A Tactical Step to Finding Your Passion

As entrepreneurs, it can be especially difficult running a business and juggling multiple passions you want to pursue, in addition to keeping up with the daily grind. Finding your passion is a hot topic and it seems like everywhere you turn someone has a solution, a checklist, e-book, or class you can take on finding your passion. I've done many of them and learned a lot, but there is one thing that really helped me gain traction in finding my passion that I want to share with you. I hope it helps you in the pursuit of your passion or passions as much as it helped me!

Full Audio Transcription of this Podcast Episode:

Welcome to a bonus episode today at the school of copy and messaging. Thanks for tuning in. I have just a short episode for you today about something that I think a lot of people struggle with, and that is finding your passion and knowing what to do for your business.

I think it can be especially difficult as entrepreneurs when we sometimes have multiple passions that we want to pursue. And I think this is something a lot of people struggle with. And I say that because I struggled with it, I still do. So I think this is an important message to talk about. And I just wanted to give you a piece of advice that has helped me with finding my passion.

The first thing that we're going to talk about is something I know is going to be hard to hear, but it truly is the thing that helped me the most with finding my passion and that is to take action.

That is my number one piece of advice. I know some of you are going to reach for that phone and hit the stop button because that's not what you want to hear. I think that there is so much value in all of the people out there who are talking about different ways that you can find your passion. I have, I've been there, I've paid for the e-book, I've done the checklist. I've listened to the podcast, I've hired the coaches. I've done it all. And I've learned something from each thing that I did or each person that I listened to.

But ultimately, what gave me the most clarity and I'm hoping will give you the most clarity is if you're willing to take action. This is a small thing that you can do that we sometimes get caught up in.

I know what you’re thinking. What will people think if I change my mind, you know, if I take action and I take the first five steps and I get down the line a little bit, and then I realized that this isn't the thing that I want to do, and I need to shift gears, what are people going to think? Right. I have the same thought too, and I have a lot of passions.

I'm somebody who enjoys reading and writing and copywriting and marketing. But I also have this other side to me that really loves fitness and nutrition. I love learning about fitness and nutrition. I love talking about it. In addition to that, I like being outdoors. I like NASCAR. There are so many different things that I enjoy. I think a lot of people are like that.

I feel like sometimes we get so caught up in not wanting to start down one path or another because we're afraid that if it's not the right path and we change our minds, that people are going to think that we are flighty or flippant or unorganized or without vision.

I know that used to be the case for me, and really what it came down to for me was to be willing to take some action on my passions, see how it felt, pivot from there, and be willing to just mold it into what worked for me and stopped caring about what other people thought.

I have changed my mind a thousand times about what I wanted to do in the last year and a half. And you know what, there has been plenty of people who have said, “I can't keep up with what you're doing.”

And you have so many things that you want to do, or you, you keep changing your mind and you know what, they are one hundred percent right. And I don't care.

This is the one thing I have found that has helped me to gain the most clarity is just to try things. How in the world do we think that we're supposed to know whether or not we're going to like something unless we go try it?

Sometimes trying means going 100% all-in and then finding out that you don't like it. And that is okay.

So first, just be willing to try, take some action on that thing that you're thinking about. It can be just a small step, but just take one step and then another step and then another step and see how it feels. And if it doesn't feel right or you don't like it, or you change your mind, be willing to do that without caring what other people think, because truly what other people think, doesn’t matter. What matters is you find what truly lights you up.

I don't know who first said this, this is not my quote, but whoever said this, “you will never get criticized by somebody who is doing more than you. It's always somebody who is doing less than you”.

That is so true. I don't think that somebody who is doing more than you would ever turn around and criticize the fact that you're trying to do so many things and trying to learn so many things. The only people who are going to criticize that are the people who just aren't willing to do what you're doing or who don't understand it. And that is 100%. Okay.

So two things that helped me. Number one, take action. Number two, be willing to be okay with changing your mind.

Three, stop caring what other people think because it doesn't matter.

The last thing that I'll leave you with here is to spend some time each day on your different passions.

I know that this is contradictory, I guess, to what a lot of people out there say you know, it, it is true that the riches are in the niches and that, if you're a Jack of all trades, you're a master of none. And those are all very true and catchy quotes.

But the truth also is that there can be more than one true thing. And I have found especially from being a cancer survivor if you guys listened to the bonus episode that I did to end breast cancer awareness month, one of the things I mentioned in there is you get one shot at this thing called life.

My perspective that comes mostly from surviving cancer and just having that in my history, is that I just don't think that if you have something that's on your heart, that it's by accident. If you are somebody who has multiple passions, I believe that if you focus on one thing, you're probably going to do better and go further in a quicker amount of time. If you're focused on one thing, that's probably true. I also think it's true that if you have something on your heart, it's there for a reason. I think if you have multiple passions or multiple things that you want to do, you should do them.

Maybe you prioritize your time and spend more time doing one thing versus another. It just doesn't sit well with me to say we only get to do or focus on one thing.

For me, it just doesn't sit well with me. It makes me feel like, yeah, but I still want to do this. And it brings me joy to do that. I have taken the perspective that because I think we just really lose sight of the fact that we get one shot at this thing called life. And sometimes we forget that you just have to do, what's going to bring you the most joy.

And if that is working on multiple things, then I think that's what you should do. And my theory is that if I look back when my life is over five years from now, two years, 10 years, 50 years, 80 years, whatever that is, if I look back and say, gosh, I wish I would have done, you know, fill in the blank. I wish I would have done that.

I wish I would've tried that if I think that's going to be the case about something, then that tells me I should go ahead and just do it. And if I change my mind later again, so be it. But that's how I started to look at my passions. I think I was listening to so many people say, well, you can only have to choose one thing to do and focus on one thing. And it made me feel sad, honestly, because there are so many things that I want to try. And I finally realized that you know what, they're probably right. If that probably works well for them and that's okay what's going to work well for me is trying all the things I want to try because I want to look back someday and say, you know what? I tried it and it did work.

And I'm so glad I tried it or look back to say, I tried that and it didn't work, but you know what, now I know, and I feel good about that. So I think everyone, but he has a different perspective and I don't think that there's a right or wrong. I just think that you should allow yourself to do what you think is best for you.

For me, that is to try lots of things and be okay with it. If people think I'm doing too much or that I'm crazy or that I can't make up my mind I don't care because I'm the one who gets to live this one life that I have. I want to look back and say, yep, I thought about that. I thought I would like it. I tried it myself for trying it, whether I liked it or not.

And for me, that's what works. So for all those people who tell you, you know, find one thing and just stick with one thing I don't think that's necessarily true for me. And I wonder if other people find themselves in that same position?

If that's the case, I just want to give you permission. Here's your permission slip to go out and try all the things you want to try because you only get one shot at it and be willing to take some action and see how things feel and be okay with changing your mind and be okay with maybe not liking something you tried because that's the only way you're going to know is just to start taking some action and see how it feels.

I hope that's helpful to you. It was something that in all of what's happened in 2020 and the craziness that has been 2020 this year has been a clarifying year for me and that lesson in just what to do about my passions, and how to find them, that came clear to me in 2020 and that’s the value I’ll remember for this year.