Is it better to be lucky or good? Why can’t you be both? After all, luck favors the prepared, right? Which is why, as you hit the ground running here in 2012, it’s important you’ve prepared in all the right ways. How you can do that is the subject of my latest post for Mike Moran’s Biznology blog: “5 Steps to Online Marketing Success in 2012.”
Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.
I don’t usually go public with this, but today’s my birthday. And, between my birthday and the impending end of the year, I’ve been fairly reflective the last few days. In the last 12 months, I’ve met many great people, launched a new business and worked with amazing clients. I’ve also had some setbacks and have had to say goodbye to a few people I loved. But, through everything, I’ve had more happy days than sad the last year. Which I hope is true for most people.
I suspect it’s not.
I look around and see people challenged in many different aspects of their lives. Some are unhappy in work. Others are unhappy in love. And still others are unhappy in life, generally.
Now, to be fair, many people face challenges that I can scarcely imagine. We’re sitting in the middle of the worst economy any of us will ever see (we hope). Lots of people are struggling to pay their bill or are worrying about what happens if they get sick. Some aren’t sure how they’re going to pay for their kids’ college or their retirement. Others face very real medical situations for themselves or their family. These are huge problems and ones that I don’t see any easy answers to.
At the same time, I’m excited whenever I talk with a business owner or an entrepreneur or a kid fresh out of school who looks at the world and sees opportunity. Many speak of their plans with such enthusiasm and passion and drive, that they breathe life into everyone who hears what they’ve got to say. You can’t help but get caught up in their excitement for what they’re going to do.
Sure, some won’t succeed, at least not at first. More than a few will likely adjust their plans or their goals along the way once they learn a bit more about their customers, their market, or their assumptions that weren’t quite right. But many will succeed in the long run. And not because they had a better idea or a better business plan or a better operating environment.
No.
What will help them reach their dreams is that enthusiasm, that passion, that drive. We all get knocked down from time to time. The most successful people I know often have suffered serious setbacks or losses somewhere along the way. That’s not cliché. That’s reality. It’s the enthusiasm, the passion and the drive that helps them deal with those setbacks, that helps them overcome the challenges, that helps them get back on the horse when they fall off.
Research seems to show that smiling makes you happy, not the other way around. And I believe that your passion makes you successful, not the other way around. I have long held you should do what you love. And I’m increasingly convinced it isn’t crazy to chase your dreams.
So, today, don’t wish me a happy birthday. I’m already there.
Instead, my birthday wish is that you find whatever it is that engages your energy and prods your passion (even though that sounds a little dirty when I say it out loud). Each year goes a little faster than the one before it, so don’t waste your time worrying too much about what could go wrong. Some bad stuff will happen no matter what you do. That’s life. Just make the most of your time and do what it takes to make yourself—and the people you love—happy.
Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.
“What do you mean by ‘do what you love?’ The economy’s in a shambles, unemployment is ridiculously high… I don’t care whether I do what I love, unless you include putting food on my family’s table in that category.”
Additionally, I spoke with a local business owner the other day—one with 16 years in business here in town, in an industry he’s passionate about—who told me he’s having his worst year ever. He’s downsizing his operation and looking for less-expensive real estate.
So, is it crazy to think you can both do what you love and earn a living?
In a word: No.
At least, not if you don’t abandon reality along with it. There’s no harm in asking how you can make money doing what you love. In fact, most successful people do just that.
“[Job's 'fall back plan'] changed when Steve Jobs saw what a high-school friend, Steve Wozniak, was doing. Wozniak was a member of the Homebrew Computer Club, a collection of Valley engineers and hangers-on who were thrilled at the prospect of personal computers, which had just become possible with the advent of low-cost chips and electronics. “Woz” was among several of the group who designing their own, but he had no desire to commercialize his project, even though it was groundbreaking in simplicity and also was one of the first to include color graphics.
When Jobs saw his friend’s project, he wanted to make a business. While other home-brewers were also starting companies, Jobs was unique in understanding that personal computers could appeal to an audience far beyond geeks.” [Emphasis mine]
None of these people got where they were by ignoring their passion or by ignoring their need to make a living. Instead, they looked for the intersection of the two.
The economy sucks. No one’s arguing that. And you’ve got to work to figure out exactly how to make a living doing what you love. No one’s promising overnight success. But, you can do what you love and feed your family at the same time. In fact, I’d argue that you’re more likely to succeed at something you actually enjoy than something that’s soul-crushing drudgery.
But, I will close with this thought about whether you can do what you love and still earn a living, from Henry Ford: “Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you’re right.”
Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.
Social commerce is a hot topic these days. We’re on the scene with great stories from Linda Bustos and TechCrunch about Google, Facebook and other social commerce pioneers.
