“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
How many times have you heard that saying?
One too many, but I never quite understood the meaning of this statement until I released my first children’s book series.
Till then, like most people, I was working a regular corporate job, yet my childhood dream of becoming an author wouldn’t go away.
Surely, there was more to life than working a 9 to 5 job that would see me into retirement.
And you know what, there is, but that journey starts with purpose, more on that later.
For now, I want you to know that in under ten months, I went from being unknown to becoming an international author, enabling me endless opportunities and the ability to connect with so many amazing people worldwide like you!
So, how did I do it, and how can you?
And keep in mind, what I’m about to share with you is not only applicable to authors; it applies to anything and everyone from all walks of life.
I’ll be the first to tell you; I wasn’t born rich or into an aristocratic family (not that there is anything wrong with that!) But I really am a self-made woman; I’m a child of migrant parents who didn’t grow up in a fancy mansion down in Malibu or attend a fancy private school.
Nope, I’m just a simple girl who decided to follow her dreams, here to share the tools I used to turn my dreams into reality.
Simply put, I want to help you, help yourself.
So, let’s begin; the first thing you need to do is discover what lights a fire under you, what do you want to do, otherwise known as your ‘purpose.‘
Putting something off till the kids are older, waiting for the right time?
I could go on and on with an entire list, but all you need to know is what you want to do (your purpose) and where you want to go. Don’t worry about the in-between; once you know your purpose, the rest will follow.
Okay, so you’ve found your purpose, now what?
Persevere – Ahh yes, the good old perseverance, what does that even mean? It means, when someone says no, find someone who will say yes.
Did they shut the door in your face? Have they hung up the phone on you? Won’t return your emails?
So what, move onto the next contact or business. Trust me; eventually, someone will say yes to your crazy idea.
Do you think no one ever rejected my manuscript? Of course, they did, but I kept going till I got to where I needed to be, and you can too.
Passion – This is my favorite and one of the most essential tools you need.
If you aren’t passionate about your idea or products, how can you expect others to be?
Coming back to the quote at the start of this article, you need to love what you do, or you won’t be getting anywhere anytime soon.
Without passion, everything you do will seem like a tedious, mundane task.
It will also be wise to know that those passion levels may decrease when the going gets tough.
The important lesson here is to always focus on the result – Where do you want to be?
Let that inner passion of the end result drive you, and eventually, you’ll get there.
Prioritize– Okay, I get it; you work full-time, may have kids to look after, need to go to the gym, walk the dog?
I assure you that you won’t have to look far when you need an excuse not to do something.
Each person in the world, even the top CEOs, has equal amounts of time in the day. I don’t need to take you back to school here, but we all know there are 24 hours in a day.
What you choose to do with those hours is up to you.
If you struggle with time, it means you aren’t prioritizing your daily tasks properly.
So, get yourself a planner, where you can jot down your daily tasks well in advance or re-organize things as need be.
Prioritizing is essential!
It enables you to stay on top of your tasks and helps when things suddenly pop up.
For example, let’s say you want to write a novel. If you were to get up just one hour earlier each day and dedicate an hour to writing one page a day, you would’ve written 365 pages at the end of the year!
So, let’s not overcomplicate things; live life on your terms and succeed – all you need is your purpose, a tablespoon of perseverance, a dollop of passion, and learning to prioritize your tasks.