And how to use it to make money doing what you love
Everyone is good at something.
I have always believed it. I always will.
I’ve known since I was 5 that I was passionate about singing.
I truly believed that I would make money singing someday.
But passion wasn’t enough.
Everybody has a passion.
Art, charity, love, cooking, cleaning, exercise. They’re all passions.
So why do we spend so much time doing tasks we hate and not following our passion?
Money. Time. Work. Whatever excuse people can find.
I passionately enjoy singing, performing, and creating things.
80% or more of my waking hours revolve around pursuing my passions.
Simply put, passion is nothing without dedication.
So I dedicated myself to my passions and gave it a shot.
But my first year I was living off of a <$15,000 salary and credit cards. It was hard.
But not nearly as hard as spending 60-70% of my waking hours doing something I hated and <30% on my passions.
I told myself that I would never let something that I hated occupy such a large percentage of my life again.
But so begs the question, why do so many passionate people fail?
Everything has potential to fail. Failure isn’t what we should be afraid of.
You should be afraid of wasting your invaluable time NOT failing doing what you love.
Still. Who likes to fail?
Failing at something your passionate about it can be devastating.
Times like these call for a recollection of why it is you’re doing what you’re doing in the first place.
It’s because you live for it and would die for it if it came down to it.
Undoubtedly, this is where most people fail in the pursuit of passionate living.
Which introduces the third element of the fulfillment formula: Perseverance
Because it hurts to fail but it’s fulfilling when you fail following your passion.
Because there’s always a higher realm. There’s always something better. You can always reach higher.
The sacrificing of blood, sweat, tears, money, and time is invaluable.
Failure is what you learn from. It’s what makes you great. It’s what lights your fire to never make the same mistake again.
Perseverance is what takes passion + dedication and creates fulfillment and success. It’s the final element.
THE FULFILLMENT FORMULA
Passion + Dedication + Perseverance
Passion
Accurately defined by Google as a “strong and barely controllable emotion.”
100% of people who change the world are passionate people.
Henry Ford, Nikola Tesla, Elon Musk, and The Beatles are a few examples.
For anything to be great, it has to have passion, or has to have been created by a passionate person or process
Without passion, there is no meaning or progression in life.
Passion is the easy part. The follow through is what get’s 99% of people.
Dedication
“Success is about dedication. You may not be where you want to be or do what you want to do when you’re on the journey. But you’ve got to be willing to have vision and foresight that leads you to an incredible end.”
Passionate people are everywhere. Passionate people who are successful in real life with their passions are in the top 1% of society.
What made Freddie Mercury and Queen more successful than other bands that were formed in the 70’s?
Dedication to a passion and a zero-tolerance policy for quitting.
Dedication is what makes passionate people go from good to untouchable.
The only way to reach this level of success is to devote a strong dedication to your passion.
Some say 10,000 hours is how you achieve mastery.
To me? I think that number is arbitrary. I think it’s also irrelevant.
Most people will never “stop” progressing. They’ll never stop learning if they’re passionate.
But they will feel fulfilled if they keep dedicating themselves to being the best they can possibly be.
So I would argue that achieving “mastery”, although it is a goal and an inevitable milestone if you apply the fulfillment formula is not the objective. The objective is staying focused and never postponing your personal pursuit of passion.
Perseverance
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
You won’t regret the things you did, but you will regret the things you didn’t do.
NOTHING is worse than failing and giving up.
Talk about a lifetime of regret and un-fulfillment.
Most people let their life pass them by from the confines of a cubicle. Or the sounds of a construction site.
Unless you’re passionate about what you’re doing, you’re doing it wrong.
Perseverance is what makes something that is great remain great forever.
Perseverance is a task of balance, thick skin, compassion, and forgiveness for one’s self.
We are humans, mistakes will always be made.
Don’t give up on your passions regardless of how many times you fail.
Embrace the failure and listen to what it is teaching.
How to make money with your passions
Follow the fulfillment formula
If you were looking for a “get rich quick doing something you love scheme” then you’re in the wrong place.
Contrary to popular belief, success is never achieved over night.
Those who do experience success over night will be short-lived, broke, and burnt out in 3 years or less.
There are no short-cuts.
The only way to make money and live a life of passion is to follow the fulfillment formula.
Take the risk that makes your heart skip beats. If it doesn’t keep you up at night then it’s not big enough. Become the best you can be. Be truly happy. Follow your passion.
Become fulfilled.