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July 26, 2010

16 First Steps to Creating the Life You Want From Some of the World’s Best Bloggers

Editor’s note: More bloggers have joined the fray. Over 16 amazing first steps! Get ready.

I know I’m not alone when I say that upon hearing successful people say, “Do what you love and the money will follow,” the cliche alert goes off in my head. There’s no question we’ve all thought about taking a leap of faith across the chasm of impossibility to see if those timeless words were true. Who hasn’t daydreamed of a life constantly filled to the brim with joy, where work feels like play and the sinking feeling you get right before Monday morning never comes? Unfortunately, most of us have also never tried to take that leap of faith.

Is it the crippling hesitation that corrupts our “go anywhere, do anything” mindset or is it just our feelings of self doubt that stifle us? While these are both true to a lesser extent, they are secondary to a much bigger problem; the problem of not knowing what to do first.

Most people don’t know where to start when they try create a life their own. From this lack of direction, comes doubt. And from this doubt, hesitation. As a result, our hesitation leads to inaction—this is where we get stuck.

To begin doing what we love, and making a living while we do it, we have to have a direction. There needs to be a first step in place before we can move on. This first step will be the most important one that you ever take.

Understanding that this step requires more than just my own assessment, I contacted some of the most successful bloggers in the world to share what they know. From all walks of life, regular people like you and me, they’ve gone through their own journeys in order to live lives their own.

So I asked each of them to answer one simple question:

“What is the first step you should take when trying to make a living doing what you love?”

These are their answers.

Danielle LaPorte of White Hot Truth

“Create an inspiration council. Who do you know – famous, dead, alive, near to you – that’s rocking their vocation? Pretend those liberated heroes are your personal advisory board and imagine what they’d tell you to do every step of the way. Only take their advice (albeit imaginary) when it makes you feel expanded and tenacious.”

Everett Bogue of Far Beyond the Stars

“Reduce your overhead. When you’re trying to strike out on your own, it’s easy to forget that you won’t be making as much as you did at your day job. If you keep spending like you did before you left, you’re liable to fail quicker by running out of money. If you only need $3,000 to last three months you’re a lot more likely to succeed than if you need $17,000 to last three months. Low overhead allows you take bigger risks and increase your chances of success.”

Charlie Gilkey of Productive Flourishing

“The biggest challenge with making the first step in getting paid to do what you love is finding that intersection between what you love and what people will pay you to do in the first place. If you focus too much on what you love and disregard what people will pay you to do, then you won’t be able to put food on the table. If you focus too much on what people will pay you to do, then you’ll make money but you’ll be no happier for doing it.

My recommendation is to find something you enjoy that people are already getting value from and see what you can do to make that solution, service, or product available to more people. And remember: one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”

Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens

“It comes down to believing in yourself and pushing past fear. If you believe you can do something, passion and focus will follow. I think fear gets the best of so many people. We listen to the lizard brain instead of growing and embracing new opportunities.”

Jonathan Fields of Awake at the Wheel

“First, figure out the activities, people, culture, settings and missions that make you come alive, without reference to whether they can generate money by conventional means. Then, if there’s a conventional path to monetization explore that. If not, look to find gaps in information, community, service, product, mode of delivery and more that can be exploited to create commercial opportunities in a less conventional way.”

Chris Guillebeau of the Art of Non-Conformity

“The first step is to get clear about what you can offer the world. Everyone has something to give, yes — but the trick is to figure out what your unique contribution is, and how that translates into a marketable skill. If you spend time on that at first, the next steps will be much easier.”

Leo Babauta of Zen Habits

“Assuming you’ve already figured out what you love, the first thing you should do is … do what you love. Do it for free, in your spare time, and have a blast doing it. Connect with others interested in the same thing, feed off their energy. Eventually you’ll be able to make a living doing it, but for now, just do it.”

Steven Aitchison of Change Your Thoughts

“When making the decision to do what I love I had to ask a tough question: Do I go for the money or do I go for what I really want to do in life and be proud of my work? I went for the latter and took a 30% pay cut to do something that I love doing and that’s coaching clients who have addiction issues. That work also transfers very well into the web and I love coaching clients from around the world. What better way of making a living could you ask for? Going for the money is great but if you go for the happiness instead you’ll reap the rewards in heart and also financially. I’ve found that people are attracted to others who love what they do, no matter what field you are in, so you will open up a lot more doors doing what you love and you’ll find a lot more closed doors when you go for the money.”

Dragos Roua of Brilliantly Better

“Short version: Break up with the past.

Long version: Break up with things that are holding you back. It may be your job, your current relationship, or it may be just a belief you don’t know you have it. You gotta let this go.

If you want to make a living doing what you love, it means at the current moment you’re not doing what you love. So, you gotta break up first with what you’re doing now. Make room for what you love.

It’s much easier than you think, once you summon the courage to actually lose something in the process: namely, the old you. It’s in the human nature to associate lost of something with regrets (by the way, I try to break up with human nature in this regard, regrets are a waste of time for me). But even if you will regret some things at the beginning, things will eventually unfold in the right direction.

And the new you will be much more fun.”

Scott H. Young of Scott H Young.com

“My first step: Get out there and do something. Look for a first client, create a first product, put your skills into the market. Too many people waste years of life guessing what the world needs instead of having the humility to ask.”

Colin Wright of Exile Lifestyle

“The first step is figuring out WHAT you love. It’s amazing how many people pursue the dream they’re handed by society, when in reality that dream isn’t a good fit for them personally. Identify what you love, figure out what the first step is to get there, and take it. Right now.”

Glen Allsopp of ViperChill

“Sign a contract with yourself that states you will not stop going until you’ve achieved some level of success. Also agree that you won’t chop and change between projects until you’ve achieved something with the first. I lost years because I was always testing things others told me worked rather than sticking to one thing and finding out for myself.”

Shrinivas Rao of Skool of Life, BlogcastFM

“Find what you absolutely love to do. It has to be the thing that gets you up in the morning and looking forward to every single day. For me, that’s riding waves. Build the business around that.”

Luciano Passuello of Litemind

“Provided that you already know which passion to pursue (not a trivial thing), a good first step is to get in touch with people who already “made it” — those that are already living the reality you want for yourself. If they’re really passionate about they do, they’ll not only be glad to help, but will also show you reality as it is (with the *real* challenges and rewards, not what our brains usually fantasize about it).”

Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income

“The first step is to create goals for yourself. Not just one ultimate goal, but smaller, tangible goals that will help you reach that final goal of doing what you love to do. Don’t be afraid of deadlines, dates and numbers to help you take action and get to where you want to go.”

Tim Brownson of A Daring Adventure

“The most important first step in my opinion comes just before that. It is to truly know at your deepest level that it is what you love to do and not what other people such as you parents love you to do or what you think you should love to do. If you had $10m in the bank and no need of money whatsoever, would you still do whatever it is every day? If not, then how much do you really love it?”

Celestine Chua of the Personal Excellence Blog

“I’d make sure money is not an issue first, then pursue what I love. When pursuing your passion, there will undoubtedly be an initial phase where you’re picking skills, figuring things out, and that’s when money will be slow. If you have money concerns hanging at the back of your mind, that will affect your dedication to your work, which is not what you want.

When I quit my job in Sep ’08, I was financially good to last for another year. Hence, I didn’t need to worry about money at all (in the beginning) and could get down to dedicating myself fully to my work, without having to worry about whether it’d generate money. In the end, it turned out that I started generating income in the 4th month, and from there it evolved into a sustainable full-time career. I’ve never look back since. Today it’s been almost 2 years, and I’m earning more than my pay back in my corporate job.”

Corbett Barr of Free Pursuits, Think Traffic

“The first step I would take would be to get away. Get away from your job, your town, your friends and anything else that influences how you think about the world. Get away and really listen to yourself. Contemplate if what you “love to do” is really where your passion lies, and if it is really something you want to earn a living from. By unplugging from your normal life for a day or a week or even months (that’s what I did), you’ll be able to listen to yourself in ways that your “normal life” stifles.”

Matt Cheuvront of Life Without Pants

“The first thing I always tell ‘wannabe’ entrepreneurs is that you MUST first figure out what you NEED – not what you want, but what you need. We inherently tell ourselves that we need more than we actually need – needs and wants get intertwined, and when they do, it can seem overwhelming and impossible to survive on your own. But, when you figure out what you need, you’ll most likely come to find you CAN survive and get by with a lot less than you believed. Figure out what you need, then go get what you want.”

Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist

“Discover your strengths and play into them. Do you love to write, speak, create, teach, plan, network, invent, problem-solve, build, or think? Find your greatest strength and build your lifestyle around it.”

Derek Sivers of Sivers.org

“Much of success is luck. What the public loves will usually be a
surprise. So do many things, giving each one 100%, but if the public
just isn’t excited about it, walk away and do something completely
different. Knowing this in advance, your first step should be to just
do anything useful to others, realizing it’s just the first of your
many endeavors and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.”

Erin Dolland of Unclutterer

In my opinion, there are only two kinds of jobs that you can love:
1. A career that you are devoted to with a deep passion, surrounded by great colleagues who support and believe in a similar vision, and that is an integral part and reflection of who you are, and
2. A job that has regular hours, no demands on your time beyond your scheduled work day, generates enough income for a comfortable lifestyle, great colleagues, and a positive corporate culture.
To get both, the first step you need to take is to clear the distractions that get in the way of making it happen. There are no shortcuts — put in the time and energy to get rid of the clutter. Once the clutter is gone, you can focus all of your attention on making your dream job a reality.

Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind

“The first step is knowing what you want. The second is then doing shit. Or taking lots and lots of action. Don’t wait to implement until you have the perfect plan, don’t wait for the right resources to show up, or the right timing, or situation. Act now, and then keep acting. Make your business plan “Do Stuff” and that’s it. It will get you much farther than most.”

These are their first steps. Have the courage to take them.

What steps have you taken to live the life you want? Share your thoughts below.
photo credit: notsogoodphotography

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9 comments

July 19, 2010

Be More Than the Average Person

The ones who do more than the average get extremely good results.

The man who works hard every single day gets the most compensation for his efforts, while the guy who works strictly on weekdays receives his standard pay.

The girl who dances without limits, who tries her very hardest, and instills passion in every twirl, jump, and hip movement will become a master of the dancing arts yet, while the competition practices at set times throughout the week, never straying from their schedules.

In our society, there are only people who do the standard affair and people who do much more than is necessary.

Generally, people aren’t comfortable being or doing more than they are. They will do as much as they can to keep from looking awkward, or weird, or self conscious. In the process, they end up looking like all of these things anyway.

Very few people are bold enough to be themselves. Those who are will do as they please, whistle as they walk, and throw paint on the bland and the dull to make it into art just because they feel like it.

As a result, these people are looked down upon. And it’s right that they should be, correct? I mean, how can they act so out of the ordinary and expect to be treated like everyone else?

And that’s just it. They don’t.

To be treated like everyone else is to be treated like jut another person. Just another worker bee. Another cog in society going where everybody else goes. This is why the bold decide to be different.

Because when at first they are ostracized, in time someone will say:

“Whatever you’re doing… that’s neat!”

And then another one will say that and then another. And another. And then, like magic, a movement is born and the one who is bold becomes the leader put in the front of it.

Why do you think the ones going against the norms are singled out? Why do you think they have an easier (or should I say, more fun) time getting to where they want to be?

Why do you think the ones who are different get extremely good results?

Because it makes them indispensable.

The world has enough people running around who are exact clones of one another. Those who have the guts to stand out and be different already realize this. And, inherently, the rest of us know it as well.

No one is born restricted

As children we are free to deem the world our oyster. But over time, we are given rules (through parental guidance or school training) that force us to obey. We are given orders to sit still and pay attention. Be quiet and draw within the lines.

Use the right colors for the right picture.

So as these rules are applied to the actions we do and to the way we live our lives everyday. Eventually it becomes a habit. And in the end, it becomes who we are.

But the few that break through this programming are the “glitches”. The individuals with a spirit that standardizing rules and behavior-management laws can’t control. These people are more than the average person.

How to be more

You too can be more than the average person. You don’t have to be another worker destined for corporate ladder climbership. You can create your own separate identity… an identity far more valuable than you ever imagined.

This is what you have to do.

1. Encourage breaks in perspective

Your perspective is your reality. When you see something happen that you never thought was ever possible, this is called a break in perspective. Find as many of these as you can. If you think you can’t do something because it seems way too out of the ordinary, assume you’re probably wrong. I would’ve never guessed that a mere child (Justin Bieber) would be the focus of the most popular video on a social networking site — and he’s not even that great of a singer. But what makes him stand out is that he’s different: he’s a child with a half-way decent voice discovered by Usher.

Look for the weird feats, believe in bold accomplishments, and aspire one in a million chances. You just might be able to pull one off.

2. Read the biographies of the indispensable

Do you think that you’re the only one pushing to be unique in a world of conformity? Countless others just like you are struggling to make the world their own. And through these struggles come amazing feats — the impact of which you should be taking advantage of.

With the “safety” of a consistent paycheck calling to you, it can be difficult to choose a path less beaten and control your own life. Fortunately, there are individuals who have already attained what you seek – a life that’s better than average – and you can use their accomplishments to fuel your desire.

3. Act with your own incentives

Average people have the typical incentives – marry so they can have kids, have kids because it seems like the next step, get a job so they can make money. Incentives that are taken up for little personal reason aren’t worth shooting for. Aim for incentives that are all your own and greatly improve your enjoyment of life.

Do you think the artist paints because art sells? No, he paints because he loves to do it. The extraordinary dancer dances because it’s her passion. From embracing what you enjoy, you gain personal fulfillment and acceptance.

So don’t be one who goes with the flow. Get a job that you love. Live a life that you’ll love. Take on challenges that inspire you to have them bested.

Act with your own incentive.

4. Infuse quality with time

There is no such thing as “closing time” on a mind motivated above the average. Even more so, there is also no such thing as working 9 -5 or any sort of set time line. If the work you get enjoyment from requires you to do a project that will take most of the day to complete, you wouldn’t complain. Because it’s your work.

You can never work too much or toil too little, as long as every minute is dedicated to quality. Long ago, time was perceived to be valuable. Farmers took great care in making the most delicious crops around. Owners took great pains to see their customers smile.

Now, we are in a time where quality is sacrificed for the sake of speed and efficiency. Just getting a product out matters more than creating quality. The average person values time over quality. The above average person values both.

The average person wastes time doing needless tasks. The above average person invests time in quality, understanding that value takes time to make.

You don’t have to be average

This took me a while to realize, being swamped underneath the delusion of “saving time” and “making deadlines”. While these things are vital tools in motivating you to do great work, never sacrifice yourself or your uniqueness just to get by and get things done. Chances are you’ve been “just getting by” your entire life. Doing just enough to pass on to the next stage.

Forget the next stage and forget about passing on. I used to always tell myself, “I can’t wait until this tedious period in my life is over, then I can do what I want”. Foolish words I know them now to be. If you can’t control your life now, then you’ll never be able to. This is something the average person already knows, but refuses to accept.

Until the day they die, they will live under the heel of someone else’s paycheck, most likely that of their boss. And when their social security checks come in, whether they’re currently working or not at the ripe, old, go-crazy-with-your-money age of 65, then they will know:

To live as average is to live a life controlled by others. You have to be more to be free.

photo credit: Llima

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May 13, 2010

The True Meaning of Passion

I figure I could be doing more than just writing about what I know. A lot of other web artists have learned amazing life lessons, so why not hand over the spotlight to them for a bit?

That’s why, today, I’m highlighting a 28-year-old artist who goes by the name of Monty Oum. If you take a look at his work, you just know that he’s passionate about what he does. For over six years, he’s been making CGI animation videos, slowly rising to become a prominent computer graphics artist within the videogame industry. I myself discovered him just two years ago, and I love his stuff.

A few months back, I stumbled upon a very intriguing blog post of his that I think you guys will find valuable. I hope you can pick out the nuggets of gold in his wise words:

Words to Live By

“I continually hope that someday I’ll get a chance to pass on everything I’ve learned. There hardly seems a moment considering living by my words only means having absolutely no time to say them. So at least I can take a moment in slight to utter in passing.

Never let anyone tell you that something is impossible.

I lived by that when it sparked in me the possibility of achieving something despite everyone telling me it being impossible otherwise. People have always told me it’s impossible, that it’s been tried. If you know what I’m talking about then your already on your way. What I will say to you ignore those who’ve been defeated by what they call “experience.” Keep going and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

I know this might sound familiar even, never give up etc. But it’s how I live my life even currently as there still are more “experienced” people who will criticize that I’m doing it wrong. It’s the human spirit that’ll keep us alive. This rings true to the events of my life, when I started Haloid. I didn’t do it because I wanted to get a job in games, or that I wanted to become famous, or what have you. I did it because I knew it could be done, and that the road to finishing it was imperfect and difficult. What finishing it yielded me was only more steps on the path to pushing forward in what I believed in.

My life lacks much, I’m broke, my car is in horrible shape, my apartment is a mess, I spend 3 days in a row at the office regularly and sleep on the couch only when I need to. I’m helplessly antisocial. I see my girlfriend 3 times a year.

I come from an impoverished family of Cambodian civil war refugees. It been a long journey between being so incredibly poor that I didn’t have paper to draw on when I was little, to where I am now. It wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t dive headfirst and take a risk, and continually risk it all to keep going forward… Heh, success? They thought it was impossible.

What is the greatest reward for living in such difficulty?..

I hope you see it someday too, Cause the world looks very different, when you’re pushing yourself every second you’ve got.”

- Monty Oum

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Here’s some of his art in motion. Keep in mind, he created the entire video himself. He is remarkable in every sense of the word.

(Warning! You must be 13 years or older to watch – normally I don’t advocate random, bloodless violence, but this is art):

Watch it here if you’re interested.

photo credit: Letcombe

Have you yourself been living passionately, pushing yourself every second you’ve got towards what you enjoy doing? Discuss.

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November 12, 2009

Guest Post Bonanza! (And Some Updates)

Hey guys, reporting in from HQ. If most of you aren’t already aware, I’ve been guest posting on a multitude of other blogs in recent weeks.

Take a gander at some of my latest and greatest guest posts:

How to Make a Difference Without a Whole Lot of Money | The Jungle of Life

How Reading Books Saved My Life | World’s Strongest Librarian

Why Losing Some of the Time is Necessary to Winning All of the Time | Quest for Balance

Why You Struggle to Connect With Others | The Change Blog

Tell Stories ~ It’s Good For You | Psi Mentor

What else I’ve been up to

- Well, I had a blast downtown last weekend. Why, you ask? Because I spent the whole morning taking part in the Levity Project! (Click here for more information on what the Levity Project is.) It was really fun laughing and spreading joy with people that I usually just speak with online. This just confirms that connections made over the net run just as deep as those made in real life.

- My up-and-coming website is coming along…. very slowly. School work is pretty time-consuming, so I only have time to really work on it during the weekends. The name of the game now is content creation – I’ll tell you much more once I get closer to completion (whenever that will be).

- A few more design changes coming soon that’ll hopefully facilitate more fluid convo in this small, but strong community

That’s all folks! I’m disabling comments for now, but don’t fret! Go check out my guest posts and comment on those, or drop me a line on Twitter!

Until next time, my friends,

John

photo credit: a4gpa

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16 comments

November 5, 2009

Thank You!

I’d just like to say thanks to my nearly 200 subscribers. Some of you have been with me since I started this blog as a personal development/motivational hangout. For that, I am truly humbled.

I’m so happy to have a great community where I can express myself. I feel like I can let everything out of my system, yell at the top of my lungs, and dream the highest dreams when I write on my blog!

I’m very grateful to have made so many relationships in such a short time. You guys have no idea how you’ve positively affected my life. Because of you, I’m going to keep moving forward towards my dreams, no matter how hard it gets.

So, once again, I am proud to say thank you.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

“Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!” – Amanda Bradley

P.S. Introduce yourself (if you haven’t already) so I can personally thank you in the comments section .
photo credit: B Rosen

6 comments

June 15, 2009

What Has the Power to Inspire You?

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” – J.K. Rowling

What inspires you? Is it a song? An inspirational speech? Would you rather be able to hold it in the palm of your hand like a good luck charm, or have it be an idea that you can constantly refer back to in your mind?

Inspiration is important in all of our lives. It drives us to seek great heights. It supplements our imagination and creativity in order to make it real. Legendary works of art and astounding pieces of literature are born of inspiration.

However, inspiration doesn’t just spin out of the ether. It is spread across countless object of reality. Books, music, movies, artwork, and many other mediums contain the power to inspire large masses of people.

But what exactly qualifies as a source of inspiration? In my opinion, it must have at least these four things:

1. It must have a purpose

Anything can become a source of inspiration. To the average person, an object such as a sheet of paper means absolutely nothing. A paper to someone could symbolize trash, work, or even just a plain old sheet of paper. Not everyone, however, thinks this way. As a source of inspiration, it could mean the first page of a best-selling book. It could even mean you throwing away the last piece of clutter out of your desk during a long day of clean up. This goes to show that even a simple object such as paper can hold much meaning depending on the inspirational perspective.

2. It makes you feel good

A source of inspiration doesn’t just make you feel happy for the moment, but also for the entire time afterwards whenever you think about it. During difficult trials and tribulations, if you refer back to what inspires you within your mind, it makes you feel good about your life. You begin to think that you are not as bad off as you think you are. There are a number of people who probably wish they were in the same position that you are in now.

3. There comes action through exposure

Inspiration is not awakened within us just to go sit and be wasted. It is meant to drive people to action. Think of the leader of an immense protest. People do not follow him because he can hold a sign; anyone can do that. What makes him able to command others is the fact that he urges them to action through his own actions. His words, his stance: they all culminate to push others forward. To do something great, to attain something magnificent; that is the dream.

4. Dreams become reality

As a result of your actions and the sources that have inspired your actions, your dreams will become reality. If you aren’t skeptical about the power of inspiration, that is.

Bonus: What inspires me?

What inspire me, you ask? Well, mainly people who have accomplished much in their lives. My parents have inspired me to endure and persevere, but I have others in my life who I look up to. Check out my blogroll. People such as Steve Pavlina, Tim Ferriss, Ibrahim Husain (Zen College Life), and Jonathan Mead , just to name a few, have achieved great success (even if they don’t think so). I’ve been inspired to start this blog and provide advice to a multitude of individuals.

Nonetheless, in the end, it doesn’t matter through which medium you are inspired. The very fact that you’re inspired doesn’t even matter at all. What actually matters is what you do with your inspiration. Will you just feed off of the inspiration someone else has created? Or will you take the inspiration you’ve obtained and create something to inspire someone else? The choice is yours.

photo credit: stuartpilbrow