How many of us dream of getting paid for something we love to do?
Lets take a look at Alissa Everett’s adventure. Ever since she was a kid, she wanted to be a National Geographic, photographer. Like many, she grew numb in her ‘cubicle’ job working 100 hours a week, and applied to business school “because that’s what everyone else was doing,” she said. After looking at what it would cost to study something she wasn’t even passionate about, she decided to toss her acceptance letters and save her money. Instead, she took time off to think, and do what she loved: snapping photos while backpacking in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a turning point for Everrett. She decided “to go where the news was happening,” hoping that this would help her get her photos published. She happened to be in the right place at the right time and showed her photos to an NBC producer who ran them on Dateline. Everrett has continued her photography career with her own twist: a desire to capture the more mundane human dramas such as a rape victim refugee starting a sewing business in the Congo. “I’m drawn to under-the-radar stories that have passion, hope, and optimism,” she says, and her goal is to tell the stories of people who can’t. (You can read her full story on page 36, of the August 2011 issue of The Oprah Magazine, by Bill Fink.)
Although I haven’t met Alissa Everett in person, I’ve met several people who succeeded in turning their passion into a career like Pamela Slim, EscapeFromCubicleNation.com , a seasoned business coach, author and professional speaker who helps frustrated employees in corporate jobs break out of their business. Karen Walrond, a former engineer who is now an author and a photographer and wrote, The Beauty of Different, “a book that will convince you that the thing that makes you different might just be your superpower.”
So how do you know if you have enough passion to turn it into a business? Is there a business you’ve been dying to start for years? One way to find out is to ask yourself this question: Can I do this for 15 hours a day, seven days a week? If your answer is “Yes,” you know that you have found a passion that you could possibly turn into a business. According to personal finance expert, Suze Orman, it takes this level of commitment, energy and perseverance to get a business up and running.
Jen Lemen and Andrea Scher developed the concept of Mondo Beyondo dreams. I heard them speak at the World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon in June 2011. They asked people, “What are you dreaming for yourself?” and started this series of Mondo Beyondo classes which you can sign up for on their website.
Here’s what I learned from their presentation.
- Trust: Whatever you dare say out loud.
- Courage: Take tiny brave steps.
- Vulnerability: Is that wobbly space, you’re not sure it will act out.
- Intuition: Listen to your heart
- Flexibility/Openness: Look at life in a new way
So as I continue forging ahead on my path of writing, blogging, learning and becoming a motivational speaker, hopefully with the necessary ingredients stated by Suze Orman’s of 15 hours a day/7 days a week, well almost, I ask you to please share what you or someone you know is doing to become the person you’ve always wanted to be. If you’ve already turned your passion into a career, we’d love to hear what you do.
