Confession: I get super annoyed when I see business coaching-types talk about “live your dream” and then go on to say, “Stay realistic. You can’t make money out of your love of kayaking.”
I vehemently disagree. (Vehemently…clearly I have an opinion!)
I say “hell yes,” to making a living doing what you love.
Let’s talk about kayaking.
You love it and want to make money doing that. Sure thing.
Have you ever rented a kayak? See, someone is already making money with his love of kayaking!! (damn it)
Locate yourself near some prime kayaking water and have at it.
You’ll need to buy kayaks to rent with all the gear, sell kayaks, lead tours, teach kayaking and so on.
[If you don't live near kayaking country, think about other fun things you have paid to do. Someone is making money doing that fun thing.]
Now the caveat here is, you can’t make money being out on the water kayaking every day. You need to run a business.
And this is where the woo-woo “I only want to do what I love,” and the downers, “You can’t make money doing what you love” get it wrong.
You need to be realistic about the fact that you can build a business around what you love.
In today’s business coaching culture, we fall prey to black-white, all or nothing thinking.
I know. It’s easier to sell when we can break down complex subjects into simplistic tweets.
But know that simple does not equal success.
There’s a lot of gray no one talks about.
You can make money doing what you love, of course you can. There are people out there making great money selling white water rafting adventures, selling American Doll clothes, creating custom embroidered baby bibs. Yes, they are there.
And you need to run selling that-thing-you-love like a business.
Don’t fall for the all or nothing trap.
Don’t let people tell you, “It can’t be done,” or that it’s only good if you can “be one with your passion 24/7.”
Good grief. We’re smarter than this, aren’t we?
Be smart about examining the reality of what it takes to make money doing what you love.
If someone else is doing it and making a profit, so can you.
And, sheesh, do you see what makes money out there? Ugly dolls, light clappers, zip lines, eco vacations, skiing, professional poker playing. I mean, seriously. You CAN make money doing what you love.
You just need to be ready to do the work, hone your skills, and sell good stuff to get paid.
YES!