Read This If You Think You Should Follow Your Heart
At some point, you were probably told "follow your heart and the money will follow."
Please take a second to file this under "well-intentioned, bad advice."
Just because you love making scrabble jewelry doesn't mean it's something that can earn you a living making.
It's not your fault. It's not the scrabble jewelry's fault.
What we're talking about is a Venn Diagram (yes, another one).
You're looking for the overlap in "stuff that makes money" with "stuff that makes an impact in the world" with "stuff I enjoy."
You might not get all of them right away, and that's okay.
You just have to get them in the right order.
Here are some definitions of different overlapping zones of this imaginary Venn Diagram that may help you in your exploration of this:
A Hobby.
A hobby is something that costs money. It's generally something you love to do and something you want to get better at. It may not have any market value, but it probably has some intrinsic value to you because it feels good when you do it. This is something that might only be in the "stuff that you enjoy" category.
A Job.
A job is something you do to make money. It could be something you know, something you do, or some combination of those two. Either way, the idea is that by trading your time doing a job, you get a predictable income, which is generally regarded as a pretty sweet gig. This might only be in the "stuff that makes money" category. If you look hard, you might find one that overlaps in all 3 categories.
An Enterprise.
An enterprise is a totally separate entity. It's bigger than a person or a job. It contributes profit in excess of the work/job transaction. It's one of those "more than just the sum of the parts" kind of things. It's usually a bunch of relationships and work all pooled together for a common vision. By doing this, the enterprise creates more profit than any individual or job could have on its own. This is really hard and you need a lot of things to go right for this to spin up and become sustainable. Some of those things are in your control and some of them aren't. Either way, this might not be in any category, and it might be in all 3.
So, what did we learn today?
There's a chronological order to this:
- Start with something that makes money.
- Then find something that makes money and also makes an impact.
- Then find something that makes money, makes an impact, and is something you enjoy.
We also learned that these things don't even align neatly with hobbies, jobs, or enterprises!
The point I'm making here is that while "follow your heart" is a strategy for gaining fulfillment, it might not be an adequate strategy for creating a life.
So, perhaps, better advice might be:
Follow your heart, but follow your brain, too.
2 Minute Action:
Do you have a hobby, job, or enterprise?
Then realize that no job, hobby, or enterprise in the world is going to make you happy.
That's on you.
So, now what does "follow your heart" mean to you?
Let that sink in for 2 minutes and let me know what you come up with.
Taking 2 minutes to define this is going to increase your chance of making it happen.
How To Bounce Back
You know that feeling when you realize you're not perfect?
And then you realize you're more than not perfect, you're completely useless?
And then you start to question what you're doing, who you're with, and why you're doing it?
Yeah.
It happens.
The trick isn't not having it happen.
The trick is bouncing back.
This is one of those "simple but not easy" kind of things.
How to get through it:
Have an anchor or two.
It helps if you have a list of things you believe in or core values. This will help you focus on what you know to be true about yourself in a time where uncertainty fogs your vision.
Have a mentor.
If you have 3 people in your life who you can talk to for a half-hour a month about what you're afraid of and how to develop more strength, you've won the lottery.
Have some forgiveness.
You're where you are. Seriously. Accept it. That doesn't mean you're not going where you want to go. It just means a little forgiveness will help you focus on bouncing back instead of wasting energy beating yourself up.
These are just three things that have worked for me.
I like to say "a lot of advice is people saying: 'here are the numbers I used to win the lottery,'" so these might not work the same way for you.
Let me know what you think.
2 Minute Action
- Think of one person who you admire. Call them and ask if they will be your advisor and talk with you once a month.
- Write down a few core values. They won't all be perfect or right, but you can re-evaluate every couple of months and evolve over time.
- Look at where you are and consider what it would take to accept your failures. I bet you it only takes 2 minutes to do this for the first time.
Hustle Is Important But Not That Important
Are you familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
Quick summary:
Abraham Maslow was a Psychologist who was able to illustrate a simple order of human needs that could play a huge role in motivation, emotions, and decision making behavior.Basically, you need your basics met first. Like food and shelter.Then you need your social and emotional needs met, like family and friends.Only after that can you go after other things like advancing your career or becoming your best self.We fluctuate up and down these rings of the Pyramid of the Hierarchy of Needs throughout our lives so don’t be fooled into thinking once you’re up, you’re up for good.
Here’s how this relates to hustle, motivation, and your career:
It’s the same with your work ethic, your attitude and your intentions.To be “successful” in your own eyes, you need to work hard. That has to be the first part of the equation.But after that, you need to get adequate rest and recovery.After that you can go after gains in performance and career.After that, you can say “no” to opportunities and narrow your priorities.
Quick pause to focus on the punchline:
I’m sure this all makes sense but I want to be really clear about the process and the order in which all of this can happen.There is a TON of advice out there saying things like “you should say ‘yes’ to every opportunity!”There an equal amount of opinion saying you should “say ‘no’ to more opportunities!”
Not only do you need to figure out what works for you but you need to figure out what works for you right now.
Remember that a lot of advice is “here are the 8 numbers I used to win the lottery” and won’t apply to you, your industry, your decade, your team, or your circumstance.That doesn’t mean don’t try.It means try more.
2 Minute Action
Where are you in the hierarchy of needs?Do you have your basics met?If not, it might be time to reset your goals to focus only on basic needs.If so, it might be time to get out of your comfort zone and push yourself.Identify this today.Your next moves will be clear, guilt-free, and easier to execute after you do.