From Passion to Profit How to Know Youre on the Right Track

From Passion to Profit How to Know Youre on the Right Track Follow your own path by the secret hermit Im thrilled thrilled thrilled to be included in Laura Simms Passion To Profit Series along with 8 other working creatives (that has such a nice ring to it!). Its my turn to be a stop on this tour, so make sure that you have your ticket (the tickets figurative, so dont stress) and climb aboard! The Guarantee. Thats what were all looking for, arent we? The Sign/Letter/Skywriting thatll say Its all going to work out! Keep going! Youre gonna make it after all! (hat toss a la Mary Tyler Moore optional). Well, I hate to bust your bubble/keep ya from tossing your hat, but unless you know a psychic that has a 100% success rate it aint gonna happen. And while I would have had the tendency to groan right along with you a few years ago, now I feel strongly that (a) if someone did tell me my future, I dont know how much Id trust/believe em to begin with and (b) it is Bor-to the -ring to have everything mapped out for you. I mean, Geez Louise Louise, were Creatives! We love new, shiny, out-of-the-box, get-our-hands-dirty, DIY projects and wanna live our lives on our own terms but then..what? We want someone else to lay our lives out for us? To tell us whatll work out and what wont? To that I say: Hooey! I spit on that! A big gross loogey right on its stupid face! Now get that image out of your head (sorry my bad) and lets move on. Lets, instead,  look within (hippy-dippy but true) to see if youre on the Right Track: Please dont hit me in the face, but the hippy-dippy in me has to say that you feel an almost-equal mix of nerves and excitement. Too many nerves, and its probably a bit too out of your comfort zone (and might lead to overwhelming fear and lots of roadblocks that you have trouble knocking down). Too much excitement, and while fun it usually means theres not much at stake. I know the risk is scary and there are no guarantees in life, but Id be more worried if you didnt feel that fear/risk/nerves. You want or need to do it not that you should do it or are supposed to do it. If you say your plans out loud with the words need or want and you dont get chills/smile wide/cry happy tears/wanna do the Rocky dance, then dig deeper. Is this something that you feel is expected of you? Is it coming from the advice of others and not from your want within? See what you can say using want or need and notice what excites you from the top of your head to the tip of your toes.  Thats your path. The sacrifices dont feel so, well, sacrificial. In order to get certified as a life coach and launch my business to feel secure enough leaving my day job, I needed to give up lots of Happy Hours and phone dates and TV time with the hubs (who was my pre-husband at the time) to make it happen. And while I hated saying No (I still hate saying it!), I was never in despair about it. I loved my classes, my coaching sessions, and the business-related work I was doing on nights and weekends, and I made sure to not totally cut myself off from those who liked/loved/put up with me. But if I was on those calls for school and/or with clients and was regretting not beering it up with my pals instead, I wouldve taken that red flag seriously. Doors start opening, but youre not pushing them. Yes, it took me over a year (I think) to get a request to guest post on someones blog, and then another year to get a literary agent, and then another year to be asked to speak. But man, it felt like doors were opening quickly when I wasnt even standing on the other side. I didnt seek out those posts, or those speaking gigs, or the agent I was just here, working my tailfeather off each and every day and putting myself out there. Despite all that, it felt easy even though I knew I put so much work into it indirectly. If youre putting the work in consistently and have been at it for a number of months, youll notice the doors opening. It means that not only are people picking up what youre putting down, but that youre in your right place. Keep doing the work there and be amazed at what follows. And if the doors arent opening.it doesnt mean you need to find an entirely new path, but maybe theres a slight turn up ahead you could take to ma ke an adjustment or two and see how that affects your results. Give yourself the space to try. If you sell yourself short before you even attempt the first 5 steps, I will be really mad at you. It doesnt mean you have to quit your job tomorrow, but it means that you have to just start making progress in some way. For the love of all thats holy. Dont knock it til you tried it. You feel confident that you wont have to pull the emergency lever too soon. OK, this doesnt have to do exactly with knowing youre on the right track, but I had to include it nonetheless. Whether youre planning on making your passion a full-time business or youre hustling on the side, make sure that youre sure itll be X number of weeks/months before you run out of time/resources/money. Its tough/impossible/unfun to continue on The Right Track if any of those things run out too quickly. Put yourself in that position and youll have to get off the path completely. So for goodness sakes, embrace the unknown, find your love of adventures (Ive never even rode an upside-down roller coaster, for Petes Sake!), and notice your feelings. The Answer lives within 80% of your gut/heart (and probably 20% of your brain dont let it take ya for more than that), so listen to it and listen to it good. Itll keep ya on your right path, and thats all that matters. **********************************************************************************************