your judgment, your intuition and your creative mind to overcome any obstacles. “Be bold and mighty, unseen forces come to your aid.”

15. NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM! Be patient. Don’t be in too much of a hurry to achieve your goals and dreams. Be persistent and never quit. As the saying goes, ‘Winners never quit and quitters never win.’

Always remember, when you think you’ve exhausted all your possibilities, you really haven’t–there’s always another way, a better way…and even more importantly, there’s always another day!

Life is not a dress rehearsal, it’s the main event. GO FOR THAT DREAM. It is within you and within your reach.

Source

Related articles

• Whom You Seek To Be


• 48 Tips To Dreaming Big


• Internet Marketing Success


• Favorite Quotes on Dreams


• 10 Quotes for Inspiration in 2013


• Excellent Stratagies For Sucessful Internet Marketing Campaigns


• Don’t Stress Key to Sucess in Business & Life [Simple] [Matt Patturelli]


• Sucessful Web Marketing Campaigns In A Nutshell


• Keys to sucess


• Keys to Career Sucess !

Robert Recommends...

• Critical Skills for the 2nd Half of Life


• Paradigm Shifting: The Power Of Positive Thinking


• A Passion Driven Life


• Reach for the Stars


• Discovering Your Passion and Purpose


• 48 Tips To Dreaming Big

The post How to Make Your Wildest Dreams a Reality appeared first on Robert JR Graham.