Today's post is the next in the continuing saga of "As The Business Turns" or more aptly named "As The Mind Changes" (read the previous post if you haven't got a clue what I'm talking about)
On our last episode we talked some about the frustrations we encounter on this entrepreneurial journey doing what we love when we pretty much love to do everything…and we make ourselves crazy trying to decide what the heck to do.
Here's something that's helped me narrow down the field of business possibilities and keep from banging my head against the wall (too much 🙂 )
First, before you try and figure out the "what" (or what's) of the thing you're going to be earning a living at, it's important to know your why.
Along with your why is the question, what do you want your life to look like?
What I mean by that is it will do you absolutely no good to choose a business running a used book store because you love old, rare books if you're a free spirit and want to be able to pick up on a whim and fly off to Tibet. There's not much whimming allowed when you have a brick-and-mortar store to open up everyday. The freedom to travel you long for will be sacrificed for the day-to-day routine of running a store.
Can you see yourself feeling stiffled? Maybe even resenting the business after a while because you feel tied down? Best to figure that out at this stage…BEFORE you order the bookshelves, agreed? Thought so…let's keep going.
Figure out your "why" and write it down.
Next, take out a blank sheet of paper and start listing out all the things you love to do. Really let your creativity flow. Nothing is too
silly or insignificant at this point. Pen ready? Ok…let 'er rip!
(Clock ticking…Jeopardy music playing in the background) Ding!
Ok. Did you come up with a good sized list of things? It doesn't matter if they all relate or are polar opposites of each other. Just get 'em on paper.
If you're like me, some will relate and some just make me wanna go, "huh?" Doesn't matter. What you love to do and the ability to make a living doing it is part of your DNA. It's time to start tapping into it.
Now, a little caveat here. There ARE those things that should be done just for the sheer love of doing them because quite frankly, there just ain't a market for it. Here's an example (and I'm making this up); say you love collecting chicken feathers.
You have the most extensive collection of domestic chicken feathers in the northern hemisphere. You're an extremely proud chicken feather collector and would love to open up a chicken feather museum. Do you see where I'm going here? Thank you.:-)
Not much call for a chicken feather collection unless you're a balding chicken. That, my friend is better kept as a hobby. Hobbies are a happy thing, too.
Back to our regularly scheduled program…
What I want you to think about now, and until the next post, is possible different "profit centers" using the items on your list.
Are there ways you could turn you passions into an information product like an ebook, book or mp3 that people would pay for? Could you do a how-to workshop in your town?
How about making an actual physical product that you could sell and distribute is a local shop or maybe put on ebay. There's a zillion ways to market and distribute both physical and digital products.
What I want to do here today is open up your imagination and let you know that you really can have the life of your dreams doing what you love. Just apply that creativity of yours and watch what happens.
That's enough brainstorming for now. Keep going over your list and next time we'll talk about how you can do what you love even if you're still working a regular J-O-B (for now 😉 ) Leave a comment below and let me know how your list is going. I'd love to hear all about it. Until next time…
