Make Your Passion Profitable

By T Dorsey

Once you have found your life purpose, how do you stay true to it? What if living your life purpose does not enable you to make a living? How do you stay the course of the journey when your purpose does not produce enough visible money to enable you to pay your bills?

Often people wonder how they can pursue their passion and meet their financial obligations with ease. One approach to achieving this goal is to begin doing what you are passionate about as a part-time venture while still maintaining your full time employment. Look for opportunities to free lance or do work on a contract basis. This way you test the waters instead of plunging headfirst.

Also, network with people already in the industry you want to enter. You can find out how others made their passion profitable. Do not be timid about asking others for advice. People like talking about their successes. You may also learn about opportunities you can take advantage of without 'quitting your day job' just yet.

As my business as a storyteller got more profitable, I stopped doing birthday parties, coffee houses and other small venues because the clients had limited funds and my work was shaping up to be more suitable for larger venues. At the time, I knew a budding storyteller and I passed those gigs on to her. Not only did she get an opportunity to make money at her passion, but also with a recommendation from me, clients who may not have given a newcomer a shot, were now ringing her phone.

Another approach to ensuring that your life purpose is profitable is to be certain not to narrowly define your life purpose. Brainstorm different ways you can do the work you love. Think about non-traditional avenues to pursue your passion. Explore unconventional methods. Let's say your passion is to have your own therapy practice. If you define your purpose that narrowly (own my own therapy practice) then you limit the opportunities available to you. Define your purpose more broadly such as:

"My life purpose is to use my skills as a mental health practitioner to help couples and families live happier, healthier lives."

Do you see how other avenues become possible with this broadly defined purpose? You could conduct workshops on parenting. You could write articles for industry publications. You could do weekend seminars on subjects related to families and relationships.

To assist you in defining your life purpose and to allow for maximum opportunities, you should write a mission statement. This statement should define what you want to do; for whom you want to do it; and why you want to do it. In our example above:

• What = use my skills as a mental health practitioner
• For whom = couples and families
• Why = to help them live happier and healthier

Having a mission statement also gives you clarity about your life purpose. Your mission statement can be your beacon of light to help you stay the course on your journey to purpose.
To summarize, to make your passion profitable:

• Begin with a part-time venture
• Network to find out how others did it
• Look for unconventional methods
• Broadly define a mission statement of your purpose

Consistently apply these tactics. Stay positive. Keep the faith. Soon you will find that the profits begin to roll in.

T. Dorsey is an author, performing and teaching artist who uses stories, poetry and songs to inspire and heal others. After many years in corporate America working as a training consultant, she followed her heart and stepped out on faith. T. Dorsey's e-book, Journey to Purpose: Simple Guide to Discovering Your Life Purpose (http://www.JourneytoPurpose.net) is powerful tool that can help you find your life calling. For more personal development tips, check out T. Dorsey's blog http://www.journeytopurposeblog.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=T_Dorsey

Does Your Career Passion Scare You?

By Chris Makell

For some, passion can be scary. It can feel like losing control, at the whim of a new trend or at the mercy of the prevailing winds. For others, passion brings energy, excitement and possibility! It's all in how you use it - for ultimately you own and control your passion.

So, do you get passionate about your career? What would it mean for you to be passionate about your career and desire to see it flourish and fulfill you? Given the ever-changing and dynamic workplace, we know that today's careers can be yesterday's hot topic for globalization. However, using the passion that inspires you in your career can be a great way to provide a level of security for your future. How do you do that?

Instead of feeling passion around a career, identify the "elements" of your career that really inspire your passion. This can take you to a whole new career level. Let me give you are real life example...

Sue, a very talented career professional, didn't see an opportunity to move up the corporate ladder. There was no support "pulling" her up and no one "pushing" from below. So she made a "passionate", albeit emotional, decision to begin looking for new ways to utilize and benefit from all the skills she had developed in her long and successful career. She stepped back and examined what it was she enjoyed doing and where she experienced real satisfaction.

Being highly skilled at "rolling up her sleeves" and taking a thoughtful, thorough approach to her work was most important to her and provided a true sense of satisfaction. She has a "passion" for taking current processes and making them more effective; as well as an expertise in influencing and having others see the benefit. As a result, she has found a new position that allows her to use her passion driven skills! She is now in a role she hadn't ever considered and really enjoys what it has done for her professional well-being. It has also opened new doors and created new supporters for her future.

The moral of the story...

Identify the elements of your career that you have true passion around and develop those skills. They will create for you the freedom to move into new opportunities when and while the world of work changes. And you'll achieve a level of personal and professional security that puts you in control.

Your career passion is important to you professional health and well-being. Otherwise it feels like a job and while it helps to pay the bills - you were meant for so much more. Take the opportunity to identify what it is, about what you do, that gives you that inspired passion in your career.

Here are some questions to help get you inspired...

o Is there something fun and challenging about starting a new project?

o Are you jazzed when you complete a piece of work?

o Do you like listening to someone describe their challenge or issue while knowing the many possibilities to help them?

o Does it feel good when you've sold your boss on a new idea, influenced a customer or project's direction or found a new way of doing something?

Passion, while it can be scary, can open up a whole new world of career possibilities. Let your passion be your career guide!!

Chris Makell is your career development expert, coach, consultant and author dedicated to the professional development of mid career professionals and women executives. When you visit http://aspirecareerservices.com/ and subscribe to Aspirations Career Journal for actionable tips and techniques, you'll receive "What's Hot in Career Development" Special Report free.

Purpose - Powered by Passion

By Alex Blackwell

What do you want the epitaph on your tombstone to say when you die? Many would be satisfied, if not relived, if their epitaph proclaimed, “I Survived.” Others, perhaps you, want more out of life than just going through the motions, day after day, and simply surviving.

To live a life of purpose, and on purpose, empowers you to be whatever you want to be and to do whatever you want to do. When your life’s purpose is powered by passion, you are able to stay on course even when you experience obstacles and setbacks. Purpose is the engine that moves you forward in life; passion is the fuel for the engine.

There are five important fundamentals for living a life of purpose:

1. Purpose is a choice

In Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life, he states many people are often driven by resentment and anger, driven by fear, driven by materialism, and driven by the need for approval. These drivers are not nourishing, nor can they sustain a truly purpose driven life.

Instead, to live with purpose and passion is indeed a choice. You can choose if you want to succumb to the wants, needs and wishes of others, or choose, for yourself, what you want out of your life.

2. Show your passion about your purpose

Enthusiasm and positive energy are contagious. Share your purpose and passion with others. Don’t be afraid you will be criticized for letting others know your hopes and dreams.

You never now when your optimism is just want someone else’s need to find hope for their life. Set the example; be the example – this is part of the responsibility of accepting a life of purpose and passion.

3. Be flexible

Keep an open mind as you live a life of passion. Life is not static; it changes everyday as people and circumstances change around you. Learn to adapt and to adjust to the ebb and flow of life.

Don’t allow your commitment to purpose to be a set of blinders that keeps you from seeing what’s changing around you. It’s normal and reasonable to expect to make adjustments on your journey. These adjustments are not failures, but rather a tweaking to ensure you continue to grow and mature into your purpose.

4. Help others find their passion, too

The expression “the more we give, the more we get” is the guiding principle here. Put your needs aside and don’t be concerned with what others can do for you. If your focus is to help them discover their life’s purpose, your life will automatically be enriched. This is just how it works.
When you focus on what you can do for someone else, without considering what you will get out of it, you will be rewarded in ways you never expected. Be there for others; find ways to fill others up with encouragement.

5. Choose to live with purpose, powered by passion, each day

Just as resolving to have a specific purpose for your life is a choice, so is choosing to life with purpose each day. By doing so, you are better able to navigate through the potholes life sometimes puts in front of us. Allow your purpose to be your compass to help you navigate around these potholes. Be a person of choice and do not allow others to dictate conditions or limitations for you.

Alex Blackwell is the author of The Next 45 Years - a website dedicated to sharing and creating happiness, life balance and success for the rest of our lives. To read more inspirational stories and articles, please visit: http://www.thenext45years.blogspot.com

Turning your Passion into a Business

By Sandy Fowler

Turning Your Passion Into a Business How many times in your life have you, or someone you know, had an idea for a new business and quickly dismissed it? Have you ever seen a new product and thought, “I had that idea or Why didn’t I make that?” Have you ever gotten excited or passionate about something and then talked yourself out of doing anything about it? Have you let someone else talk you out of it? Were you afraid it wouldn’t work? Did you think it wouldn’t pay the bills? Don’t feel bad, you are in good company. Every day we hear people talk about the idea that never panned out, or the business they never started.

What if you could find a way to live your passion, and what if that passion could generate enough income to pay the bills? So often the single biggest obstacle that keeps people from realizing their dream is that they let “what if” and “I can’t” have too much power. What if you could turn the corner and not allow your fears to keep you from living your dream. The key to success in any new business venture is believing that you have the ability to make it happen, and then doing something about it. It may not be easy, but there is a plan you can follow. So go ahead and dream. Then take action. Start turning your passion into a viable income stream.

1. Identify and understand your passion. Your passion is something that gives you energy. It makes you want to get out of bed in the morning. When you talk about it your eyes light up. So what do you love to do? What do other people tell you that you are good at? Now write that down, whatever it is. Don’t judge it or try to figure out how it will create income, just write it down.
2. Be open minded. When you keep an open mind ideas will flow to you. You will start to see things you never saw before and you will open up to new possibilities.
3. Find a business coach. Now it’s time to get some advice from an expert. A business coach can help you bring your idea to life. They can help you streamline your ideas and identify possible methods for turning your passion into a business. Then they can help you create an action plan to make it happen.
4. Join a networking group. No one starts a business alone. We all have strengths and weaknesses. A successful business owner works in their strengths and hires out their weaknesses. A networking group is a great place to start making contacts and building relationships. You will find people who can help you, and people who you can help. It is also a great place to get support. We all have dream stealers in our lives - people who will try to protect us by telling us this isn’t a good idea. You need a supportive group of business people to strengthen you when you are scared or when things get tough.
5. Take action. We’ve met a lot of people who decide to make a change in their lives. They get some training, possibly meet with a networking group….and that’s it. Taking action is the make or break step that every successful does consistently. If you stop in the idea or planning phase, you will never achieve your dream. You must take action. Go ahead, make a plan, get prepared, then do something. You can always adjust your actions for the next go around, but if you never do anything you can never succeed.
6. Don’t give up. Creating change in your life is not easy, and it is not always fun. It involves a lot of learning which will come through trial and error. Watch a baby learning to walk. There is a lot of trial and error, and a lot of time spent falling down. The key is that they grab onto something, pull themselves up and do it again. If they just sit on the floor they will never experience the wonder of that first step, or the thrill of walking across the room for the first time. So when you fall down, don’t just sit there – pull yourself up and do it again!

Copyright 2007 Sandy Fowler, P.O. Box 138, Clarkston, MI 48347. If you would like to have Sandy speak at your event or teleconference email sandyfowler@ReclaimU.com
For more information on making a positive change in your business or life visit www.ReclaimU.com

Sandy Fowler, Co-founder of ReclaimU, LLC is a writer, speaker, entrepreneur and coach. Prior to starting her businesses she worked as a Statistician at Ford Motor Co., was a stay-at-home mom, lived in a foreign country and held leadership positions in her community. She has started three businesses of her own and her passion is helping others as they move their own business forward, while maintaining balance in their life. Sandy’s down-to-earth, practical approach to living, working, and prospering lets people find a way to create the change they desire.

1. Strategies for shaping your life Series (available as individual or combined talks)

Strategies for shaping your life: Through your Priorities

Strategies for shaping your life: Through your Calendar

Strategies for shaping your life: Through Goal Setting

2. Business Coaching: Sandy will help you explore various & innovative ways to enhance and grow your new or existing business. Her ability to troubleshoot, enhance systems and focus on new possibiliites is second to none!